JUNB 25, 1008.- 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



deep pink; Prairie King, late, tall, deep 

 red. 



He thinks that ultimately we will 

 come down to about seventy-five vari- 

 eties. C. S. Harrison. 



SINGLE PEONIES. 



Notes on a Little Known Flower. 



Commercially, the single peonies are 

 much less grown than their beauty and 

 other good qualities would seem to war- 

 rant. The fact that they flower earlier 

 than the double herbaceous class is one 

 great point in their favor. Then, again, 

 their extreme grace appeals to many 

 critical flower buyers far more than the 

 doubles, the beautiful golden stamens 

 setting off the light-colored and crimson 

 varieties wonderfully. For dining-table 

 centerpieces they are decidedly preferable 

 to the doubles, which are too heavy, no 

 matter how carefully they may be ar- 

 ranged. 



It is tolerably well known that peony 

 flowers, to keep well, should be cut either 

 late in the evening or early in the morn- 

 ing, preferably the latter, and stood 

 in a good bulk of water in a cold room 

 as soon as possible. In the case of 

 the singles it is better to do this before 

 the blooms have reached their full «ize. 

 If treated in this way they will last in 

 the house fully as well as the doubles. 



Culture. ( 



Cultural directions for peonies have 

 been given so often that it would seem 

 as though nothing new could be said 

 on this point. They love rich, deep, well- 

 manured ground, and if it is rather 

 moist, all the better. They succeed well 

 in partial shade and, if some are planted 

 in such locations, it will allow of a 

 longer succession of bloom. While plant- 

 ing may be done from August until 

 April, we have found September an ex- 

 cellent month for this work. If set out 

 thus early, the divisions get a chance to 

 root freely before freezing weather 

 sets in. 



Some Good Sorts. 



Each year sees an addition to the va- 

 rieties of single peonies from European 

 and home sources, and striking advances 

 are being made in them. A few of the 

 older and better known varieties worthy 

 of attention are: Albiflora, pure white 

 with golden stamens ; Bridesmaid, a beau- 

 tiful white of large size ; f estiva f ragrans, 

 rose; Whitley i major, pure white, a good 

 old sort; La Fraicheur, pinkish white; 

 La Fiancee, silky, pure white petals; 

 Claribel, purple; Bacchus, dark crimson; 

 tenuifolia, crimson, very early; officina- 

 lis, rosy purple, and the varieties rosea, 

 red, and Striata elegans, crimson, flaked 

 maroon, are also valuable early blooming 

 sorts. Hesperus is a lovely bright pink, 

 and Ideality, of a deep rose color, is su- 

 perb; Stanley, rich maroon crimson, with 

 pure gold stamens, is a lovely variety. 



A few other sorts we have grown are: 

 Mrs. "Vernon Harcourt, beautiful flesh 

 shade; Sir Edward Lawson, pure rose; 

 Lady Jeane, blush white; Lady Helen 

 Vincent, white, tinged flesh, a beauti- 

 ful variety; Duchess of Sutherland, flesh 

 pink; Earl of Pavis, cherry rose, and 

 Countess of Warwick, soft flesh. The 

 prominent way in which the masses of 

 golden stamens stand out from the 

 centers of the flowers make them doubly 

 charming. 



The Japanese Class. 



The newer race of Japanese Imperial 



Single Peony Venus. 



(Showing character of the plant.) 



single peonies are centers of attraction 

 at all exhibitions. These are not single 

 flowers, as are the varieties previously 

 referred to, usually having two or three 

 rows of petals. The yellow stamens add 

 much to their beauty, lying loosely in the 

 centers of the flowers. Of these, the fol- 

 lowing have proved satisfactory and are 

 admired more than any other single sorts 

 while in bloom : Princess Opaleep, single 

 pink, with very prominent golden an- 

 thers; Lady Cecilia Rose, pure white; 

 Cendrillon, cherry red; Moonlight, sil- 

 very white, and White Lady, pure white 

 and water-lily-like in form. As they be- 

 come better known we look to see the 

 Japanese class become more widely grown 

 and popular than the ordinary singles. 

 Some of our American specialists are 

 now carrying a good selection of these 

 in stock. W. N. Craig. 



PEONY TESTS. 



"When we do not speak of things with a 

 partiality full of love, what we say is not 

 worth being repeated." 



How apropos this sentiment after 

 feasting for almost a month amid the 

 beauties of the king of flowers, the 

 peony! From the time the first flower 

 opened (L'Esperance, May 16), until the 

 last flower was gone (Dorchester, June 

 15), there was displayed before the won- 

 dering eyes of the lucky beholder a pan- 

 orama of coloring that by its rapid tran- 

 sition was kaleidoscopic in effect and 

 simply indescribable, a veritable month 

 of beauty. 



As to those whose familiarity with the 

 peony recalls only the old, commoner va- 

 rieties of our grandmothers' gardens or 

 the varieties usually sold by the nursery 

 trade, I would say to them that they 

 have no conception of the wonderland 



opened up to them by the newer peonies. 

 The collection being gathcreil at Cor- 

 nell should set everybody right as to 

 nomenclature and place the peony on a 

 safe commercial basis, in that growers 

 would be sure of obtaining what they 

 desired. 



A great deal of complaint has been 

 registered about substitution.' Substitu- 

 tion can only be aceomplished in two 

 ways — by premeditation and from lack 

 of knowledge. My opinion, based on an 

 experience with plants purchased from 

 fourteen American and throe foreign 

 growers, would lead me to state that 

 lack of knowledge as to the right name 

 of a peony is the cause of practically 

 all of the substitution. 



It is to be hoped that the Cornell ex- 

 perts will in no event come to a conclu- 

 sion as to the correct name for a peony 

 from the fact that a majority of Amer- 

 ican growers have a variety under a cer- 

 tain name. To illustrate, from several 

 growers, both foreign and home, was 

 bought the variety Eugene Verdier. 

 While I am not an expert, I should say 

 that only one firm (foreign) is selling 

 the true plant, the others selling the va- 

 riety known as L 'Indispensable. 



Then, again, the two varieties, Mont 

 Blanc and Solfatare, have no resem- 

 blance extept in color, and yet are 

 claimed, so far as we know, by all Amer- 

 ican growers to be the same peony. With 

 such vexatious questions settled once and 

 for all, it would simplify the peony 

 business and make us all toe the mark 

 and be good, and there would be an end 

 of the confusion that now exists by rea- 

 son of the fact that anyone who has a 

 few years' experience in collecting peo- 

 nies forthwith sets himself up as a know- 

 it-all, when the fact is that what he does 



