Ai(;r.sr H, IKl'.t. 



The Florists^ Review 



19 



or in boxo.s pl.-iccMl in ;i colilfriunc. TIio 

 young 'j)l;iiils will ajipfar the follow in<i 

 sj)rinjj, and will proiliico varit't it;s equal 

 in every way to the named kinds. 



liUtoa, a deep golden yellow single 

 tree ])eony, was diseovered a few years 

 ago in the mountains of Yunnan by the 

 Ai)be Delavay. Crosses from tliis were 

 jnade by Lomoine with other tree peo- 

 nies. One of them, La Ijorraine, was 

 exhibited by me at the Ameriean i'cony 

 yociety'8 show in Philadelphia and was 

 given a special award of merit. Its 

 blooms, six incdies in diameter, are fully 

 double and are a deep yellow. A new 

 liUtca hybrid is Souvenir du Maxinie 

 Cornu, a deeper color with a shading 

 similar to that in the Mnie. Edward 

 Herriot rose. Liitea and its hybrids 

 bloom later than the other tree jyeonies. 



Later Varieties. 



The dainty fennel-leaved peony, 1'. 

 Tenuifolia, follows the tree peonies, and 

 its dazzlingly brilliant scarlet tlowers al- 

 ways attract attention. It requires care- 

 ful cultivation and only grows about a 

 foot high. Next in point of interest anii 

 season of bloom are Lomoine 's Witt- 

 tiianniana hybrids, jiroduced by crossing 

 tlu! pale yellow Witt nianniana, itself a 

 rather dillicult species to grow, with 

 Chinensis, resulting in types of strong, 

 vigorous growths, with handsome deco- 

 rative foliage and large single flowers. 

 There are four of them: Avaiite (iarde, 

 l>ale rose; l^e l'rintem]is, cream v yellow : 

 Mai Fleuri, white shacleii salmon; and 

 Messagere, sulphur white. 



The oflicinalis tvries boffin to bloom 

 .'ilinosf invariably ten days before the 

 Chinensis varieties. Ollicinalis I?ubra. 

 the brilliant early red of (pur grand- 

 mothers' gardens, belongs to this spe- 

 cies, which is a native of Kuro])e. There 

 is a white one, Oflicinalis Alba Plena, 

 and a beautiful large llowered pink one. 

 I?osea Sujierba, besides a number of 

 named single and double ones not com- 

 monly seen. Sabinn, L'Oriflamme, Our- 

 ika ami La Brilliant are most attractive. 

 Most of the other species aie of little 

 interest to the a\erage grower, but 1 

 have cut blooms of Triternata and Arie 

 tina in April, and of IJubra Superlia 

 June L'7, a season of quite two months. 



Cultivation Is Simple. 



The cultivation of peonies is so sim 

 jde that lengthy instructions seem un- 

 necessary and confusing. They will 

 grow in any situation an<l in an\- soil 

 where orio would attemjit tn raise corn 

 '>r potatoes. In a light sandy soil the\ 

 Idooni earlier, mature more quickly, the 

 lolors are lighter and the season of 

 Mooni shorter than when they are plant 

 'cl in a heavv clav loam, where it takt< 

 the young plants a year or more longer 

 to reach perfection, but here the growth 

 is stronger, the colors more brilliant, 

 and the ibiwers are larger and of longer 

 diirati(Ui. I'lxactly the snm(> dilTerenie 

 is (d)ser\-e<l between i)lants grown in tin- 

 south ;ind midille states, and those 

 grown far north. Tiie p(>ony is the 

 (lower for e\treintd\' c(dil ciiinates, but 

 nia\- be grown in < ';ili I'ornia and in the 

 south if gi\en congeni.-il loamy soil anci 

 abiiiulance of water duiing the grow 

 iiig season anil a situation shaded from 

 the sun (luring the heat of the day. 



I'eonies are gross feeders, reaching 

 their greatest perfection when well fed 

 and the ground frequently cultivated, 

 until the buds begin to show color. If a 

 drought occurs at that stage they shouM 

 be well watered. Two things thev 



promptly resent - sour, acid soil and fresh 

 manure in direct contact with the roots 

 when first |danted. While they absorti 

 an abundance of food when well estab- 

 HsIkmI and iluring their acti\e growing 

 jieriod, to jilant the young roots in soil 

 ox'erloaded with fresh manui'e, especially 

 if it is sour, is sometimes fatal and in 

 variably causes them to become sick. 

 This is undoubtedl.N' the cause of most 

 of' the so cilled dull root . 



Plant in Fresh Soil. 



The effect is ;i production of' many 



weak stems, whi(di fail to uiatun* to 



buds. I'eonies should lie planti*'(l in 



fresh soil, and any manure )ised should 



be thoroughly rotted, carefully worked 



in, and not idlowed fo come in direct 



contact with the roots. i'lant so that 



the t'Ves are two to three inches below 



the surface of the ground (too deep 



|ilanfing is injurious). Feeding should 



he in the f'oiiu of a good coat of manure 



o\-er the surface .after the grouml 



freezes. This ju-everits the roots from 



being thrown out from the heaving 

 ..„. I 1... ., It .....,.,« .. r.. .;,,.r .1...I «i..... 



w 



I II I 1 \ < . 



hi'M I he 



plants show indications of deterioration, 

 uidess for the purpose of increasiiii: tlic 

 stock, whiidi is another matter. For 

 the purpose of' ])ropagat ing, they should 

 be divided eviM'y second or tiiird year, 

 liuf for garden effect p<'onies usually 

 reatdi iierfection the fonrlh year, con- 

 tinuing in good condition s(^veral years 

 longer, and in many instances old 

 (dumps 15 to 20 years of .age c(inliiiue tc 

 thrive. As a. general rule, liowevci, i igiit. 

 years is about t he limit . 



Time to Plant. 



When I lie cluirifis begin to siiow tlio 

 necessity for repl.'Uit ing, it is best tc 

 start, again at the begininiig with small 

 divisions of (dean, smooth roofs wilii 

 three or four e\-es, forcing the plant lo 

 begin again .•ind form an entirely new 

 root system. divisions consisting of 

 largt! (diuiiks of old crowns sitn[ily lie 

 inactive in the ground and somiMimes 

 decay entirely. It is a common misfako 

 lo purchase old, heavy (dumps, with the 



expectation of getting imi liat( effe('t 



and better results. For the lirsl ye.ir 

 probaldy one may, but never flu natter. 



Any time in the year when the ground 

 is IK t frozett, p(^onies may be nni\ cd su(!- 

 cessfully, except from the time the t)uds 

 begin to form until tlu; foliage is ma- 

 ture(l .and the new roofs comjilete their 

 growth, about the middle of August. The 

 best time i~ in Sept(Mnl)er and (>arly Oc- 

 folier. The growth then is fulK com- 



BetUand H. Farr. 



