Jima 16. 1910. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



General View ot tbe Amencan i'eony Society's Last Exbibition m Horticultural Hall, Boston. 



So far this season the committee has 

 visited and worked among the peonies 

 at Wyomissing, Andorra Nurseries, Cot- 

 tage Gardens Co. and Geo. H. Peterson, 

 Fairlawn, N. J., and it is a significant 

 fact that the descriptions already taken 

 practically cover everything to be 

 found in any of these large collections 

 with but few exceptions, covering al- 

 most completely tho extensive cata- 

 logues of Lemoine and Dessert. 



"With the conclusion of the test at 



Cornell, what is to be the future of the 



society? Shall it consider its work 



•ompleted and disband, or will it find 



aew interests to keep it alive? The 



lahlia, the gladiolus and other flowers 



have newly-formed societies composed 



of their devotees, to say nothing of the 



lid societies in other lines, and it would 



"^eem that surely a flower as beautiful 



■>nd popular as the peony, with a his- 



ory and pedigree not approached by 



'hat of any other flower, should find 



ibundant support from its enthusiastic 



idmirers to maintain its organization. 



The interest in the nomenclature 

 • ommittee was largely a commercial 

 '>ne, arising from the difficulties which 

 "lealers experience in purchasing from 

 *'ach other with any degree of certainty 

 IS to what they would receive. But as 

 'lealers acquire what stock they desire 

 they will deal with each other less and 

 future sales will depend more on the 

 popularity of the peony with the gen- 

 eral public. New membership to the 

 society will come more and more from 

 fhe amateurs who become interested in 

 the peony and acquire large collections 

 because of their admiration of the flow- 

 er* rather .than from commercial mo- 

 tives. "We should give the amateurs 

 and private growers our warmest wel- 

 come. 



The peony for Memorial day has be- 



come almost the national flower, and 

 justly so, for certainly nothing else can 

 so well serve that purpose. But it is 

 unfortunate that in many places there 

 is a tendency to consider that the peony 

 has served its purpose as soon as Memo- 

 rial day has passed. There should be no 

 reason for this, as the varieties which 

 follow later are superior both in beauty 

 and keeping qualities to those which 

 may be best for Memorial day, and it is 

 gratifying to note that in many locali- 

 ties the usefulness of the peony for 

 general decorative purposes is being 

 recognized. In many western cities, 

 particularly, there is a steady demand 

 for blooms which are kept in storage 

 until well into July. The most valu- 

 able varieties after the very early ones 

 are the very late ones, which come in 

 and are in demand after the earlier 

 ones are gone. 



In narrowing the list of varieties 

 down to the best hundred, much will 

 depend on the point of view. For the 

 florist, fifty varieties would doubtless 

 be ample. For him a variety is of no 

 value if it does not keep well, ship 

 well and have the right shade of color, 

 and it must be fragrant. The landscape 

 gardener will consider chiefly the habit 

 of the plant, its floriferousness and its 

 general effect at a distance planted in 

 masses. The full size and heaviness of 

 many of the finest cut flower varieties 

 render them unfit for this purpose, and 

 both classes would debar entirely, for 

 one reason or another, hundreds of the 

 varieties which would appeal to the 

 amateur. Many amateurs admire the 

 semi-doubles, the loose crown types and 

 other distinct types, so that in select- 

 ing our list of the best hundred the 

 tastes of all classes must be taken into 

 consideration. 



I must confess that my own taste in 



the selection of the varieties is largely 

 that of the amateur, since my pfime 

 motive in growing peonies has never 

 been for cut flowers as a specialty. The 

 single peony as a cut flower is not a 

 good seller, but where can there be 

 found among all the doubles anything 

 to compare with such singles as Stan- 

 ley, Jupiter or La Fiancee for large 

 massing of color effect? Their upright 

 habit and lightness of flower enable 

 them to withstand the rain and winds 

 so destructive to the heavier double 

 kinds. There are, it is true, a large 

 number of inferior single varieties 

 which should be promptly eliminated 

 from our list, which is true also of a 

 large number among the other classes. 



We have previously been cautioned 

 against the tendency to name new seed- 

 lings which are inferior to varieties al- 

 ready in existence. There are so many 

 almost perfect varieties that many be- 

 lieve it almost impossible to make any 

 additions that are genuine improve- 

 ments. The American Peony Society 

 sjiould, and it is to be hoped will, come 

 to be recognized as the authority com- 

 petent to pass on the merits of a new 

 introduction and they should be so con- 

 servative that their certificate of merit 

 granted to a new variety should be- 

 come a guarantee of the value of the 

 new introduction. 



The splendid collection which will be 

 in existence at Cornell University will 

 furnish the society with unusual facili- 

 ties for judging a new variety. When- 

 ever possible a specimen plant of the 

 new variety should be sent to Cornell 

 in order that it may prove its merits 

 among the older varieties already estab- 

 lished. This cannot always be done 

 while the originator is in possession of 

 only a few plants, which he would not 

 wish to disturb or part with; neither 



