18 



The Florists^ Review 



August 14, 1919. 



THE PEONY AND ITS OULTUBE. 



Wliat the. Types Are. 



The chinensis peony (albiflora), in its 

 original or wild state^ was a single white 

 flower, and the various stages of its 

 transition, from its original single type 

 to the perfect double flower, form the 

 basis of the classification by the Amer- 

 ican Peony Society of the modern peony 

 in its various forms as follows: 



Single — Those with a single row of 

 wide guard petals, and a center of yel- 

 low pollen-bearing stamens. 



Semi-double — 'Those with several rows 

 of wide petals, and a center of stamens 

 and partially transformed petaloids. 



Japanese — These have wide guards 

 the same as the singles, but with the 

 stamens and anthers greatly enlarged 

 into narrow, thick petaloids of various 

 colors, tipped with vestiges of yellow; 

 the anthers are without pollen. 



Anemone — A step farther in the proc- 

 ess of doubling, with the stamens all 

 transformed into short, narrow petals, 

 forming a round cushion in the center 

 of the flower. 



Bomb — The next step, in which all 

 the center petals are uniformly wide, 

 approaching the guards, but distinctly 

 differentiated from them, forming a 

 globe-shaped center without collar or 

 crown. 



Crown — In this type wide petals are 

 developed in the center of the flower, 

 forming a high crown, with the narrow 

 short petals forming a ring or collar 

 around it. Often the crown and guards 

 are of one color, and the collar another, 

 or of a lighter shade., 



Semi-Rose — Flowers in which the 

 petals are all uniformly wide, but are 

 loosely built, with a few pollen-bearing 

 stamens visible, or nearly concealed. 



Eose — The process of doubling is com- 

 pleted, all stamens fully transformed 

 into evenly arranged wide petaloids, 

 similar to the guards, forming a per- 

 fect rose-shaped bloom. 



Famous Varieties. 



Twelve years ago, when I attended 

 my first peony show here. Baroness 

 Schroeder was the acknowledged queen. 

 She was beautiful, and among the most 

 costly, being among the few for which 

 as much as $5 was asked, and it was 

 common talk then that the "peony 

 boom" had probably reached its ^eight 

 and would doubtless soon decline: "''Bar- 

 oness Schroeder is as beautiful today, 

 but no longer queen, for many kinds now 



An extract from an address by Bertrand H 

 Farr. of Wyomissing, P«., ex-presldent of the 

 American Peony Society, delivered before the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society. 



bring from $10 to $15, and $25 to $30 is 

 not at all an uncommon value for a 

 number of varieties, and never were 

 these rare varieties more sought after 

 than today. 



Among the most talked of peonies to- 

 day are first of all Lemoine 's Le Cygne, 

 winner of the first prize for the finest 

 single specimen- bloom, followed closely 

 by Kelway's Glorious. Along with these 

 should be mentioned Lemoine 's Alsace 

 Lorraine, Evangeline, Enchantress, La 

 Fee, La France, Mirabeau, Mignoh, 

 Mont Blanc, Sarah Bernhardt, Solange 

 and Primevere, the nearest approach to 

 yellow; Dessert's Th6rese, Francois 

 Bousseau, Mme. de Treyeran, Bose Bon- 

 heur, Tourangelle and M. Martin Cahu- 

 zac, the darkest of all peonies. Kel- 

 way's James Kelway, Kelway's Queen, 

 Marchioness of Lansdowne, Miss Sal- 

 way, Phyllis Kelway and Venus are all 

 varieties of rare beauty. 



Novelties Little Seen. 



Many of the new introductions are 

 only known by reputation, for the ex- 

 pensive kinds are often not allowed to 

 come to perfection, being too frequently 

 divided for the purpose of increasing 

 the stock; it is only when they are 

 grown in private gardens, or in speci- 

 men collections, where they may re- 

 main for at least four years, that real 

 merits are revealed. Conseqifently, 

 everywhere, as they develop, we dis- 

 cover new treasures, and alas, too, some 

 few disappointments. Among the pleas- 

 ant surprises in my collections that I 

 had an opportunity to see in perfection 

 for the first time last year was Galathee, 

 a wonderfully full, strong growing, 

 beautifully formed, flesh white, of great 

 size; Philippe Ri voire, dark garnet, of 

 unusual form, and long keeping quali- 

 ties; Mme. Gaudichau, nearly as dark, 

 and rivaling M. Martin Cahuzac in bril- 

 liancy, form and habit; Mme. Sav- 

 reau, with its delicate combination of 

 lilac-white and amber yellow; Jeanne 

 Gaudichau, wonderfully fine in form and 

 color, and finally Pomponette, with its 

 great, wide-petaled, incurved globes of 

 clear rose. For the first time last year, 

 I saw La France and Le Cygne in all 

 their glory, andxfnany others, because 

 now I have a specimen garden estab- 

 lished, where they have been allowed 

 to grow to maturity. 



