PEONIES 



465 



the ordinary de- 

 mand in your town 

 or neighborhood. 

 It is far more 

 sensible to do so 

 than to imagine 

 you can grow 

 orchids or Roses as 

 well or as cheaply 

 as the specialist. 



The more 

 Peonies you sell 

 in the form of 

 plants, the more 

 Peonies your nur- 

 seryman will sell in 

 supplying you and 

 other florists who 

 are doing the same. 



Fig. 233. SINGLE PEONIES. Not all the beautiful Peonies 

 are double varieties. Singles like these should appeal espe- 

 cially to the florist who grows and retails his stock. If cut 

 partly open, the blooms will last for days 



If you have a fair soil don't dig trenches as they do in Holland 

 and pile a lot of manure into them in planting Peonies. All they 

 want is a deeply cultivated, well-drained soil. Plant them in rows 

 so you can cultivate between, for the more you cultivate and keep 

 the weeds out the better for the plants. Have the tips of the eyes 

 about four inches or so below the surface and if you plant stock 

 consisting of from three to five eyes, from the third year on you 

 can start taking part of them up each Fall and dividing them, 

 either to be replanted or to be sold. While the best time to do this 

 is in September, you shouldn't miss any chance of selling plants 

 merely because the order comes in Spring. 



Your nurseryman will furnish you with a list of the best sorts, 

 some of them even better than any I could suggest, but if you want 

 to start out with six varieties of different colors and shades, I would 

 suggest: Festiva maxima, white; Albert Grousse, delicate pink; 

 Mme. Calot, early pink; Felix Grousse, red; Louis Van Houtte, 

 crimson; and Modeste Guerin, rose pink. 



Paeonia officinalis is the first to flower and for that reason 

 is highly desirable. P. rubra, the red sort, is the best known of all of 

 them, but equally as desirable are P. rosea superba and P. mutabilis, 

 both fine pinks. P. tenuifolia flore pleno has finely cut fern-like 

 foliage and is a very attractive sort with its deep red flowers. 



The single Japanese Peonies should be better known. They 

 may not be as showy as the double ones, but from the florist's 

 point of view they are every bit as desirable. Of course, they are 

 not flowers you can ship great distances like the double sorts, but 

 when grown on your own grounds where you can cut them just as 



