September. 1905 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



73 



100. The petal arrangement in Princess Beatrice gives 

 an irregular, three-storied effect. Color light pink 



101. Doubling incomplete. A few yellow stamens 

 relieve the darK red of the petals. Louis Van Houttei 



102. Feathery petaloids. Compare with those ii 

 Fig. 99, which are club-liKe. Name uncertain. PinK 



house, for the hot sun bleaches out the deli- 

 cate gradations of color, especially in the 

 darker hues. Cut them just as the guard 

 petals begin to open and, as each bud is cut, 

 drop it into a pail of fresh water. If they are 

 not immediately put into water, bubbles of 

 air will be drawn into the stem, which will 

 interfere with the passage of water, thereby 

 shortening the life of the blooms. Double 

 blooms should last a week in the house if 

 kept in a cool place and the water changed 

 every day. 



If a proper selection of varieties is made 

 peony blooms may be had full six weeks. 



The season is ushered in about the middle of 

 May by P. tenuijolia, and carried along by 

 the well-known old double red peony (P. offi- 

 cinalis, var. rubra). Then come the tree 

 peonies (P.Moutan) and, before they are gone, 

 the earliest varieties of the Chinese peonies 

 (P. albi flora). Somewhere near July ioth 

 the blooming season closes with the latest 

 varieties of the albiflora group. 



There are too many varieties, and it is very 

 difficult for the amateur, or anyone else for 

 that matter, to purchase stock which will in 

 even' case prove itself true to name. 



The range of peony color shows almost 



every shade from white to pink, flesh, salmon, 

 crimson, purple, and amaranth. There are 

 but few yellow-flowered varieties, and these 

 are generally of a very light color, with the 

 guard petals more nearly white or pink. No 

 satisfactory solid yellow is as yet known. 



One of the attractive features of a collection 

 of peonies is the diversity of form in the 

 flowers, running from the single with a mass 

 of golden-yellow stamens in the centre up 

 through the various degrees of doubling to the 

 enormous perfect double, where all the 

 stamens, and in many cases even the seed 

 vessels, have been changed to petals. In 



103. The petaloids in Mme. Breon are erect in morn- 

 ing, becoming recurved in the evening. Pale yellow 



104. Mixed petals. This flower lacKs character and 

 holds its form poorly when cut. Name uncertain 



105. An ideal flower. Petaloids greatly developed, but 

 still distinct from guard petals. Chas. Binder, deep pinK 



TYPES OF DEVELOPMENT IN THE DOUBLE PEONY. FIGS. 99 TO 106 



