94 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



October, 1912 



gives blooms of the largest size, it is still 

 delightful for the garden. In late whites 

 there is one superb variety, Marie Lemoine. 



Now we turn to that group of peonies 

 which contains several of the most charming 

 kinds we have — those in which there is a 

 combination of colors, cream or yellow 

 with flesh color or pink, producing an effect 

 of warmth and delicacy that is unsurpass- 

 able. Of these I name Carnea Elegans 

 (Calot), Jeanne d'Arc, Dr. Bretonneau 

 (Guerin) Marie Stuart, Madame de Vatry. 

 All of these are early or mid-season sorts. 

 If I could have just one it should be one of 

 the first two, but the dreadful alternative 

 of deciding which one is fortunately not 

 before me. Carnea Elegans should be given 

 a little shade, as in strong sunlight its 

 delicate colors fade out to a toneless white. 

 Indeed those who will enjoy the full beauty 

 of color in the soft pink and creamy varie- 

 ties should always cut a few blooms of each 

 kind just as they are blowing open, and 

 keep them in a cool room in the house. 

 Here I must name Philomele, with a collar 

 of broad pink petals and a tuft of honey- 

 yellow narrow petals in the centre. 



Another group of exquisite blooms are 

 those in shades of pale flesh pink and pale 

 mauve pink. Therese, one of the very 

 early ones; in mid-season, Marie Crousse, 

 in a unique shade of palest, almost salmon, 

 pink; and Venus, a grand tall flower; later, 



Eugene Verdier; and last, Madame Boul- 

 anger, each one indispensable, inimitable, 

 incomparable! 



It must now be frankly confessed that, 

 in shades of full pink, there are no such 

 colors in Chinese peonies as we could wish. 

 If only we could bring over from the tree 

 peonies some of their coppery pinks and 

 glowing cherry reds! The purplish tone 

 will not "out;" and so there are of rose- 

 pink peonies few that are any better in 

 color, than, say, a Paul Neyron rose. 

 There are many fine large flowers here it is 

 true, and in Livingstone, Claire Dubois, 

 M. Jules Elie, and many others we have 

 excellent show varieties and fine garden 

 objects, as also in the mid-season full red 

 sort, Felix Crousse. 



But I go over with much more satisfac- 

 tion to the true deep reds, of which there 

 are now quite a group of unequalled rich- 

 ness of color. Many of the old deep reds 

 were purplish, or turned purple, but these 

 of which I now speak are the darkest 

 mahogany in tone, and when they change, 

 they turn black. The best of them is M. 

 Martin Cahuzac; but close at his heels 

 come Adolphe Rousseau, Edouard Andre, 

 Volcan, Raphael — all fine, and of merit 

 roughly in the order as given, but the 

 last four are nearly equal in quality. 



Almost all the varieties named are plainly 

 of French origin, from their names; and a 



word must now in justice be said of some 

 fine sorts that have been raised in this 

 country. From John Richardson, who 

 lived in the last century near Boston, we 

 have a number of distinct varieties, several 

 fine. Of superb beauty are his Perfection 

 and Grandiflora. There is some doubt of 

 the correctness of the latter name as or- 

 dinarily applied, but the flower I have in 

 mind is very distinct, enormous in size, 

 full flesh pink in color, very flat in form, 

 and extra late. Perfection is nearly the 

 same in color and almost equally late, but 

 a globular bloom. 



I cannot name here all who in this coun- 

 try have contributed to the improvement of 

 the peony, but there died last year in Mas- 

 sachusetts, George Hollis, who has left us a 

 large group of seedlings, some of great 

 merit. There is Glory for those who love 

 the bizarre — a cup of pink filled with a 

 wild melee of yellow and pink narrow 

 petals. One of the finest of his legacies is 

 Maud L Richardson, often the last to 

 bloom in the garden, a beautiful, flat, pale 

 pink bloom with little yellow petals hidden 

 in the mass of pale rose; the stems this 

 year measured four and a half feet from 

 the ground. 



Go to the peony exhibitions and visit 

 the great peony nurseries when the flowers 

 are in full bloom and select and reject 

 according to your own inner preferences. 



This is the kind of flower garden that gives big results for little labor. Plant one now! 



