18 



The Florists^ Review 



August It, I'.Hn 



THE PEONY AND ITS CULTURE. 



What the Types Are. 



Tho chincnsis peony (albiflora), in its 

 orif:;iii;il or wild stato, was a singlo wliitf 

 flower, aiiil tlH> various stajjos of its 

 transition, from its orijjinal sinjjie tyjie 

 to tho jn'rfi'ct doulilo llowcr. foi'ni tlic 

 basis of llu' classitication hy tlio Amor 

 ican I'oony Society of tlu' inodorn |ii'(iny 

 in its various forms as follows: 



Siiifflo — Those with a siii;;ie row of 

 wide jjuard petals, and a ct nter (if ycd 

 low pollen-heariuji stamens. 



Semi-double — ■Those with sexcrai rows 

 of wide jietals, and .a centei- of stamens 

 and partially transformed petaloids. 



Japanese- These ha\e wide ^niaids 

 the saini' as the sinf^les, but with the 

 atanu'us and autliers j^reatly enlarji;ed 

 into narrow, thick petaloids of various 

 colors, tipped with vestij^cs (d' ycdlow; 

 tho anthers are without p(dlen. 



Anemoiu' — A step farther in the proc- 

 ess of doubliiifr, with the stamens all 

 transformed into shcit. narrow ]ietals, 

 formini,' a round cu^tiioii in the center 

 of the dower. 



15omb — The next step, in \vhi(h all 

 the center |M't;ils ;ire iniit'o|-mly wide, 

 apjtroachin;: tlie ;,Miaiiis, but distinctly 

 (litVortMitiated from them, forminLC a 

 tjlobe-siiaped centei' without collar or 

 crown. 



Crown — In this {}]»■ wide jietals are 

 developeil in the centei- of the flower, 

 forminjj; a hi;,di crown, with the narrow 

 short |ietaN t'ortniiiL,' .-i rint; or c<dlar 

 around it. ()fteii the crown and ;,Miards 



arc of OIK color, ami tin ll.ir another, 



or of a lif^htor shade. 



Semi-Rose — Flowers in wliich the 

 petals are all uniformly wi(le, but are 

 loosely built, with ;i few pcdien be;irin<.' 

 stamens visible, or m arly concealed. 



Rosi — The jirocess of doublin;^ is com 

 pleted, all stamens fully t nin^fornu-d 

 into evenly arranged wide )Mt;iloids. 

 similar to the fjuards. forming ;i per 

 feet rose-sliaped bloom. 



Famous Varieties. 



Tw(d\t' years ayo, when I attended 

 niy first peony show here, Haroness 

 Seliroeder was the acknow led^e(| i|ueen. 

 She was be.-iutiful. and .anion^ the most 

 costly, bein;,' ;imon)4 the few for vvhiidi 

 as nnudi as .f," was asked, and it was 

 common talk then th.at the '■peony 

 boom'' had probably reached its loij^ht 

 and would d(Uibtless soon dei line. T?ar 

 oness Schroeder is as beautiful to<i;iy. 

 but no longer (pieen, for many kinds now 



An oxtr.'cct fnun nn mlilrcss by Hcrtniiul U 

 Fnrr. of W.voniissinf:, Ha., ex iircsidcnt of tlic 

 -XnifriciiTi I'ciiny Society. iliMiviTcd liiforc tin 

 M.issiicliusctts Ilorticiiltiinil Soriitv. 



bring from $10 to $1"), and .$25 to .$30 is 

 not at all an uncommon value for a 

 number of varieties, and never were 

 these rare varieties tnore sought after 

 than today. 



Among the most talk(^il of jieonies to 

 day are tirst of all LenH)int>'s Lc Cygne, 

 winiu'r of the lirst prize for the finest 

 single si>ecimeii bloom, followt'il closely 

 by Kelway 's (ilorious. Along with those 

 should be mentioned Lemoine's Alsace 

 Lorraine, Kviingtdine. Kuchantress, La 

 i*'ee. La l-'rance. .\lirabe;iu. .Mignon, 

 Mont Hlanc, Sarah Bernhardt, Solange 

 .•in<l I'rimevere, the nearest approach to 

 ytdlow : Dessert's Tht'>iese, Francois 

 Kousse.au. .Mine, de Treyer;in, Kose Bon- 

 heur, Tourangelle and M. Martin Cahu- 

 zac, the darkest of all jieonies. Kel- 

 way 's James Kelway, Kelway's Queen, 

 Mar(diioiiess of Lansdowne, Miss Sal- 

 way, Phyllis K(dway and Venus are .-ill 

 varieties of rare be.auty. 



Novelties Iiittle Seen. 



- ^Ian\- of the new introductions ;iri 

 only known by rej.ut.at ion. for the ex- 

 peiisi\(> kinds ;(re often not allowed to 

 collie to pi'i t'ect loll, being too fre(iuenth 

 divided I'or the juirpose of increasing 

 the stock; it i'' only when they nre 

 ;;rown in piiv;ite ;:arilens, or in speci 

 iiien ccdlect ion>i. where they in.ay re- 

 main for ;it le;i>t t'oiii ye;irs. that real 

 IIHM-its ;ire reve;tled. < 'on^ei| uen t Iv . 



ever.vvvhere, as thev ilevelo|i, we dis 

 cover new tre.-isures, ;ind al.as, too, some 

 few disapp(diitment-^.. Among tli(> jdeas 

 ;iiit surjiiises in my c(dlecti(uis that I 

 had an opportunity to ^ee in )i(M-fection 

 for the first tilne l;ist ye;ir v\;i». ( i.-ilathei'. 

