ENGLISH 
VIOLETS 
“ROCKFORD PEONIES” 
Walton E. Milliman 
170 Divisiidi S< 
VOLUME 1 
Rockford, Michigan 
NUMBER 1 
Plant Peonies for Permanence 
To Our Friends 
Old And New 
“At the insistence of our friends”, 
as the politicians would put it, we 
are presenting this list of fine 
peonies for fall planting. 
But, a descriptive list of peonies 
has its limitations. 
For example, — to describe Mme. 
Emile Calle and Phyllis Kelway as 
rose pink peonies is an illustration 
of supreme futility! These varieties 
are so different in color, form and 
habit of growth that the use of the 
term rose pink is almost dishearten¬ 
ing. These varieties are so fine and 
so distinctive that they almost lose 
their charm when one has to rely 
on mere words and printer’s ink to 
convey a picture. 
Regardless of the inadequacies of 
a printed list of peonies, these 
descriptive terms have an official 
standing. They are approved as 
standard terms by the Am. Peony 
Society. At any rate the Am. 
Peony Society cannot be accused of 
carelessness with superlatives or 
gross exaggeration. Even the casual 
reader of our list will agree thai 
modesty and restraint reach an all 
time high in the use of these 
standard color descriptions. 
In growing peonies, three things 
we do religiously. We plant the 
root division so the eyes or buds 
are one and a half inches under the 
surface of the ground. W© use 
fertilizer sparingly. A small hand¬ 
ful of bone meal sprinkled around 
each plant in the fall of the year, 
and worked well into the groiund is 
sufficient. Too little fertilizer is 
better than too much. During the 
blooming season we urge all grow¬ 
ers to do as we have done for 
fifteen years, — cut some of the 
buds as they get soft and fluffy and 
let them open in the house. For 
real satisfaction with peonies we 
urge you to follow our little formu¬ 
la. It will produce results. 
SCORES ARE ONLY RELATIVE 
Years ago, the American Peony 
Society started the idea of rating 
peonies on a percentage basis using 
10 as the standard of perfection. 
The figures preceding the name 
of the variety represent the opin¬ 
ion of the national society when the 
vote was taken, but the scoring is 
a distinct aid in weeding out 
varieties of inferior quality. We 
grow only four varieties carrying a 
rate of less than 8.0, but these 
certainly possess enough merit to 
warrant a place in our gardens. 
