September 17, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
257 
A design in miniature ot the natural habitats of those plants, with 
graceful Palms and Tree Ferns shooting out from an undulating bed of 
Moss and Fern, with clumps or single plants as a representation of under¬ 
wood, a few Orchids peeping out from the foliage or hanging from the stems 
of the taller plants, the graceful arching spikes form an exhibition 
unique and pleasing, Tables in this style should be encouraged by the 
judges. 
Specimen plants are generally well understood by judges and exhi¬ 
bitors, the only doubtful point being size. Extra large plants should not have 
favour merely in virtue of size, most allowance should be given to those of 
medium growth in the best condition. The same unanimity does not prevail 
with regard to table plants ; different men judging the same would often 
reverse each other’s decisions, and chiefly in connection with the height. 
There ought to be a recognised standard as a guide in the matter, and the 
height I gave when reading a paper on these plants some years ago—viz., 
20 inches from the table, I see no reason to alter. This does not imply 
that every frond or tip of leaf should be confined to this height, but that 
the mam body of the plant be confined as near as possible to it. 
I will refer to stands of cut flowers simply to show how they can be 
judged correctly by the same system advocated for the other collections. 
In selecting the Rose for this purpose I do so because it receives an extra 
share of public patronage, and the majority of people know the properties 
of the Rose better than many other florists’ flowers. The combination of 
qualities which constitute a first-rate Hybrid Perpetual Rose are thick 
broad petals, smooth at the edges, glossy and fragrant, high and full in 
the centre, describing a circle round the edge, the petals thickly set and 
regular, so full as not to be loose. They should not be shown in the bud, 
as some inferior Roses look well when about half open, and would be con¬ 
sidered worthless if fully expanded. 
A few weeks ago I met a nurseryman belonging to this district, on his 
way home from officiating as judge at a Rose show. He commenced to 
speak of that show and judging. I asked him how he proceeded with 
the judging of two stands of Roses if, on inspection, they seemed to be 
nearly equal. He said they began at one end of the stands, took Rose for 
Rose, putting them against each other. If the one was better than the 
other that told as a point in favour of the stand to which it belonged. 
This is a very common system of judging cut flowers, but one that is 
wrong, in so far as it only supplies the number of best blooms in the 
■stands, and not the real value in the aggregate. One bloom in either 
stand may possibly be as good and ought to count as much as two in the 
other ; then if it should happen that this extra good bloom be taken 
against an inferior one, the balance of merit is lost sight of. A better way, 
if that plan is carried out, is to select the best in each stand, and put 
them against each other, when a true estimate of their value can be 
farmed. 
In accordance with the plan of judging I have proposed, I may con¬ 
clude by showing how it is equally applicable to cut flowers. In taking the 
merits of two stands, the best bloom or blooms, if there are several 
equally good, should be allowed the maximum number, or three marks, 
equal to twelve points, the next to receive two marks, with the number of 
points added, which would represent their true value in relation to the 
highest standard, and so on deducting points, as the remainder recede in 
quality from each other, sum up the whole and find the difference for the 
prizewinners. 
I may not have made my system of judging plain enough to be under¬ 
stood by all; but any subsequent discussion may tend to clear away any 
misunderstanding, and place on a favourable footing a system which, if 
adopted, would secure for the judges a means whereby they would be able 
to administer equal justice to all shades of difference in quantity, quality, 
or appearance. 
TREE PiEONIES. 
Is it not surprising that while the herbaceous Pseonies, P. edulis 
and others, are well known as among the most showy of garden plants, 
the tree P. Moutan and its varieties are practically strangers to our gar¬ 
dens? This is, however, an undeniable fact, especially so of English 
gardens, and how to account for their absence I know not, for we have 
no greater ornaments than these in the hardy garden during May and 
June, and it must be from their being insufficiently known and their re¬ 
quirements not being well understood that their absence is so notice¬ 
able. . It is, therefore, with a view of awaking the older and more 
experienced of our gardening friends, who must know something of this 
valuable group of plants, that I am for a short time directing the atten¬ 
tion of your readers ; and while imparting the little I know respecting 
them, in the hope that some may be benefited and others induced to 
record their experience, I trust that the subject of these remarks may yet 
meet with the appreciation and more general use that they deserve at our 
hands. 
►.Though among the grandest of our shrubby flowering plants in 
spring time, the present is a most important one in their propagation, 
which is the main reason for my now referring to them. In consequence 
of their flowering early in the year, it not unfrequently happens that both 
foliage and flower buds are disfigured, and the latter often materially in- 
lured, by our late spring frosts. This is especially the case after having 
passed through a winter of extreme mildness, and in consequence excited 
into growth much earlier than usual, only to be arrested by harsh biting 
winds and nipping frosts. This particular combined with their slow growth 
may have done much to mar their progress; still there are places and 
positions sufficiently sheltered and well drained to give them the little 
protection they require, together wi f h the variety of other uses to which 
they may be put, that the above-named drawbacks are as nothing com¬ 
pared with the grandeur and usefulness of these uncommon plants. 
