10 
J. WILKINSON ELLIOTT, PITTSBURG. PA. 
Old Specimen Plant of Tree Peony (From the •• English Flower Carden ") 
JAPANESE TREE PEONIES 
Last spring I was invited by one of ray customers to see a collection of fifty Japanese Tree Peonies in bloom that I had imported for 
him from Japan three years before, and if I could write a description that would give any idea of their beauty the Japanese growers would not 
be able to supply one-tenth of the demand for plants. 1 don’t wonder that the Japs have a special holiday for visiting the Peony gardens, 
but I do wonder that we Americans, who boast of our education and refinement, should be content with the poor and commonplace bedding 
plants usually seen in our gardens when such superb floral creations as Japanese Tree Peonies are to be had at a small cost. I have said 
this before, but the truth is so important to a lover of a garden and is so little known or heeded that I must keep on repeating it. The first 
cost of a fine hardy plant like a Tree Peony is its only cost, and it increases in size arid beauty year after year, so that a plant that may have 
cost only fifty cents when purchased may become one in a few years that one would hesitate to accept twenty-five dollars for. Such a plant 
is the Tree Peony. I have seen one that had sixty-six open flowers on it at one time, and read a description of another that had over five 
hundred blooms in one season. Now, when it is considered that the blooms range from eight to twelve inches across and are of the richest 
and most lovely shades of coloring imaginable, it can be understood what a floral wonder a Japanese Tree Peony may grow into. But one 
does not need to wait years for enjoyment of these flowers —a majority of the plants will bloom the first season planted and in the second 
season will produce from two to five flowers each. The flowers range in color from pure white to the darkest shade of purple, including all 
shades of scarlet, crimson, pink, some in solid colors, some curiously striped or marked. The shades of pink are the softest and most 
lovely imaginable. 
These Tree Peonies must not be confused with common herbaceous Peonies, which are so popular ; instead of dying to the ground 
every year they make a hard wooded growth and in time become quite large shrubs. 
“ The Tree Peony is one of the noblest plants available for the gardan; it is quite hardy and flourishes under the simplest treatment. The smallest 
shrub will flower in the most astonishing manner, bearing blossoms the size of dinner plates, and the plant increases annually in size until one plant becomes 
a veritable bank of living flowers. The Tree Peony is valuable for isolation on lawns and for borders and in nooks backed by conifers or other shrubs. Any 
soil suits it and any position. It will repay those who afford it good treatment in the form of well-trenched soil and well-rotted manure, and occasional top- 
dressings: but it should remain undisturbed as much as possible and allowed to mature its shoots, which year by year add to the size of the plant until it 
becomes the grandest object in the garden. Watering well before and during flowering greatly assists in the production of large, shapely blooms, and where 
mild weather in the spring has brought on very’ early buds, protection of some kind should be given from late frosts. The plant is abolutely hardy, but 
where it has been induced by a mild winter to put forth early flowers, the buds get an occasional ‘nip.’ Flowering season: May and early in June.” 
I have a set of Japanese water-color drawings of these Peonies, which will be sent for examination on receipt of twenty-five cents to 
cover postage. These drawings must be returned, but if Peonies are ordered the amount sent for postage will be allowed on the price of 
the Peonies. 
Fine blooming plants in 25 choice varieties, $1 each, $10 per dozen; extra selected blooming plants in 25 choice varieties, $1.50 
each, $15 per dozen. 
Tree Peonies iy*e imported to order only. They do not always arrive in time for fall delivery, and in this event will be stored and 
delivered early in the spring. 
Named Varieties of Tree Peonies are grafted on a common single sort. Care must be taken to remove all suckers below the graft 
or the 7 will choke the choice variety out in a few years. 
