92 GAEDEN FLO-WERS. 



The pseony is now bursting forth into con- 

 spicuous beauty, with its red rose-like flowers. 

 The double red variety of the common pasony 

 (Pceonia officinalis) is that most frequently cul- 

 tivated; but the double white and the delicate 

 blush-coloured, are by no means rare, and one 

 variety, the rose-scented, is sweetly fragrant. 

 The common species grows wild in China and 

 Siberia, as well as in various parts of Europe, 

 and is said to be very beautiful on Mount Ida. 

 The handsome flower called the Chinese tree- 

 pffiony, {Pceonia moutan,) the flowers of which 

 expand during this month, and are, in the dif- 

 ferent varieties, of various tints, is sufiiciently 

 hardy to bear the open air of our winters. The 

 most beautiful variety of the flower is the 

 single poppy-flowered tree-peeony, which has 

 large white petals with a dark purple mark at 

 the base. From its coming out of the ground 

 so early in the year, this plant is liable to be 

 injiu'ed by frosts, and, therefore, requires to be 

 planted in a sheltered part of the garden, where 

 it is not much exposed to the morning sun. 

 The tree-pfEony is a cherished flower in China, 

 and is said to have been cultivated in the 

 Chinese gai'dens for fourteen himdred years. It 

 is believed to have been brought originally frora 

 some of the mountains of that empire. A few 

 years since it was so choice a flower in this 

 country, that the price of a plant was six 

 guineas ; but it is now to be procured at a small 

 expense. 



The more slender species of pteony {Pceonia 



