The Weekly Florists^ Review 



Jim; L'4. 1900. 



W^ 



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FUTURE OF 



THE PEONY 



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ITS POPULARITY NOT WANING. 



Only Poor Sorts Overdone. 



A'du will hear every now and then 

 I'litiii some grow el' of jjeoiiies ihat tlio 

 peony business is overdone, oi' soon will 

 be. Yet this is true: It is already 

 ovei'doni' in a way, and that way is 

 gidwiny I lie jxiorer \arieties in large 

 (juaidities. It is surjirising to hear the 

 encomiuni-^ )iassed by deaUirs on worth- 

 less peony tliiwers. sorts that should uot 

 lie grown and oiVered at this day. Can 

 it be true that the nurserymen, who no 

 ijoubt distribute more of this product 

 than all others combined, fight shy of 

 the gdod varieties on account of their 

 cost and praise up and push the sale of 

 the jioor varieties, on which they can 

 make a jirofit that puts Standard Oil to 

 shame? If a dealer's standards are to 

 be gauged by the [irofits alone in the 

 business of handling ornamentals, then 

 that man has nussed his calling. The 

 soap or fertilizer business, while not 

 yielding as many shekels, would prob- 

 ably giv(? him more ease of eonscience. 



This reminds nu' of a story that was 

 related at a nurserymen's Ijanquet by 

 one of the craft. He said he had a 

 dream about Mr. A. the president of 

 the associal inn. and .Mr. H. one of the 

 little fellows who ket'ps in the back- 

 ground. In the course of the dream 

 B apjiears before St. I'eter and seeks 

 admission ihiough the pearly gates. St. 

 Petei' informs iiim most emphatically 

 that nn nurserymen need a]>ply ; that it 

 is a lixeil iiile; ,(11 nurserymen whom- 

 soevri- aie denied admission. While B 

 is lamenting his fate, along comes A, 

 Sleeking adnnssiiin. ' ' < 'ertainly, " says 

 St. I'eter. "walk light in."' B turns 

 sh:ii|ily III St. I'eter. saying. ''You Just 

 tuiij nie thai no nurserymen were ad- 

 mitted ;inil I ^ec the gale< tliiovvn wide 

 ojteii fur A." ' • \'es. ■ ■ replies St. 

 I'eter, ''but he's im nurseryman; he 

 iust thinks he is. ' ' 



\iit in youi day. imr vnni ^oii 's day, 

 nor yeiir son '< --on 's day will the jicony 

 luisine^-- be nverdiine. j'.ut tlii^ will 

 li.appen: The buyei will say tn Mr. 

 pealer v\ |]o iiiVers him (liinen-^i-^ Ifusea. 

 .\iiliilissinia, I laiir.-int issiuia. etc : ' • Nay, 

 nay. I'auliiie! None ot' these' I will 

 buv an A^a (ir.av or Mile. Ii'mivveaii in- 

 stead." 



There i- iKi i|ue>iiiin but tluit up to 

 the present time most of the peony niots 

 that havr liren di'^triljuted to planlers 



-I mdd li;iv. 



tne into the di' 

 Notes of the Season. 



at-' 



1'he Ijliioiniiig season this year was 

 twelve days behind l<t(»'^. The earliest 

 variety to bloom. L "I-^sperance. opened 

 May 1'^. Last yenr this same variety 

 opened .May Id. 



Another thing li.'ipptMied. Last year 

 the blooming season, from the earliest 



This is liic Ur>l instiilliiu'iit of ;i painT l).v 



.lolin M. <i I. Ill tio riiMipli'to ill tvMi p.-iri^. — 



tMiloi''. Note. 



to Tlie latest, extended over thirty days, 

 while this year this time was cut ten 

 days. 



Another matter that attracted jiro- 

 nounceil attention was the fact that the 

 plants that were protectetl failed to 

 bloom. To illustrate: A coujile of thou 

 sands of 3-year ])lants of Mt. HIaiic when 

 jirotected with clover chaff ilid not bear 

 a single l)]oom, while the same variety 

 and same aged plants without this pro 

 tection were a perfect sea of bloom and 

 .just a few yards apart. This applied to 

 all varieties alike. <'an some one ex- 

 plain why? 



Observations on Merit and Demerit. 



Ill going over our litdds I made the 

 following notes with regard to varieties: 



Achille (Calot)— This is the Ameri- 

 can Marie Lemoine. The man who sells 

 it under that name sliouM be stood up 

 and lectured. 



Andre Lauries (Crousse) — Deep rose 

 color, a good low priced variety on ac- 

 count of its being the only one of this 

 color and being a late bloomer. Terry's 

 (irandillora and James Yick are both 

 seedlings of this and show no variations 

 that we can detect. 



Asa (iray (Crousse) — This was win 



iier oVer all coiniietitors at two local 

 shows; llesh |dnk. mottled carmine. 



-Vlbert <'rousse (Croussej — This, to 

 niir way of thinking, is a suiierior vari- 

 ety to any nf its color. Kvery tlowei- 

 comes perf(M't ; cohu' an even, solid l']n- 

 chantress or seashell jiink. If there is 

 a better on(> of this color, trot it out. 



Agida — Where a bright line of color 

 is needed this has no superior that we 

 know of; semidouble, bright red. 



Boadicea^This is one of the superb 

 things in peonies that is floating around 

 without any one knowing where it comes 

 from. Not as free as we would like it. 

 Late; white with carmine blotches; high 

 built llowcr ; superb. 



Brennus- .V gooil double dark red; 

 not so deep in color as L'Ecletante. 



Berlioz (Crousse) — A light shade of 

 red tipped with silver; large flowers and 

 free. 



(Janari (Gueriii) — A good peony with 

 fleshy white guards and light yellow cen- 

 ter ; strong grower. You will not dis- 

 appoint any one in selling them this va- 

 riety. 



Charlemagne (Crousse) — After three 

 showers in as many days, the sun com- 

 ing out after each rain, this variety sim- 

 ply said good-bye till next year; it has 

 too many jietals to open properly. 



Dorchester (Kichardson) — In a class 

 by itself for extremely late light-col- 

 ored j)iuks; fine; every bloom erect. 



Due de Wellington (Calot) — Out- 

 classed, in our estimation, by many other 

 whites. 



Dr. Boisduval ((iueriii) — We know of 

 no better dark velvety red; largo double 

 (lower; stock scarce. Dessert says this 

 is like Delachei. We have Delachei from 

 several growers in this county. The 

 Mowers are semidoubh* and by no means 



Peony Mme. Emilc GalL 