Passing from novelties and scarce 

 kinds to varieties more plentiful which 

 may be had at a. cost within the reach 

 of all, and which are obtainable in 

 quantities for mass planting, I would 

 recommend the following list, which 

 comprises varieties that may with cer- 

 tainty be relied upon to flower freely 



each year under all conditions, all hav- 

 ing blooms of the highest quality. The 

 Itst here given in the various shades 

 covers a period of bloom from earliest 

 to latest in the order named, and covers 

 a period of from three to four weeks. 



A List of Reliables. 



White — Boule de Neige, Festiva Max- 

 ima, Mme. Calot, Duchesse de Nemours, 

 Couronne d'Or, Albatre, Marie Le- 

 moine. 



White, shaded cream and yellow — Lu- 

 tea Plenissima, Alba Sulphurea, Duke of 

 Wellington, Candidissima, Solfatare, 

 Lutea Variegata, Primevere, Princess 

 Maude. 



Flesh and light pink — Umbellata Ro- 

 sea (the earliest of all), Mme. Coste,. 

 Mile. Rousseau, Marguerite Gerard, Al- 

 bert Crousse, Eugene Verdier, Venus, 

 Grandiflora, Modele de Perfection. 



Deep pink and rose — Edulis Superba, 

 M. Jules Elie, General Bertrand, Mme. 

 Forel, Mme. Muyssart, Henry Murger, 

 Milton Hill. 



Crimson — Adolphe Rousseau, Pierre 

 Dessert, Mme. Mechin, Bertha, George 

 Washington, Masterpiece, Felix Crousse, 

 Armandine Mechin, Marechal Vaillant, 

 Rubra Superba (the latest blooming 

 peony of all). 



Tricolor — Princess Beatrice, Mme. de 

 Vatry, Alice de Julvecourt, Gloire de 

 Charles Gombault, Philomene, Prolifera 

 Tricolor. 



The following is a list of peonies es- 

 pecially noted for their unusually pleas- 

 ant fragrance: Edulis Superba, Comte 

 de Nanteuil, Carnea Elegans (Gr.),. 

 Lamartine (Cal.), Mme. Auguste Pel- 

 tereau, Mme. Geissler, Mme. Thouvenin, 

 Monsieur Barral, Vicomte de Forceville, 

 Zoe Calot, Dorothy Kelway, Kelway's 

 Glorious, Splendida, Venus, Bertha, En- 

 fante de Nancy, Galathee, Le Fee, Mme. 

 de Treyeran, Marcelle Dessert, Mont 

 Blanc (Lemoine), Mireille, Mignon, 

 Primevere. 



A short list of the best singles in- 

 cludes Albiflora, The Bride, Pride of 

 Langport, Madeleine Gauthier, Stanley 

 L'Etincelante, Austin Chamberlain, The 

 Moor. 



Specially fine ones in the Japanese 

 section arc Attraction, Flamboyant, 

 Fuyajo, Ama-no-sode, Margaret Atwood, 

 King of England, Tora-no-Maki, Lemon 

 Queen, Cathedral, Apple Blossom. 



Succession of Bloom. 



By including the various early-flower- 

 ing species, hybrids and tree peonies in 

 one's collection, the blooming season 

 may be extended over a period of fully 

 two months. The tree peonies bloom 

 quite a month ahead of the Chinensis,^ 

 beginning early in May. As they do not 

 die to the ground each year, they fom 

 in time woody shrubs four to five feet 

 in height, their immense, strikingly 

 beautiful blooms sometimes a foot in 

 diameter; they are a wonderful sight. 

 There are color schemes among them 

 never found in the nerbaceous section,^ 

 brilliant scarlets, dark maroons and rich 

 wine colors, delicate blush, pure pink 

 and art shades of mauve and violet. 

 Most of the varieties introduced by the 

 European growers are full-double, while 

 a large number of the Japanese sorts are 

 semi-double and single, with a large 

 cushion of thick golden stamens in the 

 center, which produces a beautiful ef- 

 fect. Seeds should be sown immediately 

 after they ripen, either in the open 

 ground protected by a slight covering,. 



