22 GARDENING FOR BEGINNERS 



following are very beautiful : Aphrodite, white ; Duchess of Marl- 

 borough, flesh colour ; Eastern Prince, deep scarlet, with golden anthers 

 to intensify the dark colouring ; James Kelway, rose, carmine centre ; 

 Beauty, rose-lilac ; Lord Byron, salmon-rose ; Reine Elizabeth, pink ; 

 Atalanta, purple-red ; Berenice, white-carmine. These are double ; and 

 of the singles choose : Cecil Rhodes, with fringed crimson and cerise 

 florets ; Lord Kitchener, blood-red ; Countess Crewe, salmon-pink ; 

 Queen Alexandra, white ; Lord Iveagh, rose ; Mr. W. J. Simcox, rose 

 touched with salmon ; and the deep crimson, almost waxy-petalled 

 Eastern Queen ; Beatrice Kelway, white ; Lord Burnham, scarlet, 

 semi-double. 



Paeonies, Chinese, or Herbaceous. Unlike the Tree Paeonies 

 these die down each autumn and reappear in spring. The Herbaceous 

 Paeony is a fine picture in every well-planted garden the old crimson 

 Paeony tumbling over the border margin or forming groups in the open 

 spaces of woodland, is as sumptuous as anything raised of recent years. 

 The soil cannot well be too rich for the Pseony ; and it pays in the long 

 run to make a bed fully three feet deep for the plants, and put in plenty 

 of decayed farmyard manure. The herbaceous Paeony appreciates some 

 shade, and the flowers remain longer fresh and full of colour when not 

 exposed to full sunshine, but planting against hungry shrubberies is a 

 mistake. The best month to plant Paeonies is September. When 

 planted or transplanted at this time, the Paeony quickly becomes estab- 

 lished, sends out new roots, and is enabled to go through the winter 

 with safety. A wrinkle when planting is to keep the crowns at least 

 2 inches below the surface. Also give a surface mulch of well-decayed 

 manure in spring, to prevent parching winds and hot suns drying up 

 the moisture in the soil. Never put a Paeony less than a yard from 

 another plant, as they are so leafy and shrubby that when closer to- 

 gether overcrowding is the result. When a bed entirely of Paeonies is 

 planted the surface has a bare look, but this may be remedied by planting 

 Pansies between, or some evergreen, such as the mossy Saxifrage (Saxi- 

 jraga hypnoides). Frequently four years elapse before the Paeonies attain 

 their full blossoming perfection. The crimson shoots in spring are very 

 charming, and a pretty colour contrast results by putting yellow Daf- 

 fodils between, whilst Lilies may be used in the same way. There are 

 two distinct classes of Paeonies, the May flowering and the more popular 

 forms of P. albiflora. Of the May blooming group, select from the single 

 red-flowered P. anomala, which has also very prettily cut foliage, and 

 there are many fine varieties of crimson-shaded colouring. A. arietina, 

 and its varieties, are beautiful too, but of the species a list will be found 

 on p, 569. 



P. albiftora, the parent of the most familiar Paeonies of the day, has 

 single white flowers relieved by a central tuft of golden stamens. It 

 is in brief a flower of dashing beauty, but the varieties offer a charming 

 colour-range, from white through rose, flesh-pink, purple, red, to full 

 rich crimson. A selection may be made from the following : Beatrice 

 Kelway, rose ; Queen of the West, pink ; Eugene Verdier, blush ; 



