26 



The Garden Magazine, August, 1919 



only during very wet summers, and follows the blooming 

 period. Purple blotches appear on the leaves and though a 

 great ado has been made about it, it does not seem to render 

 them especially unsightly. The trouble does not extend to, 

 or affect the root in the slightest degree. There is another 

 "disease" of a like character which attacks the stems and 

 sometimes causes them to wilt rather suddenly; but this, 

 except in rare cases, also follows the blooming season, but it 

 does not affect the root in any way. The Peony root itself 

 is subject to no disease that is either fatal or even of temporary 

 seriousness. There are times when plants become "sulky" 

 and refuse to bloom for a season, sometimes even two succes- 

 sive seasons. There are also times when the buds do not 

 mature, and sometimes they turn brown or blast before 

 opening but don't ask any one to explain it, for they can't 

 and any grower who undertakes to do so is just groping in the 

 dark. [It seems to be pretty well established that these are 

 all forms of one, the botrytis, disease which is, in our experi- 

 ence, controllable by dusting on dry bordeaux. — Ed.] 



Some of the above difficulties may be due to the plant's 

 method of taking a season off — a rest; the fruit trees in your 

 orchard do no less. Or it may be caused by over-fertilization 

 or the use of strong manure. 



Selecting the Place to Plant 



Don't plant in low, wet ground. Peonies require lots of 

 moisture but they will not do well in low and constantly 

 damp ground. A situation where there would be a constant 

 supply of water around the roots they would not tolerate at 

 all. 



Don't plant under trees. Peonies will do admirably in partial 

 shade — the shade cast by buildings or trees when the latter 

 are located at a considerable distance. But in no case should 

 roots be set, say for example, within 30 feet of a tree a foot in 

 diameter, and they cannot do well when planted within 12 

 feet of a Privet hedge. 



Don't plant Peonies along the foundation walls of a building, 

 unless you see to it that the plants get their share of water 

 during the growing season. Frequently plantings about the 

 base of a house receive no water for many weeks in succession, 

 the rains all coming from the wrong direction — for the plants! 

 iVloreover, the soil directly around a house frequently con- 

 tains too much miscellaneous refuse — often large quantities of 

 lime — for plants to do well. 



Don't worry about ants. At a certain stage in their develop- 

 ment Peony buds exude a sticky substance which attracts 

 ants by the thousands and they swarm all over the buds and 

 plants. It is scarcely worth while to take any trouble to get 

 rid of them, inasmuch as they don't do the slightest injury, 

 and by the time the buds are ready to unfold, have entirely 

 disappeared. 



Don't Move Your Peonies 



SOME growers have voiced the opinion that roots ought 

 to be taken up and divided every four or five years. 

 But it is a mistake to do so. Roots should be left undisturbed 

 indefinitely. If this is done the plants will increase in vigor 

 and productiveness year after year, the blooms growing larger 

 and more fragrant and nearer and nearer to absolute perfec- 

 tion in form. The Peonies I originally planted have remained 



undisturbed for 25 years, and each one produces every year 

 from 25 to 100 magnificent blooms. 



As to Attention After Blooming 



AGREAT many people thoughtlessly cut down the 

 Peony stems after blooming, close to the ground, 

 to make room for other flowering plants — perhaps annuals 

 nearby. A Peony root has actually more lives than the pro- 

 verbial cat, but this often kills it outright, and if it does not 

 will at least, in every case, cripple the plant to the extent 

 of its bearing the very poorest sort of flowers for several sub- 

 sequent seasons. Foliage is necessary to the life of the plant; 

 in other words, it breathes through, and lives, by reason of 

 its leaves; and thus through the summer months the Peony 

 is growing below ground, storing up energy and forming its 

 eyes for the following season's bloom. It is plainly obvious, 

 too, that even in cutting blooms, too much stem should not 

 be taken with the flower. At least two leaves must 

 be left growing on every stem from which you take blooms. 

 This is as important as not cutting down the whole plant. 



By the first of September the root has finished its work and 

 has become dormant. After first heavy frosts, the tops may 

 be cut off, but I would advise not cutting right down to the 

 ground, but allowing a few inches of the stem to show, to the 

 end that when the annual garden clean up comes the following 

 spring, you will know just where the Peonies are, and there- 

 fore where to avoid raking. 



Be Philosophical 



J~\ON'T be too greatly peeved if your color scheme goes 

 ■LS askew. Many people seem to plan their Peony plant- 

 tings with a certain color effect in mind, or else for a definite 

 succession of bloom. This is the one direction in which 

 Peonies sometimes disappoint, for "early," "mid-season," 

 and "late," attached to the description of the varieties in 

 the catalogues, are really very uncertain. Climate, soil, 

 and the vagaries of the season, all have an enormous influence 

 on the blooming period. For example, two certain varieties 

 may bloom here in our soil and climate, at the same time; 

 somewhere else, near by, they may bloom a week apart. 

 Even here, on our own soil, we have had in certain seasons 

 Couronne d'Or open very shortly after Festiva Maxima, 

 although normally they are ten days and more apart. This 

 illustrates the effect that certain seasons have on some 

 varieties when planted side by side. 



1HAVE always thought that the ideal Peony garden should 

 consist of two plants of each of the varieties desired; one 

 plant for cut flowers, the other for outside display. For 

 while a bed or row of high-grade Peonies in blossom outdoors 

 is a sight worth traveling some little distance to see, beyond 

 question the only way the individual flower may be had at 

 its best is to cut it in the bud and open it indoors. But it is 

 quite an accomplishment to know just when to cut the many 

 varieties, for scarcely any two sorts may be treated exactly 

 alike in this respect. Roughly speaking, the bomb type may 

 be cut much earlier in its stage of development than the rose 

 type, although there are some exceptions to the latter sort, 

 such as Edulis Superba and Festiva Maxima, which open 

 easily and quickly. 



