HARDY FLOWERS. 



T25 



are washed down to the roots just when they are most in 

 need of assistance, while the covering keeps the surface 

 of the soil in a moist condition, and prevents the roots 

 being parched during the summer months. Supplies of 

 liquid manure in the spring and summer also tend to 

 preserve the plants in a vigorous state of health. 

 Paeonies should not be placed too near together in the 

 beds, lyd. apart each way being quite close enough. II 

 it is thought that the beds will look lure for the first 

 year or two, they may lie surfaced with carpeting plants, 

 such as Tufted Pansies, Saxifrages, or such-like. When 

 once planted in congenial soil, and well looked after in 

 the matter of feeding, Paeonies may be left undisturbed 

 for a dozen or more years ; indeed, it often takes four or 

 five years for them to attain their normal size after being 

 first put out. A 

 pretty spring 

 picture is 

 afforded by 

 planting the 

 yellow trumpet 

 Narcissi close to 

 herbaceous 

 Paeonies. These 

 then bloom just 

 when the 

 Peonies are 

 throwing up 

 their young car- 

 mine shoots, and 

 the contrast of 

 colours is very 

 effective. Lilies 

 also may be 

 planted with ad- 

 vantage among 

 groups of 

 Paeonies, as the 

 foliage of the 

 latter shelters 

 the young Lily 

 stems, while, 

 after the 

 Paeonies have 

 finished bloom- 

 ing, the Lilies 

 commence to 

 expand their tall 

 flower spires. 



The herba- 

 ceous Paeonies 

 are usually 

 divided into two 

 classes, the 

 early- flowering, 

 May - blooming, 

 species, and the 

 June - flowering 

 varieties of 

 Paeonia albi- 

 flora, or Chinese 

 Paeony, whose 



numberless double and single forms are so well 

 known in our gardens to-day, and have been added 

 to greatly of late years by such raisers as Messrs. 

 Kelway and Son of Langport. These latter may, 

 with advantage, be planted bin. deep, but the early- 

 flowering species, with the exception of the old 

 double garden Paeony, are better planted not more than 

 2in. below the surface. The following are the best 

 known of the early-flowering species : P. anomala, a 

 native of Northern Europe, with single flowers of a 

 bright red colour, 4m. or more in diameter, and 

 beautifully-cut foliage. Of this species there arc- 

 several varieties of different shades of crimson. 

 A. arietina, from Southern Europe, flowers crimson, 

 single, leives glaucous. Of this Paeony there are 

 about a dozen varieties, of which Crown Prince, 



P.UONY MOONLIGHT 



rich crimson, and Northern Glory, rose pink, are 

 the best. 



P. allMflora, introduced in 1548, is a native of Siberia, 

 and bears large single white flowers with golden stamens, 

 upon stems from 2ft. to 3ft. long. The June-flowering 

 herbaceous Paeonies, both double and single, are 

 varieties ol I', albiflora or edulis. Their flowers are very 

 large and handsome, and range in colour from white 

 through blush, pink, and rose to deep crimson, the 

 majority of them being sweetly scented. The following 

 twenty-four named varieties form a good selection: 

 Agnes Parr, rose and while, shaded yellow ; Countess of 

 Clancarty, white, very double ; I )e Candolle, rose pink ; 

 Duke of Edinburgh, deep rose ; Eugene Verdier, blush 

 white; Festiva maxima, snow white spreading flowers, 



very fine ; Joan 

 Seaton, cherry 

 rose ; Lady 

 Hcresford, blush 

 pink ; Leonie, 

 blush w h i t e ; 

 Lord Salisbury, 

 crimson ; 

 Madame Eur- 

 t ad o , rose ; 

 Madame Loise 

 Mere, pale pink, 

 late ; Madame 

 Calot, while, 

 tinted rose ; 

 Nimrod, deep 

 rose ; Prince 

 Prosper, deep 

 crimson ; Prin- 

 cess Clotilde, 

 flesh white; 

 Peine d e s 

 Francaises, 

 silvery pink ; Sir 

 Walter Scott, 

 brilliant rose ; 

 Solfaterre, 

 sulphur white ; 

 Summer's Day, 

 creamy white ; 

 Tor q u em ada, 

 peach; 

 Triomphe de 

 Paris, while; 

 Whitleyi, white, 

 tinged yellow ; 

 and Z o e 

 Verniory, pink 

 and primrose ; 

 while the fol- 

 lowing eight are 

 excel 1 e n t 

 singles : Argus, 

 bright rose ; 

 Duchess of 

 Sutherla n d, 

 flesh pink; 



Hesperus, bright pink : Queen of the May, rosy pink ; 

 The Bride, while ; The Moor, crimson maroon ; Venus, 

 white, shaded rose; and Water-lily, snow white and 

 globular, fine. 



BfOteri, a native of the mountains of Spain and 

 Portugal, flowers single, bright pink, stems coral red, 

 leaves green above, glaucous beneath. 



COrallina, bom Asia Minor, flowers single, carmine 

 pink. The seed-vessels are particularly attractive 

 in the autumn, when they open out and disclose 

 the crimson seeds, wdiich have the appearance of 

 coral. This Paeony grows wild on the Steep Holme 

 Island in the Bristol Channel. A variety of this is 

 P. Russi, from Sicily, flowers single, large, of a light 

 purple colour, and sweetly scented, foliage blue-green 

 and glistening. 



