New Introductions 
Many of the best Peonies have been introduced in the past ten or fifteen years, being disseminated by those 
painstaking Frenchmen, M. Dessert and M. Lemoine. Nothing in the line of Peonies that had gone before 
equaled or approached such varieties as Alsace-Lorraine, Bayadere, E. G. Hill, Germaine Bigot, Enchan¬ 
tress, Le Cygne, La France, Madame Emile Lemoine, Madame Jules Dessert, Monsieur Martin Cahuzac, Sarah 
Bernhardt, Solange, Therese, etc. 
These are necessarily higher in price than the older sorts as they have been so recently sent out and the 
stock of them is very limited, but let us tell you that you will miss a large part of the charm of the Peony 
until you see these wonders of the floral creation. We could sell you fifty thousand Festiva Maxima or twenty- 
five thousand Marie Lemoine at prices quoted and be glad to do so, but we could not sell you one hundred of 
such varieties as Le Cygne, La France, Solange, etc., for the reason they are not to be had at any price, and 
at the prices quoted for them we are not anxious to sell them. We make this assertion and will stand by same 
that the greatest creations in Peonies the world has ever known are the recent introductions of Messrs. Des¬ 
sert and Lemoine. 
1 he proof of the pudding is in the eating, and it is almost the invariable rule of visitors to our Peony fields, 
while in bloom, to make choice of these new varieties. We go to some length in this matter as some dealers 
endeavor to create the impression that most of the new Peonies are fakes; we want if possible to correct this 
impression, which is absolutely erroneous; should you shy at the price asked for the new Peonies you will 
offend no one. Many grand Peonies in this list are of medium price due to the larger supply of roots. You 
will be pleased with every Peony offered whether of high or low price. 
Awakening to the Glory of June. 
Read what a heart full of praise says of the Peony: 
THE LURE OF THE PEONY 
A Eulogy by C. S. Harrison, of Nebraska, Written June, 1909. 
If you should receive the announcement that you were to have a visit from thousands upon thousands of the best 
dressed and most beautiful visitors that ever came to earth you would naturally feel like taking a vacation and enjoy¬ 
ing such delightful companionship. I am a busy man, but there is no resisting the lure of all this bewitching loveliness. 
They have come, the advance guard, the great masses of dazzling splendor; the rear guard, strong, full orbed and 
stately, will shortly bring up the last of the procession. 
Who am I that I should have this army? An old man laid aside from professional work, broken in health. Yet 
I secured a somber piece of weedy ground and planted those unsightly bulbs gathered from various portions of Europe 
and America, and so secured this harvest of delight. Why should I be so highly honored and treated like a God? 
Thousands of the most gorgeous flowers are putting themselves on dress parade. They vie with each other to see 
which can make the most alluring and winsome appearance. Such a trousseau no bride ever wore. 
Whence came all these tints of woven splendor which go into this rich carpet spread out before me? You have 
read of that Oriental Carpet of Gems, the wonder of the world, where rubies, emeralds, sapphires and diamonds, yea, 
all the unfading flowers of earth’s under garden, are mingled in a fabric which shimmers, flashes and blazes in the sun¬ 
shine. But that gem of gems cost millions. It is made of dead flowers which cannot breathe and which give out no 
fragrance. My garden of gems is alive. Its beauty does not last as long, but it is mine, and whilq.it lasts l am a mil¬ 
lionaire. All of these acres are my bouquet. 
Whence did they derive these rich perfumes? The mingling of the rose and the violet, the pond lily and the heli- 
tropc, the hinting of cinnamon and the spices. Up from the masses there rise viewless clouds of incense which float 
above and wander away in the distant air, then sweep earthward so that you wade in billows of aroma. 
Whence came all this rich coloring — as if the tints had been taken from the sunsets and the mantles from the stars, 
all woven by deft and unseen fingers into these forms of entrancing loveliness? 
Among the crimsons what splendid flowers. There is stately Prince Imperial, further on is La Sublime and Louis 
Van Houtte and the showy Ville de Nancy. 
Among the pinks the beautiful L’Espcrance, the radiant Madame Gcissler, Livingstone and a host of others. 
There is Jeanne d’Arc with petals of gold and a center of snowy white, emblem of the fair soul of the war maiden, 
and in the heart of the flower, drops of blood as if the iron had entered her soul; and here is her daughter Golden Har¬ 
vest; stately Festiva Maxima rises like a queen in her snowy whiteness; Monsieur Dupont is a sturdy massive white 
with carmine sprinkled in the center; Couronne d’Or with heart of gold is one of the latest. 
Among the somewhat variegated you find Faust, one of the most floriferous, overwhelmed with floods of bloom 
each year. But we cannot go into details when we have two hundred varieties all striving for recognition. 
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