14 



House & Garden 



PEONIES FOR BEGINNER AND COLLECTOR 



Selections That in/l Make An Ample Foundation For 

 A Brilliant Display Each Spring 



THE iiardt'ii without peonies is a 

 contradiction in terms; it simply 

 isn't, can't be a garden. For the 

 miracle of the peonies is a yearly re- 

 freshment of soul and a delight to 

 the eye that knows no equal. 



The last iris are cut. The late 

 pink and yellow cottage tulips are 

 gone. The Iwrder becomes a mass of 

 l>illowv green — the glistening, metal- 

 lic green of the peony leaves, the ga\' 

 green of iris blades, the soft fuzzy 

 greens of fox-gloves and larkspurs, 

 the dainty green of the growing 

 phlo.xes, the stiff, cold, forbidding lilv 

 stalks. Then the miracle slowly but 

 surely takes place — the jwonies begin 

 to Lloom! 



It can't lie described. One's vo- 

 cabulary- simply won't set dow-n that 

 |iicture. .All one can say to the gar- 

 dener who has no peonies, "Go with- 

 out that pair of new shoes, argue your 

 wife out of that new hat, but plant 

 I)eonies this fall!" Enough for a start 

 — say twelve- — will cost you less than 

 a pair of shoes at current prices, and 

 for the price of a lady's hat you can amaze 

 the town. 



Peonies are among the easiest plants in the 

 garden to care for and no conjurer's art is 

 required to make them grow. Begin with 

 twelve this fall and order new types everv vear. 

 -Meanwhile, lest this text becomes an incoherent 

 rhapsody, let us make some peony lists. These 

 may not be perfect selections, but they are 

 sufficient for a beginning. Or the gardener 

 may easily procure the catalog of a specialist 

 and choose his own varieties from those de- 

 scribed therein. 



An ine.xpensive list 

 would consist of the 

 following: 



Boule de Neige — 

 milk-w h i t e guards, 

 center flecked with 

 crimson, early mid- 

 season; Couronne 

 d'Or — pure white, yel- 

 low stamens, tipped 

 carmine, late; Due de 

 Wellington — w bite 

 guards, sulphur cen- 

 ter, fragrant, late; 

 Duchess d 'Orleans — 

 deep pink, salmon 

 center, fragrant, mid- 

 .season; La Coquette 

 — 1 i g h t pink, ro.se 

 white collar, fragrant, 

 mid-season; Louis 

 \'an H o u 1 1 e — deep 

 carmine rose, fra- 

 grant, late ; Mme. Calot 

 — pale hydrangea 

 pink, fragrant, early; 

 Delicatissima — pale 

 lilac rose, mid-season; 

 Emile Lemoine — r e d 

 with silver tip, fra- 

 grant, late; Dr. Bre- 

 touneau — pale lilac 

 rose, center tipped 

 cream-white, fra- 



At the left 

 is Festiva 

 maxima and 

 at the right 

 M . Jules 

 Elie 



The peony bed in blossom 

 pure while uith a ring oj 



is a place of striking beauty. Here is Couronne d'Or, 

 yellow stamens around a central tuft of petals tipped 

 with carmine 



grant, early mid-season; Comte de 

 Paris — guards and collar violet rose, 

 white-crimson crown, fragrant, mid- 

 season; Princess Beatrice — guards and 

 crown light violet rose, collar white, 

 fragrant, mid-season. 



Should the gardener desire a col- 

 lection of the rarer varieties he might 

 select the following. It represents a 

 good selectiort of French and English 

 types, with one American — Excelsior: 

 James Kelway — rose-white chang- 

 ing to milk-white, early mid-season; 

 Excelsior — violet-p u r p 1 e, fragrant, 

 early; Mireille — milk-white, center 

 petals edged dark crimson, fragrant, 

 very late; Livingstone — pale lilac-rose 

 with silver tips, central petals flecked 

 carmine; Simoune Chevalier — pale 

 lilac-rose, collar cream-white, early; 

 La Tendresse — milk-white guards, 

 center flecked with crimson, early; 

 .^L^rguerite Gerard- -very pale hy- 

 drangea-pink, fading to white, late; 

 Princess Maud — lilac-white guards, 

 center amber-w'hi te, late; Albert 

 Crousse — rose-white, flecked crimson, 

 fragrant, late; Souvenir de I'Exposition, d'Bor- 

 deaux — bluish violet-red, mid-season; Mme. 

 Emile Lemoine — milk-white, mid-season; Fes- 

 tiva Maxima — white with center marked 

 crimson. 



The Japanese and single types are often 

 preferred by peony lovers l)ecause they have 

 a very distinct beauty of their own. In de- 

 veloping the peony layout of a garden it is 

 always advisable to try a few singles at least. 

 They play the same role in relation to the ordi- 

 nary peony types that .single roses do to the 

 Hybrid Teas and Hy- 

 .,-,,.,^,,._^ brid Perpetual roses; 



they are the Polyan- 

 thas of the peony 

 family. 



The following se- 

 lection comes from 

 English and Japanese 

 sources : 



Jupiter — rosy ma- 

 genta, medium tall, 

 early; Geraldine — 

 deep carmine-violet, 

 mid-season; Lemon 

 Q u e e n — pure white 

 with cushion of pale 

 yellow petals; George 

 .Alexander — deep ma- 

 roon ; The ^loor — 

 purple-garnet, early 

 G \- p s y — dark rose, 

 mid-season; Cathedral 

 — blu.sh, center petals 

 creamy ; Albiflora, The 

 Bride — pure white, a 

 tall and free grower; 

 .\pple Blossom — 

 blush-yellow in center 

 petals; Crystal Queen 

 — pure white; .Austin 

 Chaml>erlain — deep 

 amaranth-red, early; 

 Dragon's Head — 

 petals pale rose striped 

 dark crimson. 



