PEONIES 



131 



Preserving the Blooms 



Preserve the blooms after bringing into the house by stabbing or 

 slitting the stems below the water line. 



Disbudding 



The albiflora varieties produce many buds in a cluster; if the best 

 size blooms are preferred, all but the main or crown bud should be re- 



Types of Peonie s 



S. — Single, showing (g), guard petals; (s), stamens; (c), carpels or 



lobes of pistil. 

 J. — Japanese type; stamens wider than in Single. 

 B. — Bomb type. The stamens become narrow petals, called peta- 



loids. 

 SD. — Semi-double. Many petaloids are quite wide and are mixed 



among the stamens 

 C. — Crown. The stamens are wider and petal-like. The carpels, 



which before have remained unchanged, are now petal-like. 



R. — Rose. In this type there is an entire transformation of that 



bloom. 



moved while they are yet small. Some weaker growing varieties are es- 

 pecially benefited by this practice. Single varieties are not disbudded. 



Staking 



Certain very floriferous varieties will need some sort of support. 

 One of the best and most permanent methods is to build a rack of wood 

 over the Peony border and train the young shoots inside of this rack. 

 For individual plants there is no better way than to use a barrel hoop 

 supported on three uprights 



