them. At peony time the following Spring an amateur ex- 

 hibited the results of her efforts at the flower show held by 

 the International Garden Club on their grounds at Bartow 

 Mansion, New York. This tru^ing, confident exhibitor had 

 planted more than one of each of the six varieties because she 

 " showed " quite a large group. Please remember the roots 

 of these " Lotus Flowers " had been planted only the previous 

 Autumn 53 53 



^ The genuine sensation they created did not surprise me 

 at all. They were beautifully, arti^ically " shown," the ^ems 

 were not too long and two-thirds of their length was in a 

 very wide- topped, graceful water jar, giving the great blooms 

 an abundance of room and properly displaying all of their 

 fine details. Interested, fascinated groups were always before 

 them. Every one wished to know what kind of flowers they 

 were, and when they learned they were the Japanese lotus- 

 flowered peonies, without exception, exclaimed " Why they 

 are amazing! " or "I never saw anything so wonderful! " 

 ^ It is true, they are amazing. They are wonderful not because 

 they are so large, or because of their resemblance to the lotus, 

 but because of their silky gleam, the fluttering grace of their 

 rippled petals, their exquisite coloring and the golden centres 

 of their long velvety stamens. 



^ Very large flowers are not always lovely flowers. Sometimes 

 their very size detracfts from their charm, when if they had 

 not been so large they might have been very lovely. But this 

 is not true of the lotus-flowered peonies, because they are free 

 from all stiffness, they have grace, the petals are not upstand- 

 ing and the texture is gleaming and silky. If you hold the 

 ^em and wave it the petals incline like a silken tassel in which- 

 ever direction it is waved, so soft and fine they are. And yet 



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