6 
Slower (Brower 
January, 1918 
THE PEONY 
A FLOWER FOR FARMERS TO CULTIVATE. 
AFTER having worked for several 
years in my father’s Peony garden, 
and learned a great deal about the 
cultivation of this flower, I have often 
wondered why it is not grown more 
widely, both by farmers and the own- 
ers of small gardens. Certainly there 
is no flower that requires so little care 
and gives so much pleasure in return. 
Perhaps, however, the gardeners and 
farmers of today do not know the 
wonderful development which this 
flower has undergone in the last three- 
quarters of a century. There was a 
time when if anyone spoke of the 
Peony, everybody thought of the old- 
fashioned flower of our grandmother’s 
day — a bright crimson or white blos- 
som that is through blooming before 
some of the finer modern varieties of 
the Peony have begun to unfold. But 
now what a wealth of beauty and color 
the thousand or more present varieties 
of the Peony afford us ! Some of these 
are as delicately tinted as roses and pos- 
sess fragrance, too ; others are of more 
brilliant shades, and arrest attention by 
their very novelty of color. Best of 
all, the Peony season can now be made 
to last through a whole month, for 
there are many early and many late 
varieties. 
It is really remarkable when one 
thinks of the wonderful improvement 
in the flower itself that the newer va- 
rieties of the Peony should be as easy 
to grow as the old-fashioned bright red 
flower of your grandmother’s day, 
which always came up and bloomed, 
no matter how cold the winter. A little 
care at the time of planting, a little 
more tending-to for a year or two after- 
ward, and your Peony is almost sure 
to last a lifetime and prove a more 
beautiful hardy flower in your yard 
with every passing year. For its per- 
manence and beauty together it would 
seem the ideal flower for the busy 
farmer’s front yard. It is almost the 
only flower that will solve the problem 
in his mind of getting a hardy flower 
that will grow vigorously and take care 
of itself after being once planted. 
The planting of the Peony is a com- 
paratively simple matter if certain 
things are kept in mind. In the first 
place, it should be planted in a large 
hole, at least 20 inches deep, and from 
two feet to three feet in diameter ac- 
cording to the size of the root. This is 
necessary on account of the rapid rate 
at which the plant grows ; its tubers 
dig deep in the earth in their search 
for nourishment, and the Peony is on 
the whole a very “ gross feeder.” 
The more the soil is loosened and the 
richer the ground is in the neighbor- 
hood of the root, the easier and better 
will the plant grow. Once the hole 
is dug, however, it is well to replace 
the gravel or yellow dirt which was 
taken out of the bottom with good 
earth or with some old manure mixed 
with leaf mold. 1 remember a favorite 
substitute of my father’s, if he did not 
happen to have either of the latter 
things handy, was to put a couple of 
pieces of sod turned upside down in 
the bottom of the hole. When the sod 
had rotted, it formed rich earth for 
the roots to luxuriate in. The Peony 
root itself, however, should be planted 
in as rich ground as can be obtained to 
put on top of the sod or manure at the 
bottom. It should be set at a very shal- 
low depth, the buds on the main stem 
being not less than one and not more 
than three inches below the surface of 
the ground. If the buds are set deeper 
than this, the planter is certainly tak- 
ing a big risk on his Peony not doing 
well from the very start. In planting 
the root the ground should also be well 
firmed around the roots, just as in 
planting a fruit tree. 
So much for the actual planting of 
the Peony ; now for the best time to 
plant and the care the root needs after- 
ward. Although it is possible to set 
out Peonies in the spring, it is not at 
all practicable, since it disturbs the 
plant just before the blooming season. 
Any time in the fall from about the 
middle of September till the end of 
October is considered a good planting 
time. This interval is also the busiest 
period of the whole year for the whole- 
sale grower of Peonies. In planting a 
Peony root as early as the middle of 
August there is a great danger that 
the buds have not matured for the fol- 
lowing year, or “ ripened ” as the 
nurseryman calls it, and in setting out 
the root as late as the latter part of 
November one runs the risk of not giv- 
ing the root time enough to get well 
started in the ground before the winter 
frosts. 
After the root is at last carefully 
planted, one does not have to worry 
about one’s Peony till the beginning of 
the really cold, icy weather. Then 
during the first winter it is generally 
wise to protect the root with a small 
handful of old leaves spread over the 
top of the plant. In order to keep the 
wind from blowing these away a small 
amount of earth can be scattered over 
them. But one should remember that 
with the return of warm weather in 
the spring this covering should be re- 
moved, and that during the second 
winter no covering is necessary at all. 
Just a few weeks before the Peony 
blooms is the time when it needs nour- 
ishment most, and if one has the time 
and energy, one might work some fer- 
tilizer, such as wood ashes or well- 
rotted manure, in the ground around 
the roots of the plant. This is a 
method by which an experienced Peony 
grower makes the most bashful plants 
produce the most beautiful flowers. 
In working the fertilizer in the ground, 
however, it must be spaded in very 
lightly, for even the small, fine, thread- 
like roots which lie nearest the surface 
must not be disturbed in any way. 
When the young plant’s hunger for 
nourishment has thus been properly 
satisfied, it is almost certain to show 
its gratitude by more beautiful flowers 
when the time comes. 
“ And is this all that the farmer has 
to do to have beautiful Peonies in his 
front lawn ?” somebody asks. Yes, 
this is practically everything, and the 
strange part is that with a hardy flower 
so exquisite in its new shades and so 
easy to grow more farmers with beau- 
tiful homes have not found this out 
earlier. But the nurserymen tell us — 
and this is encouraging — that the Peony 
is today coming into its own as a pop- 
ular flower for the humble, as well as 
the wealthy man’s garden. — Paul V. 
D. Hoysradt in Rural New Yorker. 
Peony Growing. 
I am glad to give my experience in 
Peony growing, which has covered 
many years. Possibly my fellow read- 
ers may obtain some profitable hints 
therefrom. 
My method of culture, which has 
given most excellent results is as fol- 
lows : I never plant stock that I wish 
to use, later than the end of August or 
early in September. Cut the roots to 
about 5 in. or 6 in., so that each one 
has one to three eyes. Give them a 
good, strong soil, enriched with old 
manure. Cow manure is best, but 
fresh manure should not be used. Plant 
them about 4 in. deep and 6 in. to 8 in. 
apart in the row, the rows 3 ft. apart, 
so that the horse cultivator can be 
used. However, if you wish to culti- 
vate the plants by hand, or use the 
hand cultivator, 1| ft. to 2 ft. apart for 
the rows is sufficient. 
After leveling I give them a good 
top dressing. Good, strong, fresh 
manure does well for this purpose. I 
have never had much success with 
commercial fertilizers, possibly be- 
cause I did not use a good formula. 
If you treat the roots in this way 
you will have better and stronger 
plants in one year than you would get 
from those planted late in the Fall or 
in the Spring and grown a year over, 
as the latter always are stunted and 
diseased, whereas those that are 
planted early have plenty of good, 
clean, healthy roots. 
To my knowledge Peonies grow as 
well in black and clayey, as in sandy 
soils. For selling and forcing purposes 
leave on as many and as long roots as 
possible, as they show better with the 
roots on and do not dry out so much. 
Some varieties as Mme. Calot, Duch- 
esse de Nemours and Festiva Maxima 
can be had in bloom considerably 
earlier than other varieties. To obtain 
this result take two or three-year old 
plants and, early in the Spring, cover 
them with glass, about 5 ft. high from 
the ground ; this makes a difference of 
four to five weeks. — C. Zeestraten in 
Florists' Exchange. 
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