Peonies

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Overview

A richly illustrated guide to growing a most satisfying perennial, the peony.

The dazzling peony with its generous blooms is revered and treasured in North America as it has been for centuries in its country of origin, China. Peonies is a comprehensive guide to selecting and growing the best species and hybrids for every region and garden condition.

In an easy-to-use format, this informative and practical ...

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More About This Book

Overview

A richly illustrated guide to growing a most satisfying perennial, the peony.

The dazzling peony with its generous blooms is revered and treasured in North America as it has been for centuries in its country of origin, China. Peonies is a comprehensive guide to selecting and growing the best species and hybrids for every region and garden condition.

In an easy-to-use format, this informative and practical reference book has dozens of color photographs and features chapters on:


  • Genus Paeonia and the modern hybrids

  • Ornamental and herbaceous peonies

  • Tree peonies, the "king of flowers"

  • Cultivation and propagation techniques

  • Fertilizers, preferred soil composition, watering and over-wintering

  • Remedies for pests, diseases and disorders

  • Landscaping recommendations with peonies

  • Displaying peonies indoors

  • The origin and history of peonies.

There is also a valuable appendix of selected varieties and a listing of associations and suppliers.

Editorial Reviews

American Reference Books Annual
Easy-to-use format and practical advice.
— Rachael Green
Beach Metro Community News
A fairly good introduction for the uninitiated, this book clears up questions about peony species, care, propagation and problems.
— Mary Fran McQuade
More Reviews (11) Fewer Reviews
Charleston Gazette
If you're a peony lover like me, you'll enjoy Peonies by Pamela McGeorge. It's beautiful, informative and practical.
— Sara Busse
Cleveland Plain Dealer
A comprehensive overview... photographs provide a guide for gardeners.
— Suzanne Hively
Edmonton Sun
A comprehensive overview of the peony.
— Brenda Ruzycki
London Free Press
Peonies are surely among the most glorious of flowers... The book is superbly illustrated.
— Ken Smith
Melville Newsday
An informative and interesting guide on planting, growing and caring for peonies... delves into the history and the botany.
— Jessica Damiano
Michigan Gardener
For gardeners who want to learn how to choose the best peony varieties and how to care for them.
Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
Delicious tidbits abound ... packed with historical and scientific detail.... If you're into peonies, this is the book for you.
— Mary Jane Smetanka
Style at Home
Not only [a] useful reference guide but also looks gorgeous on a coffee table book.
— Margot Austin
The Sudbury Star
144 pages of pure delight. You will not put this one down.
— Ian Munt
Vancouver Sun
Another worthy addition to any gardener's library ... Lavishly illustrated and comprehensive.
— Steve Whysall
Library Journal
Here is an excellent overview of this mainstay of the old-fashioned perennial garden, the romantic peony. McGeorge (former editor, New Zealand Gardener) and garden and landscape photographer Russell McGeorge (with Pamela McGeorge, Irises) offer a volume that is geared to a North American audience, paying full mind to appropriate planting zones. They provide a historical and cultural overview of this "fattest and most scrumptious of all flowers" and then cover the two main groups, the herbaceous garden peonies and the woody tree peonies, as well as the crosses between them. The text will remind gardeners what exceptionally long-lived and trouble-free plants these are, how broad and subtly diverse their color range is, provide clear pointers for avoiding complications with your plants, and describe how to increase their number through division of rootstock and other methods. The enticing photographs will surely turn the most tentative new planter into a peony enthusiast. While peony titles from Timber Press by Allan Rogers and Martin Page offer more scientific and commercial instruction, this volume makes a lovely offering for general readers in public libraries, keeping us aware of the magnificent and expansive beauty and easy care of the peony. Margaret Heilbrun, Library Journal Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781554071685
  • Publisher: Firefly Books, Limited
  • Publication date: 9/12/2006
  • Pages: 144
  • Series: Firefly Gardener's Guide Series
  • Product dimensions: 8.00 (w) x 10.12 (h) x 0.50 (d)

Meet the Author

Pamela McGeorge is the author of three previous titles for Firefly Books, for which Russell McGeorge was the photographer: Carnations and Pinks, Lilies and Irises.

Table of Contents

Introduction


  2. What Exactly Are Peonies?

  4. The Ancestors-Peony Species

  6. The Eternal Allure of the Peony

  8. Breaking New Ground -- the Development of Modern Hybrids

  10. Herbaceous Peonies in the Garden

  12. Landscaping with Herbaceous Peonies

  14. Herbaceous Peonies -- Care and Cosseting

  16. Tree Peonies -- the "King of Flowers"

  18. Tree Peonies in the Garden

  20. Intersectional Hybrids

  22. Peonies for Free

  24. Peonies on Display

  26. Troubleshooting

Appendix 1: Selected Peony Varieties

Appendix 2: Organizations and Suppliers

Bibliography

Index

Preface


Introduction

Extravagant language seems to be the hallmark of peony lovers. Since we first started to look at plants for their beauty, and not just for their healing properties, peonies have basked in our admiration. Words echo down the centuries, recording the impressions that peonies have made on those who have grown and loved them.

"We cherish them for the beauty and delight of their goodly flowers," wrote Englishman John Parkinson, herbalist to the king and apothecary of the time, in 1629.

"The most superb and commanding flower which the garden holds," wrote Alice Harding, doyenne of American peony growers, in 1917.

"The fattest and most scrumptious of all flowers, a rare fusion of fluff and majesty," wrote garden writer extraordinaire, Henry Mitchell, in the later years of the 20th century.