 ;i v\ iindi'ifully full, ^tron._; iirowing, 

 beautifully formed^ tlesh white, of ^re.-it 

 size: I'liilipjie b'ivciire. c|;irk garnet, ot' 

 unusu.al form, :iiid lon<; keejung <|uali 

 ties: Mine. ( i;iudi(diau, nearly as d.ark. 

 and riv.aling M. M.artin <';ihuzac in bril 

 liancy, form .-ind h.aidt: .Mine. S;iv 

 reau, with its ilelicite c(UMbin:it ion ot 

 lilac-white and .imlier y( How : .leuiine 

 naudiidiau. wondeifiilly fine in form .and 

 cfdor, and finally I'ompcuiette, with its 

 great, wide i>etalec|. incurved gUdies of 

 clear rose. For the first time Inst ve;ir. 

 I s.aw La l-'r.'iiice and Le Cygne in all 

 their glory, and many others, bec;nise 

 now 1 have ;i -|iecimen garden estab 

 lislied, where they have been allowed 

 to grow to m.'iturit.v. 



Passing from novidties ami scirce 

 kinds to varieties more jdeiitiful which 

 mav be h.ad at a cost within the reaidi 

 of all, aini which are tdit.ainable in 

 quantities for mass jdanting, I would 

 rectunineiid the following list, which 

 comjirises varieties that may with cer 

 tainty be ridied u|m)i: to tlower fretdv 



each year under all conditions, all hav- 

 ing blooms of the highest quality. Tho 

 list here given in the various shades 

 covers a pt^riod of bloom from earliest 

 to Latest in the order named, and covers 

 a period of frcun three to four weeks. 



A List of Reliables. 



White- -Houle de Neige, Festiva Max- 

 ima, .Mine. <':ilot, Puchesso de Nemours, 

 Couronne d'Or, Albatre, Marie Le- 

 moine. 



White, shaded cream and yellow — Lu- 

 tea I'lenissim.a, Alba Sulphurea, Duke of 

 Wtdlington, f'andidissiina, Solfatare. 

 Lutea \'ariey:;ita, Priinevere, Princess 

 M.aude. 



Flesh and light j)ink— Unibdlata Ro- 

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

 Mile, Kousseau, Marguerite Gerard, Al- 

 bert Crousse, JOugene Verdier, Venus, 

 (Jrandiflora, ^fodele de I'erfection. 



Deep pink and rose — Edulis Superlia, 

 .M. Jules Elie, General Bertrand, Mine, 

 Forel, ^Iine. Muvssart, Henrv Murger, 

 .Milton Hill. 



Crimson- Aibdphe Kousseau, Pierre 

 Dessert, Min(>. Mechin, Bertha, Getuge 

 Washington, Masterpiece, Felix Crousse, 

 Annaiuiine Mechin, Marechal Vaill.int, 

 Rubr.a Superba (the latest bloom inij 

 peony of ;ilP>. 



Tricolor — Princess Beatrice, Mine, de 

 \'atr.v, Alice de Julvecourt, Gloire de 

 Charlies (iombault, Philomene, Prolit'ei:i 

 Tric(dor. 



The f(dlov\iiig is a list of peonie< is- 

 jieci.ally note(l for their unusually ]deas- 

 ant fragrance: I'^dulis Superba, Cointe 

 de Nanteuil. Carnea Elegans (Gr.), 

 Laiiuirtine (Cal.), Mme. Auguste I'el- 

 tereau, Mine. Geissler, ^Iine. Thouvenin. 

 Monsieur l^arral, Vicomte de Forceville, 

 Zoe Calot, Dorothy Kelwav, Kelw.-iy's 

 'ilorious, Spleiidida, Venus, Bertha, Lii- 

 fante de Nanc.v, (Jalathee, Le Fee, Mine, 

 lie Treyeran, Marcelle Dessert, Mont 

 Pl.anc (LeiiKune), Mireille. Mignon, 

 rrimevere. 



A short list of the best singles in- 

 cludes Albitlor.'i, The Bride, Pride ot" 

 Langport, Madeleine Gauthier, Stanley 

 L 'l-]tinc(dante, Austin Chamberbiin, The 

 Moor. 



Specially line om^s in tht> Japanese 

 section ;ire Attraction, Flamboyant, 

 Fuya.jo. .\ina iKesode, Margaret Atwood, 

 King of F.ngland, Tora-no-Maki, Lemon 

 Queen, C.Mthedral, Apple Blosstun. 



Succession of Bloom. 



Hv i lie hiding the various early-flower- 

 ing sjiecies, hybrids and trte peonies in 

 one's c(dlecti(Ui. the blooming season 

 may be extendeii over a period of fully 

 two iiuuiths. The tree peonies bloom 

 ipiite ji month :ih(>ad of the Chinensis. 

 bt^giiiniii;^ early in May. As tli(\v do not 

 die to the yround each yetir, they for u 

 ill time wdoily shrubs four to five feet 

 in lieioht. fludr immense, Ktrikingly 

 111 ;i lit i til I blooms sometimes a foot in 

 diameter: iliey art' a wonderful sight. 

 There are color s(dienies .among fheiii 

 never found in the nerbai'eous section, 

 brilli.ant scarlets, dark maroons and rich 

 wine ccdors, delicate blush, jiurc pink 

 and art shades of mauve and violet. 

 Most of the v.arieties introduc(>d liy the 

 Luropeau growers are full-double, while 

 ;i large numlier of the Japanese sorts are 

 semi-double and single, with a largo 

 cushion of thitd< g(dden stamens in the 

 center, which ]irodiices a beautiful ef- 

 fect. Seeds should be sown immediately 

 after they ripen, either in the open 

 ^rroiind ju'otected by a slight covering, 



