44 
House & Garden 
IF YOU PLANT BUT A DOZEN PEONIES 
You Will Do Well to Make Your Selection from the Long List of Modern 
Varieties—Four Collections of Varying Costs 
GEORGE H. PETERSON 
I WOULD consider it a very great 
hardship indeed were my planting 
of peonies confined to twelve va¬ 
rieties, as would any one who has 
planted the modern peony in a number 
of its best sorts. There are, however, 
many whose space or purse will not well 
permit a greater number or expenditure, 
and it is to these that this article will, I 
hope, particularly appeal. 
I think it can be safely said that in 
the past ten years more general interest 
has been shown in this most worthy 
flower in America than during the pre¬ 
ceding thirty years, and to one who has 
believed in, loved and lived with the 
peony for almost this period of time this 
awakened interest is indeed most grati¬ 
fying. 
Not the least of the peony’s ap¬ 
peal is that it will grow and bloom 
wherever flower-loving people live, 
provided it is where winter brings 
more or less (the more the better) 
freezing, and this will include most 
of our country from Georgia to 
Alaska, inclusive. Furthermore, 
the rarest and most beautiful sorts 
will thrive and bloom year after 
year just as easily as the old-fash¬ 
ioned “pineys” which came up 
smiling every June in the much- 
referred-to Grandmother’s garden. 
The past two springs brougnt 
disappointment and even grief to 
the grower of many a flowering and 
other plant, but the peony has twice 
again demonstrated its ability to 
come triumphantly through any¬ 
thing which nature may send to us 
in the way of weather. In fact, 
after the exceptionally severe and 
prolonged winter of 1919-20, this 
flower was more prolific of bloom 
and of better quality than in any 
Reine Hortense is perhaps the finest all-around pink peony. 
Its flowers are large and evenly formed, the habit of the 
plant is good, and its blossoming can be depended upon 
other year of the writer’s experience. 
Bitter weather is not usually thought of 
as conducive to flower excellence, but it 
really helps the peony. 
There are various species and classes 
of peonies, some of which will prove of 
interest only to the long-experienced 
planner and collector, but as this article 
is de oted to the man or woman who 
must confine himself or herself to but a 
few varieties, I shall restrict myself to 
the chief class of all—the Chinese 
peony, or, as it is botanically known, 
Patonia albiflora. This is a true herba¬ 
ceous plant, the foliage dying each fall 
anc’ e ever-increasing growths spring¬ 
ing up anew each spring from the root. 
The development of this class began 
the first half of the 19th Century, 
but a great deal of progress was not 
made until the latter half of that 
period, when the French, who had 
become the most skilled hybridizers 
in the world, took hold of the peony 
in earnest. Among the most suc¬ 
cessful of French raisers of that 
time were Calot, Crousse and 
Mechin, many of whose produc¬ 
tions are among the best-known 
and most-grown varieties of our 
day. Following in their footsteps 
came Dessert and Lemoine, both of 
whom are still at work at Chenon- 
ceaux and Nancy, respectively. 
Some of the productions of these 
two raisers outshine anything which 
has gone before. Among the most 
notable of the former’s productions 
are Mons. Martin Cahuzac and 
Therese. The former is the darkest 
red, good double peony yet pro¬ 
duced. Therese alone is worth a 
quarter of a century’s effort. In 
annually perfect and profuse 
blooming qualities, in symmetrical 
A splendid white, fragrant sort is Festiva maxima, a vigorous grower 
with large foliage and long flower stems. Photographs by courtesy 
of George H. Peterson 
Philomele blends guard petals of 
soft pink with a center of golden 
yellow and rose 
White guard petals and a lemon 
yellow center mark the fragrant 
Duchess de Nemours 
