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May 25. 1905. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



jh- 



A Pink Peony "^ell Liked M a Cut Flower by Kenafcott Bros. G>., Chicago. 



and causing irritation between yourself 

 and customer and eventually loss of or- 

 ders. 



Use clean, white paper next the blooms 

 when packing, as this gives a good ap- 

 pearance, even to inferior stock, where- 

 as dirty, crumpled paper and careless 

 packing causes the very best of stock to 

 look mussy. 



Wrap well and tidily and cord the 

 boxes in such a way that they can be 

 handled easily. 



To facilitate the prompt and expedi- 

 tions delivety of stock, the address and 

 routing instructions should be clearly 

 and distinctly written, as expressmen 

 are usually too busy at this season to 

 spend much time on deciphering puzzles 

 in that form. 



Now a word to the customer. If the 

 stock received is not quite so good at 

 the end of the Week as it was at the 

 beginning, remember that the grower 

 also has his troubles and that his cus- 

 tomer frequently insists on having ship- 

 ments wheti stock is scarce and has to 

 be cut tight in order to accommodate 

 him and if sales begin to fall off he in 

 sure to get his share of the blame. Do 

 not insist on having stock of that kind. 

 as disappointment is sure to follow and 

 disposing of such has the eflfect of giv- 

 ing your stock and methods a had name. 



ElBES. 



Put a neat sign in your window : ' ' Fu- 

 neral or gift flowers delivered by tele- 

 graph anywhere in the United States." 

 When you have taken an order refer to 

 the page of "Leading Eetail Florists" 

 in the Keview and select a man to whom 

 to telegraph the order. You will find it 

 a very satisfactory source of business. 



A GOOD PINK PEONY. 



The accompanying illustration is from 

 a photograph of a pink peony which is 

 being offered in moderate quantities by 

 the Kennicott Bros. Co., Chicago. The 

 blooms were cut at Sarcoxie, Mo., where 

 they are being grown for E. E. Pieser, who 

 owns the stock. The color is a pleasing 

 permanent shade of light pink and Mr. 

 Pieser has bought all the plants he could 

 find of this variety. He says that it is 

 the most remarkable keeper of which he 

 knows and he believes that it has a vely 

 bright future as a cut flower. 



NOTES ON THE PEONY. 



[The following Is a portion of an address by 

 Robert T. Jackson, before the Boston Gardeners' 

 and Florists' Club, May 16, 1905.] 



According to Baker there are about 

 two dozen species of peonies. He lists 

 twenty-two species with their syno- 

 nyms. Lynch lists and describes 

 twenty-five species. Excepting P. tenui- 

 folia and perhaps P. Wittmanniana 

 (which is somewhat difficult to grow), 

 most of the species are said to be not 

 striking as garden flowers, and are of 

 interest principally to the collector. 

 They might of course be of value in hy- 

 bridizing, to break the blood of culti- 

 vated forms. 



The" earliest peony to bloom is P. 

 tenuifolia, both the single and double 

 forms, which appear in May. The flow- 

 ers, though small, are of brilliant color- 

 ing, and well worth growing. Next in 

 succession comes P. officinalis var. 

 rubra, the old-fashioned double red peony 

 of our grandmother's garden. Its su- 

 perb color, freedom of bloom and large 

 size when well grown render it one of 



the best of peonies and indispensable. P. 

 officinalis var. rosea, a fine nearly cherry 

 red variety of much merit, and var. 

 alba, which is a delicate pink on open- 

 ing, changing to white before fading, are 

 important additions, both as being good 

 peonies, and as coming early and there- 

 fore extending the season of bloom. Other 

 varieties of officinalis are listed in for- 

 eign catalogues, but I have not seen 

 them. 



Tree peonies, or P. moutan varieties, 

 come with the officinalis and extend over 

 to the season of the Chinese peonies. 

 Pponia moutan, according to authori- 

 ties, is not known in the wild state, 

 being known only in cultivation, first 

 in China and Japan, where it has been 

 grown for a vety long period. Prof. 

 Charles S. Sargent writes me that he 

 does not know of it in the wild, state, 

 but believes that it will sooner or later 

 turn up. It is a somewhat remarkable 

 fact that a large growing shrubby 

 species, and the only shrubby species of 

 the genus, should be known only as a 

 cultivated plant. Tree peonies are not 

 as easy to grow as herbaceous peonies, 

 are less hardy and more difficult to 

 propagate, also it is not as easy to get 

 really choice varieties. As far as known, 

 all the tree peonies in the market are 

 grafted on moutan, albiflora or offici- 

 nalis stock. August Dessert claims 

 that they do best grown on moutan 

 stock, although it is difficult to get 

 roots of this stock large enough. He 

 says that they use Sinensis (a variety 

 of albiflora) stock and cut scions with 

 two or more eyes and so disposed that 

 at least one eye is beneath the surface 

 of the ground; this eye greatly encour- 

 ages the formation of roots in the graft. 



