May, 1920 .flower (Brower 79 
Some of the Newer Peonies. 
By W. F. Christman, Secretary of The Northwestern Peony & Iris Society. 
[Written expressly for The Flower Grower. J 
T HE CONSTANT quest for some- 
thing new seems to be inherent 
in every creature. We may pos- 
sess, as many of us do, large rep- 
resentative collections of the best ex- 
isting varieties; but with the coming 
of spring there is aroused within us 
that desire for further acquisition, and 
as the beauties of nature unfold with 
the advent of April showers and are 
further enhanced by the smiling sun- 
shine of May and early June, there is 
no diminution in our zeal. 
We are anxiously awaiting the full 
development of some of our rarest beau- 
ties that we will probably gaze upon 
for the first time, and there is a sub- 
dued expectancy that has about reached 
the breaking point as we perceive the 
swollen buds about ready to burst forth 
in full bloom. Judgment is about to 
be passed upon our carefully nurtured 
strangers and comparisons made with 
those that have stood the test of time 
against all competitors. It may be that 
disappointment awaits us ; alluring de- 
scriptions not having reached our full- 
est expectations and we find our new 
acquisition only commonplace. 
Let us not be too hasty in our judg- 
ment for perhaps another year they 
may fulfill in every way what we had 
hoped for. I wish to emphasize very 
forcibly the thought that we must not 
be too hopeful or expect too great 
things from the first year’s planting, 
for rarely indeed, can any Peony do 
itself justice under such conditions, 
especially in rare varieties where the 
divisions have been made exceedingly 
small. It has doubtless taken years to 
bring to perfection, or to fully develop 
the latent powers possessed by the par- 
ticular variety you may be interested 
in, so why not be willing to exercise 
patience for at least two blooming sea- 
sons, or even three, if need be, to let 
the plant get fully acclimated to its 
new environment. It is not ephemeral 
but year after year should more clearly 
prove its worth. Let us satisfy our- 
selves fully that we have given the 
plant every care for the full develop- 
ment of its possibilities before we pass 
final judgment. Should disappoint- 
ments arise, as they are apt to do, we 
find that they are only transitory, and 
we cannot help but admit to ourselves, 
at least, that a life without some dis- 
appointments has not come to the 
fullest realization of its powers, as de- 
feated hopes quite often prove to be 
stepping stones to better and broader 
development of our natures. Person- 
ally I feel that a great deal of unsatis- 
factory results are due to the fact that 
many of the divisions sent out are of 
such exceedingly small size that it 
takes an unusual length of time to 
get results. I fully realize the tempta- 
tion to produce as many divisions as 
possible, but I think these minute divi- 
sions have a tendency to reduce the 
vitality of the plant considerably, espe- 
cially if the practice is continued for 
any length of time. 
Each year as we scan the various 
catalogues we come across some new 
variety that is being offered possibly 
for the first time, and if we have the 
means of acquiring them and the room 
to properly care for them, why should 
they not be added to our collection and 
given a trial? There are many rep- 
utable growers who each year try out 
many of the newer sorts and will not 
offer them to their customers until they 
have satisfied themselves beyond the 
shadow of a doubt that they have merit 
and are worthy of dissemination, and 
we are, therefore, relieved of the ex- 
pense of acquiring and the suspense of 
waiting any extended period to de- 
termine their worth. However, many 
of the new creations are not to be 
found in catalogues as yet, and quite 
likely a number will only be offered by 
the originator, as it will be some years 
before they appear in trade catalogues. 
Those of us who cannot afford the 
expense of securing some of the newer 
and rarer sorts at present prices will 
have to be content until the stock is 
sufficiently propagated to admit of our 
procuring them, but this need not les- 
sen our desires in the least, in fact I 
think it kindles within us a more deter- 
mined effort of acquisition. After all 
we are simply children, grown up per- 
haps, but still possessing the traits to 
be found in our youngsters of wanting 
something we can’t have, and when we 
find the price is prohibitive on some 
fine variety that we are particularly in- 
terested in, we at once set about to 
work out a plan that will permit us to 
realize our ambitions and gratify our 
desires in securing our coveted prize. 
I think we can well afford to dispense 
with some of the older, commonplace 
varieties and give room to the more 
up-to-date creations that are constantly 
finding their way in the front ranks of 
the better class of Peonies. True, we 
cannot well dispense with some of the 
old favorities that have proved their 
worth for many years past and will 
continue to hold a high rank for years 
to come, but many of us are not familiar 
enough with the newer Peonies of the 
present day that may be acquired from 
various growers over the United States, 
to say nothing of European growers, 
and it was with this view in mind that 
I have prepared this article. 
It is not intended to cover all the 
new Peonies that are on the market, 
or may be offered on the market in the 
near future, but I think it will be found 
to represent a large number of the 
very best of the new ones being propa- 
gated at the present time. Some of 
the varieties mentioned are not as yet 
for sale, a stock sufficient to permit 
offering them to the public being too 
limited, but they can be kept on your 
waiting list, and when you visit the 
Peony exhibitions this spring, you will 
doubtless find some of them on display. 
These descriptions have been made 
as brief as possible and in most in- 
stances have been furnished by the 
originators. Some of the Peonies or- 
iginated within the past few years are 
not as well known as they should be 
and are noted below. I have not in- 
cluded foreign originations as a separ- 
ate article could be written on this sub- 
ject alone. I am satisfied that as good 
Peonies can be produced in the United 
States as any place on earth, as tests 
