Smptumubh ll.', 19U7. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Peony Thryne. 



tual good of your customers and your 

 associates and you will benefit yourself. 

 Then, if you have the executive ability, 

 you are what I understand to bo an \ip 

 to-date retail manager. 



PEONY PLANTING. 



The season for digging, <Uviding, ship- 

 ping or replanting peonies is at hand, and 

 in some localities the work already is well 

 under way. As a general proposition the 

 peony business this season has not come 

 up to the eicpectations of those who were 

 counting on a large run of orders for 

 stock for cut flowers. There is no falling 

 oflP in the demand for peonies for home 

 planting or for landscape work. There is, 

 indeed, an increased demand for the 

 choicer varieties, single plants for collec- 

 tions, larger lots for the wealthy owners 

 of large estates, and for considerable 

 quantities from those who foresee a 

 steady increase in the call for these finer 

 sorts. The only place where the demand 

 for peonies has fallen off is. from those 

 who were a few years ago planting them 

 by the acre for cut flowers. 



The average florist who had no peonies 

 is planting a few this fall, for his own 

 use. While he does not want a quantity 

 to ship to a wholesale market, he feels 

 the necessity for a few of the better cut 

 flower varieties on his own place; also, he 

 realizes that groups of the finer varieties 

 flowered on his lawn in spring will enable 

 him to take a large number of orders for 

 plants of these varieties, which he may 

 either produce himself, or buy of the 

 wholesale grower. 



Taking it all in all, this promises to be 

 a fairly satisfactory season for the grow- 

 ers of peonies who have the better sorts. 

 TTie common trash and mixed lots are not 

 wanted. The only way they can be 

 worked off is through the nursery agent. 

 The fine varieties wfll' never cease to be 

 in demand. 



JoLiKT, III. — J. D. Thompson has in- 

 corporated his retail business as Thomp- 

 son, Florist, the capital stock being .$2,- 

 500. The incorporators are J. D. Thomp- 

 son. B. C. Rphpr and P. W. Poterson. 



PEONIES THAT SURVIVE. 



A large part of the peonies in gen- 

 eral cultivation in the United States are 

 of French origin and in the majority 

 of cases the ones largely grown have 

 been on the market many years. Marie 

 Lemoine appears to be a peony which 

 has only recently come into its own. It 

 was not much heard of until a few years 

 ago, but it now is 'in practically every 

 collection, thirteen of the trial lots sent 

 to Cornell containing it. It was intro- 

 duced by f'alot in 1869. There is some 

 variation in the phraseology of the 

 growers' descriptive lists, but there is 

 little complaint of stock not being true. 

 H. Den Ouden & Co., Boskoop, call its 

 color soft yellow rose. Their neighbors, 

 Endtz, Van Nes & Co., describe it as 



sulphury white lightly shaded chamois. 

 Dessert, in France, adds to the latter 

 color description the words, "with nar- 

 row carmine edge," and supplements it 

 by saying that the bloom, which is late, 

 is enormous. Peterson, at Chicago, calls 

 it a solid, massive bloom of extra size, 

 delicate ivory white, very late. C. W. 

 Ward says it is a magnificent variety and 

 very scarce. 



Mme. Crousse is an old and widely 

 known variety, originated in France, by 

 Calot, and first offered, as far as records 

 go, in 1866. W. A. Peterson, Chicago, 

 considers it one of the best. He de- 

 scribes it as pure white, but sometimes 

 with slight crimson markings in the cen- 

 ter, and comments on its fragrance. A. 

 Dessert, the widely known French peony 

 grower, describes it thus: "Large 

 bloom, pure white, center edged with 

 bright carmine, fine bud, strong stems, 

 one of the best white varieties for cut 

 flowers." It is widely grown, the va- 

 riety being in nine of the collections sent 

 to Cornell for trial. 



Jeanne d'Arc is another old variety 

 credited to Calot in 1858. Nine growers 

 included it in collections sent to Cor- 

 nell. Den Oudsn & Co. describe it as 

 flesh color, white and rose center. 

 Endtz, Van Nes & Co., who put it in a 

 list of choice varieties, say it is a large, 

 soft pink flower, sulphur white and 

 lively rose, center spotted carmine, to 

 which Dessert adds that it is a "very 

 fresh color. ' ' 



Boule de Neige is a Calot variety of 

 1862. Only four growers sent it to Cor- 

 nell. Dessert calls it a largo cup-shaped 

 bloom of perfect shape, with brightly 

 sulphured center, bordered with bright 

 carmine; habit erect. It is listed with 

 practically identical descriptions by most 

 of the European growers, but American 

 growers do not carry large stocks of it. 



Mme. de Verneville is a comparatively 

 recent variety, being listed as distributed 

 by Crousse in 1885. It is in six of the 

 trial lots at Cornell. Peterson describes 

 it as pure white with red flakes in cen- 

 ter, large guard petals, early, free, fra- 

 grant and very delicate. H. Den Ouden 

 & Co. call it yellow, white, bufflsb. 



Peony Mrt. Villock. 



