A Bit ofVeomy History 
W HILE P. S. Peterson and his son, the 
present proprietor, were visiting Europ¬ 
ean nurseries in 1886, they were im¬ 
pressed with the beauty of the herbaceous 
peony and decided to add to the six kinds 
they were then growing. 
In two years’ time three hundred and fifty 
varieties had been acquired. Wm. A. Peter¬ 
son again visited most of the peony specialists 
in England and on the continent in 1889. 
In looking over the card indexes of the names 
now carries that were bought that year we 
find Couronne d’Or, Octavie Demay and 
Livingstone. In 1900 Marie Crousse, Claire 
Dubois and Felix Crousse were also acquired 
and have not been superseded by any of the 
modern introductions. 
A subsequent visit in 1906, when three thou¬ 
sand dollars worth was purchased, while in 
bloom, from the growers, laid the foundation 
for the large stock of fine varieties now grown 
at Peterson Nursery. 
With the founding of the American Peony 
Society in 1902 and the subsequent interest 
developed, many new and desirable varieties 
have since been produced in our own country. 
While all these new sorts were pouring in, the 
older kinds were being tested out. All syn¬ 
onyms and easily distinguished undesirable 
sorts were eliminated. 
The greatest number of varieties being tested 
at one time was six hundred. Owing to the 
present fad for single, semi-double and Jap¬ 
anese varieties, there are now fifty-nine of 
these in the test garden. A classification by 
color was devised with four distinct divisions, 
white, light pink, dark pink and red. There 
is such a variance in time of blooming that 
each color division was subdivided into early, 
mid-season and late, making all peonies 
eligible to a place in one of these twelve dis¬ 
tinct sections. 
The “Master List” is an outgrowth of all this 
painstaking research. The varieties offered 
have vigorous constitutions, strong, straight 
stems, are free blooming with attractive 
buds, have large flowers which continue in 
bloom for a long time and hold their color 
well. Fragrant varieties are always given a 
preference. To aid in making selections in 
each section the plants are listed in the 
order of price, beginning with the cheapest. 
To pool the experiences and observations of 
all the expert members of the American 
Peony Society, a Symposium of over seven 
hundred varieties was balloted on, rating 
perfection on a scale of 10. Some eighty-five 
growers voted and the figures in front of each 
description is from the Bulleting of 1921. 
Membership in the American Peony Society 
is open to anyone who sends five dollars to 
cover initiation and annual dues. 
Of the seventy-nine double peonies listed 
herewith, twenty-seven were given a ballot 
of 9.0 or more, the next twenty-seven run 
between 8.7 and 8.9 inclusive, and the re¬ 
maining twenty-five are 8.6 or below. 
Two-thirds of the entire list have been intro¬ 
duced since 1900 and sixteen of these since 
1910. This Master List aids in making a 
representative selection. If only four varieties 
are wanted, pick out one from each of the 
four color columns. To cover the whole 
period of blooming a minimum of twelve is 
required to start with. Upon looking over 
one of these twelve sections, for example the 
mid-season white, you find nine sorts listed 
from 90 cents to $35.00 each. This does not 
mean that one is thirty-five times finer than 
the other. 
M. Dupont, with a ballot of 8.3, has been in 
commerce since 1872, while Kelway’s Glorious 
introduced in 1907 with a ballot of 9.8 is rare. 
Probably there are not five hundred plants of 
it available in this country. As LeCygne with 
a ballot of 9.9, the highest given any peony, 
is in this section, the would be connoisseur, 
if not barred by the price, should put a check 
before it. 
Among the early light pink Therese at 9.8 sells 
at a price that makes it an irresistible rep¬ 
resentative of this section. 
