From Gardening Wiki
The Peony
Like many other plants intensely interesting because of their charming blooms, the Peony first came to the attention of the world as a medicinal plant. It was named after Paeon, a mythological doctor, for the roots of the species officinalis have been used in the making of a broth.
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Peonies are easy to grow ; they are permanent and when once established are impatient of being moved. They are perfectly hardy wherever Apples can be grown and can easily be protected in the colder regions. They bear large and showy flowers, of a great range of colors; some are delicately scented. The plants are so free from insects that they prove themselves to be ideal for cut blooms or landscape flowers.
|p There are a number of interesting species of the Peony. The most seen is the Chinese Peony (Paeonia albiflora). This is the standard Peony of which we have so many matchless varieties. The plant of the narrow-leaved or Fennel-leaved Peony (P. tenuifolia) is very beautiful, but its value is fleeting. It blooms in May, the pretty scarlet flowers nestling among the dainty dissected foliage. Closely following in season are the European Peonies (P. officinalis). These are the old-fashioned crimson Pineys of the garden; they produce very satiny-petaled blooms, which possess a not unpleasant soapy odor.
At about the same season the shrubby or hardy tree Peonies (P. Moutan) open their enormous glossy single or double flowers. The shrubby Peony grows very slowly. It should be planted where it is sheltered from the wind.
The last groups to bloom are the,albiflora varieties. These often begin to bloom in New York State for Memorial Day.
For a succession of varieties to bloom, Rev. G. S. Harrison, who might be called the Chaplain of American Gardeners, recommends the varieties umbellata rosea, L'Esperance, edulis superba, Monsieur Dupont, Richardson's rubra superba, Henry Woodward, Richardson's grandiflora. Mr. Harrison, speaking further of prolonging the blooming of the Peony, says: " There is also a system by which the blooming of a single variety can be prolonged. Take a row, say of Festiva maxima; wait until the ground has frozen solid; leave the end of 'the row uncovered. Then, farther on, put on mulching and increase the depth until, at the farther end, it is a foot to eighteen inches deep; leave this on. The covering keeps the frost in; then the plant will take some time to push up through the mulching. You can apply this system to the later varieties and so lengthen the flowering season considerably."
A word may be necessary to explain the method of doubling in the Peony. TJie normal or single flower is composed of petals (we shall call all the petals "guard petals" in this case) ; stamens or the male part of the flower (these are yellow at the tip and bear pollen) ; the pistil, each section of which we call a carpel (this is often red and bears the seed). In doubling, the stamens become wider and wider until they resemble the petals; then we call them petaloids. In the same way the seed-bearing power is lost by the female parts, changing to resemble petals at the center of the flower.
Peonies - The best Kinds
The following is a list of best Peony varieties for home grounds:
FESTIVA MAXIMA. White, center carmine; MARIE LEMOINE. A very late sulphur
medium early. white.
COURONNE D'OR. A late-bloomyig, semi- MODESTE GUERIN. Bright rose pink; mid-
double white. . season.
MONSIEUR JULES ELIE. An early silvery MME. DUCEL. Silvery pink, flushed salmon;
pink. vigorous dwarf; midseason.
GRANDIFLORA. Late, bright flesh pink. MME. VERNEVILLE. Rosy white, with sul-
DUCHESSEDE J^EMOURS. Deep pink, early; phur white guard petals.
a fine double. BARONESS SCHRSDER. Flesh changing to
EDULIS SUPERBA. An early dark pink. white; vigorous; excellent.
FELIX CROUSSE. Midseason; a brilliant LIVINGSTONE. Fine late flower of silvery
red. Pink.
JEANNE D'ARC. Large, soft pink; mid- MONSIEUR DUPONT. Ivory white with
season. lively carmine border on central petals.
AVALANCHE. Milk white, with creamy LA TULIPE. Semi-double; almost white;
center. mid-season.
EUGENE VERDIER. Salmon pink, chang- DELACHIE. Dark red; semi-double; mid-
ing to clear pink. season.
The soil should preferably be heavy rather than light; a clay loam
is excellent if it can be worked deeply. The Peony is a gross feeder and
enjoys a good mulch of well rotted manure in the Winter.
Types of Peonies
The following are the types recognized by the American Peony Society:
1. Single. (Have also been called Anemone-flowering type.) There are a few broad petals, the center being filled with stamens.
2. Japanese. In this type doubling has just begun; the filaments of the stamens have widened; the anthers are also much developed.
The guard petals, the petals at the base of the flower, are the same as in the single varieties.
3. Bomb. The petaloides, or the transformed stamens, have become still wider and thickly set; the petals approach the guards in
form, but are still distinguishable from each other.
4. Semi-double. Several rows of large petals and some with petaloides in all stages of transformation. A loose bloom.
5. Crown. When the carpels, the parts of the pistil, transform into petals they may form a different center from the guard petals
and petaloides, giving the appearance of a small Rose in the center of the flower.
6. Rose. A fully double form. The stamens and carpels are both transformed. It is really a developed Romb, for in this case
the petaloids are merely wider and indistinguishable from the guard petals.
S. Single, showing (g), guard petals; (s), stamens; (c), carpels or lobes of pistil.
J. Japanese type; stamens wider than in Single.
B. Bomb type. The stamens become narrow petals, called petaloides.
SD. Semi-double. Many petaloides are quite wide and are mixed among the stamens.
C. Grown. The stamens are wider and petal-like. The carpels, which before have remained unchanged, are now petal-like.
R. Rose. In this type there is an entire transformation of the bloom.
Planting Peonies and their Care
The time for planting or transplanting is August, when the plant has completed its growth. When transferred in the Spring many of the feeding roots will be torn from the plants. The roots of the Peony are thick, almost no fibrous roots being formed; instead, very fine, delicate feeding roots start from the main roots.
The plants should be planted at least three feet apart and the crowns should be buried three inches below the surface. If they are
planted too shallow the Winder frosts will- heave them from the soil.
A Winter mulch of from four to six inches of well decayed manure will also prevent this injury. When the plants have finished blooming,
the cultivation must not be neglected since they must make a good growth and mature their foliage, else the crop of bloom for the next
year will suffer. Every eight or ten years the Peony should be divided and replanted. It takes two or three years* for a commercial three- to five-eyed root to throw characteristic blooms.
Disbudding Peonies
The albiflora varieties produce many buds in a cluster; if the best size blooms are preferred, all but the main or crown bud should be removed while they are yet small. Some weaker growing varieties are especially benefited by this practice. Single varieties are not disbudded.
Staking Peonies
Certain very floriferous peony varieties will need some sort of support. One of the best and most permanent methods is to
build a rack of wood over the Peony border and train the young shoots inside of this rack. For individual plants there is no better way than to use a barrel hoop supported on three uprights.
Peony Diseases
There are several diseases which attack the leaves, buds and stems. They are easily kept in check by spraying with Bordeaux mixture when the plants first start into growth in the Spring. Besides this, the diseased parts and all stems should be burned each Fall, for only by careful sanitation can the trouble be lessened.
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