ON PEONIES 265 



throws them up on thick, strong stems, quite clear of 

 the leaves. It is both an early grower and an early 

 bloomer. The ruddy stems of the herbaceous varieties 

 push up in March, and in a warm spring a bed is a 

 rich mass of colour in April. These spring tints of the 

 Paeony growth give it an undeniable value, for they 

 brighten up the border at a dull period, and afford a 

 pleasant foretaste of the good things in store. 



When a clump of Paeonies has spread to three or 

 four feet across, and is bearing a broad mass of leaves 

 and two or three dozen brilliant flowers in June, it is 

 an object with which few plants can vie. 



A minor point in favour of Paeonies is their healthy 

 nature and freedom from insects and diseases. Slugs 

 may do damage to the young shoots in spring if left 

 unchecked, but dustings of lime soon reduce them to 

 impotence. 



Soil. The Paeony, then, has several things to recom- 

 mend it : a healthy, hardy nature, vigorous growth, 

 handsome spring tints, beautiful flowers, fragrance. 

 Can it now be added that the plant will thrive any- 

 where ? Hardly that. It does not care for shallow, 

 dry soils, nor situations swept by cold winds. It, loves 

 a deep, fertile, moist soil ; and if there is a fence, or 

 a bank of shrubs between it and the east winds of 

 spring, all the better. Given the deep soil there is no 

 plant more easy to manage, for it practically needs .no 

 culture. I have succeeded with it on shallow, chalky 

 ground by loosening the chalk, dressing the top soil 

 liberally with decayed manure, and giving occasional 

 soakings of water, plus a weekly drenching of liquid 

 manure throughout the summer. If the soil of a 

 suburban garden is made fertile to a depth of eighteen 

 inches by digging up the under soil and manuring 



