BY JOHN M. GOOD 
IS TREATISE on the Peony is issued to create a more widely spread 
interest in this grand hardy perennial, by telling cf its history, its 
culture and of its superlatively great beauty. To the average person— 
that is, to ninety-nine out of every one hundred flower lovers—the 
word Peony is fixed in their memories simply as a Red Peony or a 
White Peony or a Pink Peony, while the actual fact is that the Peony 
with very small outlay and attention on your part will reveal itself to 
you in such splendor that King Solomon nor the Queen of Sheba in all 
their grandeur could vie with the modem Peony in their magnificence. 
Indeed a plantation of choice Peonies is a veritable paradise of loveli¬ 
ness and fragrance. 
Should this little booklet in a measure correct this false opinion 
that Peonies are a subject that may be dismissed by a passing thought, 
it will then have accomplished its mission and thus aid in the wider 
dissemination of this much neglected plant. 
Some ten years ago the writer became interested in Peonies and it 
has been a pleasure to him to assemble the greatest collection of Peo¬ 
nies on this globe. By greatest we refer to quality and quantity; by quality as to the large number of choicest 
varieties; by quantity to the largest stocks of these varieties in the world. There are collections of Peonies 
that outdistance ours in numbers of varieties by many hundreds, but none that equal ours in the two points 
named of quality and the quantity of this quality. Our planting embraces some five hundred thousand roots 
covering about thirty acres of ground. It has neither required a so-called Peony expert nor a Peony special¬ 
ist to bring together this wonderful collection of Peonies, but rather a love for the flower with a will to 
work plus the necessary means to secure the stock desired. 
An appreciation by Miss Jessie M. Good on seeing our fields of Peonies in June, 1909: 
This spring I had the very great pleasure of visiting the Perennial Gardens of the Good & Reese Co., lying in a 
sheltered valley about eight miles from their greenhouses at Springfield, Ohio, where this year a quarter of a million 
peony roots will be ready for market. About six hundred of the best known varieties are grown here, and each year 
sees many varieties tried out, and added to their list or discarded as their merits or demerits warrant. 
When I first saw the Peony field this spring there were by low computation fully one million blooms in sight; these 
blooms were largely on three-year-old plants, the period at which a Peony after subdivision of the roots usually gives 
normal bloom. The bloom on these carefully cultivated Peonies was a revelation. The Field of the Cloth of Gold 
was a tawdry hand-made affair compared to it. It was as if a softly tinted cloud had settled over the field through 
which the fiery sun slanted its scarlet rays, while the delicious rose-like fragrance met you from afar. In one block, 
ten thousand Festiva Maxima was a mass of blooms that covered the field like snow; only when coming close could 
any foliage be discerned. This field, with Festiva Maxima in the foreground, is portrayed on the back cover page of 
this catalog, but photography can never give the color and perfume of these gorgeous blossoms. How large some of 
them were I dare not say, but a dozen of them made as heavy an armful as most women cared to carry. A convention 
was in progress in Springfield when the Peony blooms were at their best, and several hundred were sent in to decorate 
the stage. 11 nearly broke up the convention; for when the delegates were convinced that the blooms were really Peonies, 
and that they might, be seen by the thousands at the field,every vehicle to be had was soon on the way to the Peonies. 
One delegate told me she felt as if she must fall on her knees at first sight of the field, “for I felt as if the 
heavens had opened and showed me a glimpse of the glories within.” 
Peony Nomenclature 
The first obstacle and the most serious one of a few years ago in the collecting of Peonies was the almost 
interminable tangle that the nomenclature of the Peony had fallen into; this had occurred part ly by premedi¬ 
tated forethought and part ly by pardonable ignorance, if we may pardon ignorance. But thanks to t he nomen¬ 
clature committee of the American Peony Society this confusion of Peony names has in a large measure been 
eliminated, so that today the grower and dealer in Peonies may both be honest and enlightened if he so wills. 
There are a few snarls yet to untangle, but time will right them all. Let us hope this committee will be con¬ 
tinued until everything along this line has been cleared up. 
Treasure Trove. 
