The Garden Magazine, September, 1920 
33 
yellow Peony that shall be an improvement on anything that 
we now possess, and the other for a seedling in a lavender-pink 
shade. 
In addition to this nation-wide association the growers in the 
Northwestern States have organized in recent years the North- 
western Peony and Iris Society, which stages an annual show in 
Minneapolis. 
L ET no one be discouraged by the thought that in order to 
4 compete either for these prizesorfor less spectacular recogni- 
tion he should have sowed his seeds ten or fifteen years ago! 
If not then, why not now — so as to be ready for the prizes that 
will be offered ten or fifteen years hence? Who can set a limit 
to the possible improvement in a flower attainable through 
patient and long continued effort? The development of the 
Peony is as yet nowhere near its end, and those who will begin 
their labors now with intelligence may have the satisfaction 
twenty years hence of feeling that they too have contributed 
something of permanent value to horticulture. We have 
undeniably a fine tradition to maintain in America, and every- 
thing that has so far been done by those whose names have been 
mentioned should therefore be but as a prelude to immensely 
greater activity in the future. There is no more entertaining 
and charming pursuit moreover than the growing of fine plants 
from seed. 
To be sure it does take patience, good judgment, determina- 
tion, and a little skill — patience to wait while your labors come 
to fruition; good judgment in the selection of seed and of seed 
parents, so that the years may not be spent in awaiting the 
maturing of plants doomed from the start to be worthless; 
determination, that when your own plants, your children of ten 
years care and watching, do prove themselves inferior, you may 
be able remorselessly to sacrifice them; and, finally, skill enough 
to keep plants alive in your garden. Not an exacting list of 
requirements, by any means; indeed the Peony is everyman’s 
flower, if he chooses. 
So if we are to have a Peony mania in America, let us 
make it toward the betterment of the flower and toward its 
wider dissemination among all lovers of fine plants, rather 
than a speculative, hectic scramble. 
A T THE annual exhibitions of the American 
l Peony Society there are classes provided 
for seedlings and this society now offers, through 
the generosity of two of its members, two prizes 
of $ioo each, which may be competed for at any 
of the annual shows. One of these is for a new 
TO THE ENTHUSIAST HIS PEONY BEDS ARE ALL HE WANTS 
On this garden plot only twenty by forty feet in size at Mr. Daniel 
Lowe’s residence, Salem, Mass., over a thousand blooms were produced 
and at his death left some meritorious sorts of his own origina- 
ting, one of which is now offered in commerce. 
Mr. Shaylor has introduced several Peonies which have 
rapidly made a name for themselves, and which already make 
frequent appearance on the exhibition tables. Georgiana 
Shaylor and Mary Woodbury Shaylor in doubles, and Le Jour, 
a single white, may be named as among his most successful 
introductions; while his fine double white named Mrs. Edward 
Harding won a special prize of $100 recently offered for a new 
Peony of distinguished merit. From the Thurlow nursery an 
excellent dark red named Cherry Hill made its appearance a 
few years ago. At the national show in Detroit in 1919 other 
fine seedlings — Nymphaea, Pride of Essex, etc. — attracted a 
great deal of attention; and more recently still this firm has 
placed on the market a group of about half a dozen new sorts, 
among which we may expect to find desirable additions to our 
lists. 
Western Contributions 
W HILE in the East unsparing labor was being spent in 
developing new and finer types of bloom, in the West also 
enthusiasts appeared. The earliest of these in time was H. A. 
Terry of Crescent, Iowa, who raised seedlings in large numbers, 
a few of which may find a permanent place among the standard 
sorts. The Rev. C. S. Harrison, of York, Nebraska, who died 
only last year, was not alone a Peony grower; he was the prophet 
of the Peony, and did much to promote a knowledge of his 
favorite flower all through the middle west. As a raiser of 
seedlings he has not an important place, but in the history of 
Peony culture in this country his name will always be remem- 
bered, for his enthusiasm has kindled many to a like ardor. 
His little Peony manual was the first book devoted solely to this 
flower and his pen and his voice were unwearied in proclaiming 
the Peony as the ideal plant for western, and particularly for 
northwestern, gardens. 
Mrs. Sarah A. Pleas, who grew Peonies in Indiana before 
moving to California where she now lives, has waited long to 
see fame come to any of her varieties. But it has come at last. 
Her Jubilee was awarded high honors at the national show in 
Philadelphia in 1917; and again this year, at Reading, a vase 
of six Jubilee carried off the palm though com- 
peting with some of the best of the European 
and American sorts. J. F. Rosenfield of Omaha 
has also made a name for himself through the 
introduction of a few fine things; and, in more 
recent years, A. M. Brand of Fairbault, Minne- 
sota, has enriched our gardens by the addition of 
a number of new sorts. 
Mr. Rosenfield’s most successful Peony so 
far introduced is the variety Karl Rosenfield, 
now one of the good standard dark reds, widely 
grown, and highly esteemed. Mr. Brand’s in- 
troductions cover all the shades from white to 
the darkest red. While he has brought us in 
whites Frances Willard, a flower of great beauty, 
Elizabeth Barrett Browning, extraordinary in 
size, and in pinks another mammoth bloom, 
Martha Bulloch, it is in the darker shades that 
Mr. Brand has been especially fortunate. In 
Mary Brand, Longfellow, and Lora Dexheimer 
he has produced three telling and effective reds 
which have quickly gained general recognition, 
and appear now every year among the extra good 
ones on the tables at our shows. 