These shrubby Pasonies are natives of China, and belong to the 
natural order Ranunculacem, the genus taking its name from the physician 
Paeon, who, it appears, first used the roots for medicinal purposes. In 
that fine old work, “ Hill’s British Herbal,” published in 1756, only three 
kinds are quoted ; great stress, however, is laid upon their great and 
varied properties as a medicine. In common with the majority of strong- 
growing plants belonging to this order, they delight in a deep, rich, well- 
drained loam, such, for example, as a loam of fair depth overlying a 
gravelly subsoil. They delight in abundance of moisture during the grow¬ 
ing season, and a good and perfect drainage. Anything approaching stagna¬ 
tion, or a position in which they are flooded in wet seasons, is sure to 
end with unsatisfactory results, if not ultimate death. On the other 
hand, a continuously dry hungry sandy soil is not suited to them, 
though this latter is even better than an excessively wet one. Like their 
sisters, the forms of P. edulis, they are deep-rooted subjects, and in 
cases where there are large established bushes their roots will have 
penetrated a depth of 3 or more feet. I have said large established 
bushes ; these, however, will not be very numerous, though we have 
on record some examples of rare size, and I can myself bear testimony 
to some specimens fully 30 feet in circumference, one of which this 
year has had upwards of 200 splendid blooms; some of these would be 
as large as an ordinary dinner plate. Many years must necessarily 
elapse ere plants attain such enormous proportions as this, and it is 
questionable whether those who were at the expense of planting them 
would ever live to see them in all the glory which they attain in their 
native haunts, and where they ofttimes reach 8 or 10 feet high, though 
I have never seen them more than half that height in England. In con¬ 
tinental gardens they are cultivated on a comparatively large scale, and 
are offered annually in great variety. Nearly fifty years ago the Chinese 
are said to have been possessed of over 300 varieties, but whether this be 
true or not, we have ample proof of their possessing them in quantity. 
The best time for planting them in the open ground is from the end of 
August to the end of October, and once well planted allow them to re¬ 
main undisturbed, save an occasional loosening of the surface and mulch¬ 
ing in severe weather. They are best suited for the shrubbery in such 
places where they will not be overcrowded by other things of quicker 
growth, or for isolated positions on the lawn ; but in whatever position 
they are placed there should be plenty of room for ultimate development, 
consequent upon their being impatient of being moved after once they 
are well established. In this respect they are very much like the herba¬ 
ceous section, which in large plants can only be removed by much break¬ 
age and injury to their long tapering and extremely brittle roots, and 
which is sure to interfere with their flowering the ensuing year. 
It has been suggested that these tree Peonies, when planted in the 
open ground, should be protected in spring by canvas or mats against 
frost. This may sound very well at first, though I do not in any way 
agree with it in practice. Rather let their protection be in the shape of 
sheltered positions, as I have previously said, than to resort to any 
covering which, while having the desired effect in one way, not unfre¬ 
quently tends to make them the more delicate and susceptible to cold than 
when left fully exposed. So far as my experience goes, I consider a 
severe winter as conducive to their well-being, especially so if the wood 
has been well matured the previous summer; indeed, I have failed to 
notice any difference between these and any other hardy deciduous shrub, 
save that they may be somewhat later in flowering. I have known them 
to withstand from 22° to 25° of frost (and we seldom get more for any 
length of time together) without injury. Some ten years or so since the 
Messrs. Rollisson of Tooting had a good collection of these plants, number¬ 
ing about 100 kinds more or less, so far as I can remember. These 
were in charge of the writer, and consisted of some exceptionally large 
forms. For my own convenience I carefully described them, but my notes 
referring to them I have unfortunately lost. I believe this collection at 
that time to be among the best, and many were as varied and gorgeous in 
colour as the best forms among the herbaceous kinds. 
The original Paeonia Moutan and its varieties were introduced from 
China in the year 1789, and of which the following were among the best: 
— P. M. papaveracea, with large single white flowers, beautifully marked 
with purple spots at the base of each petal; P. M. Banksi (this is a 
double variety, and when fully expanded the blooms are 8 or 9 inches 
across ; the petals are slightly tinged blush, nearly white at the edge and 
purplish red at the base) ; P. M. albida plena is said to be a seedling 
raised at Arley Hall in Worcestershire from seeds of papaveracea, flowers 
are very double, rather pale, and suffused with purple at the base ; P. M. 
Humei — in colour this is almost the same as Banksi, the flowers are 
double with a tuft of long petals rising from the centre of the flower. 
Among the more recently cultivated varieties the following are the best:— 
Avocat Guillon, very large and full, white, slightly tinted lilac, lilac centre, 
and blotched with carmine ; Beauty de Twickel, dark carmine, large and 
full ; Comtesse d’Ansembourg pure white on mauve-shaded ground ; 
Gloria belgarum—this is probably the grandest variety extant, and was 
raised by M. Goethals of Ghent. I am not quite certain of 
the exact date of its emerging into commerce, but some nine 
years ago the exceptionally high price of 22s. was asked for 
a plant of it; the colour is a tender rose tinted cerise and ehaied 
with carmine and deep crimson. Jules Perlot is a magnificent rosy lilac ; 
Madame Jules Orban, fine white, with violet blotch ; Madame Stuart 
Low, cerise red, with white tips; Modeste Guerin, another very fine 
variety, having enormous flowers of a bright dazzling fiery red, very full 
and globular in form; Souvenir de Gand, bright vermilion, very large 