No peony grower today would argue with these descriptions, and such is the magic of these flowers that they have seduced gardeners for more than 20 centuries-long before the massive and spectacular modern hybrids we grow today had appeared on the scene.

Peonies are divided into two main groups: herbaceous varieties, which die down in the fall; and tree peonies, which are deciduous but whose woody structure remains during winter -- like the skeleton of any deciduous tree. Both bear extravagantly sumptuous flowers.

In China, the peony has been consistently treasured down through the ages. In the West its fortunes have fluctuated. First praised for its beauty in 1629, it gradually fell victim to its success. The wealthy classes came to consider a plant that lasted the lifetime of a human being, and available to all, as vulgar and common. They wanted rare plants, things that were difficult to grow, and the peony for a time was known as a "poor man's flower." However, during the 19th century, as the number of named cultivars with spectacular flowers increased, the popularity of peonies rose. They became symbolic of the stylish Edwardian times before their decline set in once again.

As the 20th century unrolled, the impetus for developing new peonies moved from Europe to the United States. American breeders began producing a series of handsome cultivars, both herbaceous and tree varieties, and more growers entered the market. In the last years of the 20th century, as China increasingly opened its doors to the West, new species were discovered, and Chinese varieties have been exported, adding to the pool of available plants. That trend continues.

Today, herbaceous peonies increasingly are taking a large share of the cutflower market, and named plants are sought after across international borders. Westerners go to China in the peony season to view vast plantings of this flower that has featured for so long in Chinese art and history. In the 21st century the peony in the Western world has come close to attaining the status and desirability it has always held in Chinese society.

This book is for gardeners who have already been seduced by peonies and want to find out how to choose the best varieties and care for them in their own gardens. It looks at the origins of peonies and highlights the efforts of early hybridizers. Some of the plants they produced are still popular today, more than 150 years after their first appearance on the market.

The book also discusses intersectional hybrids, a cross between tree peonies and herbaceous varieties, and introduces readers to the species, of which few gardeners are aware. Long neglected in favor of their flamboyant descendants, the species produce simpler, sometimes more elegant flowers that appeal to modern gardeners. Both plants and seeds are more available now than ever before, especially in the United States.

A list of suppliers is provided on pages 139-142. Many publish their selections or catalogs on the Internet. As with most popular flowers, new peony cultivars are constantly appearing, and suppliers can provide the most up-to-date information on which cultivars or species are available in any given season.

Introduction

Introduction

Extravagant language seems to be the hallmark of peony lovers. Since we first started to look at plants for their beauty, and not just for their healing properties, peonies have basked in our admiration. Words echo down the centuries, recording the impressions that peonies have made on those who have grown and loved them.

"We cherish them for the beauty and delight of their goodly flowers," wrote Englishman John Parkinson, herbalist to the king and apothecary of the time, in 1629.

"The most superb and commanding flower which the garden holds," wrote Alice Harding, doyenne of American peony growers, in 1917.

"The fattest and most scrumptious of all flowers, a rare fusion of fluff and majesty," wrote garden writer extraordinaire, Henry Mitchell, in the later years of the 20th century.

No peony grower today would argue with these descriptions, and such is the magic of these flowers that they have seduced gardeners for more than 20 centuries-long before the massive and spectacular modern hybrids we grow today had appeared on the scene.

Peonies are divided into two main groups: herbaceous varieties, which die down in the fall; and tree peonies, which are deciduous but whose woody structure remains during winter -- like the skeleton of any deciduous tree. Both bear extravagantly sumptuous flowers.

In China, the peony has been consistently treasured down through the ages. In the West its fortunes have fluctuated. First praised for its beauty in 1629, it gradually fell victim to its success. The wealthy classes came to consider a plant that lasted the lifetime of a human being, and available to all, as vulgar and common. They wanted rareplants, things that were difficult to grow, and the peony for a time was known as a "poor man's flower." However, during the 19th century, as the number of named cultivars with spectacular flowers increased, the popularity of peonies rose. They became symbolic of the stylish Edwardian times before their decline set in once again.

As the 20th century unrolled, the impetus for developing new peonies moved from Europe to the United States. American breeders began producing a series of handsome cultivars, both herbaceous and tree varieties, and more growers entered the market. In the last years of the 20th century, as China increasingly opened its doors to the West, new species were discovered, and Chinese varieties have been exported, adding to the pool of available plants. That trend continues.

Today, herbaceous peonies increasingly are taking a large share of the cutflower market, and named plants are sought after across international borders. Westerners go to China in the peony season to view vast plantings of this flower that has featured for so long in Chinese art and history. In the 21st century the peony in the Western world has come close to attaining the status and desirability it has always held in Chinese society.

This book is for gardeners who have already been seduced by peonies and want to find out how to choose the best varieties and care for them in their own gardens. It looks at the origins of peonies and highlights the efforts of early hybridizers. Some of the plants they produced are still popular today, more than 150 years after their first appearance on the market.

The book also discusses intersectional hybrids, a cross between tree peonies and herbaceous varieties, and introduces readers to the species, of which few gardeners are aware. Long neglected in favor of their flamboyant descendants, the species produce simpler, sometimes more elegant flowers that appeal to modern gardeners. Both plants and seeds are more available now than ever before, especially in the United States.

A list of suppliers is provided on pages 139-142. Many publish their selections or catalogs on the Internet. As with most popular flowers, new peony cultivars are constantly appearing, and suppliers can provide the most up-to-date information on which cultivars or species are available in any given season.

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