130 GARDEN GUIDE 



and petaloids, giving the appearance of a small Rose in the center 

 of the flower. 



7. Semi rose, 



8. Rose. A fully double form. The stamens and carpels are 

 both transformed. It is really a developed Bomb, for in this case 

 the petaloids are merely wider and indistinguishable from the guard 

 petals. 



The following is a list of best varieties for home grounds: 



Festiva maxima. White, center carmine; Marie Lemoine. A very late sulphur 



medium early. white. 

 CouRONNE d'Or. a late-blooming, semi- Modeste Guerin. Bright rose pink; mid- 

 double white. season. 

 Monsieur Jules Elie. An early silvery Mme. Ducel. Silvery pink, flushed 



pink. salmon; vigorous dwarf; midseason. 



Grandiflora. Late, bright flesh pink. Mme. Verneville. Rosy white, with sul- 



DucHESSE DE Nemours. Deep pink, early; phur white guard petals. 



a fine double. Baroness Schroder. Flesh changing to 



Edulis SUPERBA. An early dark pink. white; vigorous; excellent. 



Felix Crousse. Midseason; a brilliant Livingstone. Fine late flower of silvery 



red. pink. 



Jeanne d'Arc. Large, soft pink; mid- Monsieur Dupont. Ivory white with 



season. lively carmine border on central petals. 



Avalanche. Milk white, with creamy La Tulipe. Semi-double; almost white; 



center. mid-season. 



Eugene Verdier. Salmon pink, chang- Delachie. Dark red; semi-double; mid- 



ing to clear pink. season. 



Planting and Cultivation 



The soil should preferably be heavy rather than light ; a clay loam 

 is excellent if it can be worked deeply. The Peony is a gross feeder and 

 enjoys a good mulch of well rotted manure in the Winter. The time 

 for planting is August or September, right after the plant has com- 

 pleted its growth. If transferred in the Spring many of the feeding 

 roots will be torn from the plants. The roots of the Peony are thick, 

 almost no fibrous roots being formed; instead very fine, delicate 

 feeding roots start from the main roots. 



The plants should be planted at least three feet apart and the 

 crowns should be buried three inches below the surface, and if planted 

 too deeply, the plants will not flower freely. If they are planted 

 too shallow the Winter frosts will heave them from the soil. The 

 stalks should be cut ofl" a few inches above the soil just before Winter. 

 A Winter mulch of from four to six inches of well decayed manure will 

 also prevent heaving and Winter inj ury . When the plants have finished 

 blooming, the cultivation must not be neglected since they must make 

 a good growth and mature their foliage, else the crop of bloom for the 

 next year will sufl'er. Every five years the Peony should be divided 

 and replanted, unless the plants stand far enough apart to allow root 

 development. It takes two or three years for a commercial three- to 

 five-eyed root to throw characteristic blooms. 



