THE PEONY 



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At about the same season the shrubby or hardy tree Peonies (P. Mou- 

 tan) open their enormous glossy single or double flowers. The shrubby 

 Peony grows very slowly. It should be planted where it is sheltered 

 from the wind. 



The last groups to bloom are the albiflora varieties. These often 

 begin to bloom in New York State for Memorial Day. For a suc- 

 cession of Varieties to bloom, Rev. G. S. Harrison, who might be 

 called the Ghapledn of American Geirdeners, recommends the veirieties 

 umbellata rosea, L'Esperance, eduhs superba, Monsieur Dupont, 

 Richardson's rubra superba, Henry Woodward, Richardson's grandi- 

 flora. Mr. Harrison, speaking further of prolonging the blooming of 



the Peony, says: " There is also a system by which the blooming of a 

 single variety can be prolonged. Take a row, say of Festiva maxima; 

 wait until the ground has frozen soUd; leave the end of the row un- 

 covered. Then, farther on, put on mulching and increase the depth 

 until, at the farther end, it is a foot to eighteen inches deep; leave this 

 on. The covering keeps the frost in; then the plant will take some 

 time to push up through the mulchirlg. You can apply this system to 

 the later varieties and so lengthen the flowering season considerably." 

 A word may be necessMy to explain the method of doubling in the 

 Peony. The normal or single flower is composed of petals (we shall 

 call aJl the petals guard petals in this case) ; stamens or the male pfirt 

 of the flower (these are yeUow at the tip and bear pollen) ; the pistil, 

 each section of which we caU a carpel (this is often red and bears the 

 seed). In doubling, the stamens become wider and wider until they 



