GARDENS NEAR THE SEA 



people. Peonies now occur in all shades of white, 

 pink, lilac, carmine, crimson, and red, and there is 

 even the P. solfatare, which shows blossoms of sulphur 

 yellow. P. tenuifolia is peculiar on account of the 

 fernlike cut of its leaves. Among white peonies 

 none is more beautiful than the well-known festiva 

 maxima. Wonderful effects can be gained by a massive 

 planting of peonies. In China and Japan, this fact 

 has been appreciated for generations. By using the 

 early, the intermediate, and the late varieties, the 

 bloom of a garden of peonies may be extended for a 

 considerable period. 



It is frequently argued that peonies are for distant 

 and rather bold effects. It seems to me, on the con- 

 trary, that the nearer and the more intimately they 

 are grown in a garden the better for its beauty. 



The peony is in no sense a vulgarian; it is an aristo- 

 crat among aristocrats, the royal flower of China, 

 and believed by the Greeks to be of divine origin. 

 Pests, blights, and diseases never touch the plant. 

 It will not run out in a garden, but once having shown 

 its loyalty, steadfastly regards it as its home and 

 increases in size and beauty until the last day. 



The old gardens of New England towns snuggling 

 closely to the sea were rich in peonies. In a garden in 

 Salem, one old plant has borne a hundred flowers in a 

 season, another has borne sixty, another forty, deemed 

 there a small number. Like a rare work of art, the 

 peony becomes more beautiful as it grows old. 



The exquisite water-color illustration (plate xli.) 

 represents the peonies in a modern garden at Stonington, 



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