What Peonies to Plant Now 
A CONVINCING ARGUMENT FOR THE TIME-TESTED VARIETIES, WHICH 
ARE INCIDENTALLY THE CHEAPEST—WHY AND HOW TO PLANT THEM NOW 
Photographs by N. R. Graves, the author and others 
O NCE upon a time, many, many years ago (that’s the good 
old-time way to begin a story, isn’t it?) a little brown 
maid took me by the hand and said, “Come, let us go see the 
Pineys.” “The what?” 
said I. “Why, don't 
you know,” she replied, 
in injured surprise, “The 
Pineys—they opened at 
sun-up this morning 
and I remember that I 
suffered myself to be led 
up a steep hillside path 
to a little garden hedged 
round with a rough 
stone wall, where amidst 
a tangle of dilapidated- 
looking perennials the 
little maid pointed out a 
row of low squat bushes 
crowned with gorgeous 
blood-red flowers. I re¬ 
member how much im¬ 
pressed I was with that 
first glimpse of those 
wondrous blooms. I 
now know that it was 
the old Officinalis vari¬ 
ety—the old red “Piney” 
of grandmother’s gar¬ 
den—that I looked upon 
that fair May day, but 
I think that my interest 
in, and love for the 
Peony had its inception 
then and there. 
That, as I have said, 
was many years ago. 
The little maid has long 
since “gone her way,” 
but when the time came 
for me to plan a garden 
of my own, my first 
thought was that I must 
have some “Pineys” like 
those shown me by the 
little maid. I remember 
I searched vainly in the 
index of a gaudily paint¬ 
ed seedman’s catalog for “Pineys.” It took me some time to 
reach the conclusion that the Peony was probably what I wanted. 
So you see how densely ignorant I was when I planned and 
planted my first garden — a garden which in a few short years 
became a garden of Peonies only. Then came the real enthusi¬ 
asm, the study and comparison of varieties, the annual purchases 
of “new introductions,” and the poring over much dull and dreary 
Peony literature. 
It is scarcely half a dozen years since the popularity of the 
Peony in this country received a sudden and rather unaccount¬ 
able impetus. The explanation of this “boom” is not exactly 
apparent. For nearly half a century in England and France the 
Peony has been looked 
upon as “the flower for 
the million and the mil¬ 
lionaire,” during which 
period the most celebrated 
hybridizers of both coun¬ 
tires—such men as Calot, 
Crousse, Lemoine, Guer¬ 
in, Verdier and Kelway, 
have been devoting the 
best of their energies to 
producing the magnificent 
new varieties now in gen¬ 
eral cultivation. Just why 
we have been slow in this 
country to realize the 
value of the Peony is 
difficult to understand. 
Possibly it is due to the 
indifference of the gen¬ 
eral nurserymen, who 
have been slow to bring 
forward the wonderful 
new sorts. As commen¬ 
tary proof of this, it is 
only necessary to cite the 
great number of people 
who seem unaware of the 
remarkable variations of 
form and coloring in the 
modern Peony. I have 
had hundreds of people 
express the utmost amaze¬ 
ment upon first viewing 
my garden in bloom. 
"Why,” they exclaim, “I 
thought there were only 
three colors: white, red 
and pink, and all of one 
form.” This is evidence 
enough that a good deal 
of educational work is 
needed before the Peony 
attains the same position 
in the realm of Flora in 
this country that it holds in England and France. Such educa¬ 
tional work might well be undertaken by the American Peony 
Society, by perfectly practicable methods, which, however, is not 
within my province here to discuss. 
Some celebrated horticulturists in Europe have proclaimed 
the Peony “Queen of Flowers”—over the Rose, and for massing 
effects it is considered by many on the other side superior to the 
Rhododendron. But whatever has led to the sudden awakening 
in this country, it is sufficient joy to the genuine Peony enthusi- 
For nearly fifty years in England and in France the Peony has been looked 
upon as “the flower for the million and the millionaire.” Here in America 
we are just beginning to realize its real value 
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