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Mystery Peonies by Lindsay D'Aoust |
Why the obsession with names? Is a peony any less beautiful or any less interesting if you don’t know the name?
Any less beautiful? Certainly not! Less interesting? Au contraire! Those so-called Mystery, or nameless peonies, fascinate me. And, judging by the number of photos people send me asking for the name of their Mystery peony, I suspect I am not alone.
So, why the obsession with names? I pigeonhole peony names into one of three categories; historical, curious, or, just a name. The last category is the least interesting. Once you find out that your peony is called ‘Snow Swan’ or say ‘Rosy Cheeks’ what else is there really to know?
The curious names are a bit more intriguing and though it is often hard to go much past the name, it is fun to muse about why the breeder chose a particular name. For example, whom did Don Hollingworth have in mind (if indeed he had anyone in mind) when he named his lovely double white peony ‘My Love’? Or, how about ‘Fancy Nancy’? Was there really someone called Nancy? These names are more muses than burning questions: Something to mull over and theorize upon while weeding around the peony.
'Fancy Nancy'
Historical names are what grab my attention. It is not enough to know the name; I want to know just who was this person who deserved such a lovely flower. While trying to discover something about the peony ‘Mme Émile Gallé' I discovered who Émile Gallé himself was. It was even more fun when in a museum last year; I actually spotted some of his glass works. ‘Mme Émile Gallé’ has always been a lovely peony but now it is also a piece of history and a story in my garden.
'Mme Émile Gallé'
Here however is the rub. If you don’t know the name, the story and history are lost. The Mystery peony is still beautiful but the interest is now in finding what is the name rather than what is behind the name.
Unfortunately it is not usually a simple thing to find the name of a peony. And, I promise you it is not enough to just send me a picture. If you are serious about identifying a peony you will need to start making some detailed observations. This alone however will not be enough. Once you have observed and noted just about everything there is to note, you will need to compare your observations to either other named living specimens or, documented descriptions. This unfortunately is often easier said than done.
When a peony is registered with the American Peony Society (APS), the organization charged with ensuring peony names are globally unique, a description of the cultivar must be given. Today those descriptions must be very detailed however this was not always the case. I quote from the APS web site:
‘… if one studies all the registrations made over the last hundred and fifty years, only a small fraction of the total number are described or depicted well enough to identify an unknown plant based on the available information.’
In other words, having a detailed description of your Mystery peony and a copy of all recorded peony descriptions, it is unlikely you will be able to put a unique name to your peony.
The APS is however addressing this problem by going back to some of the previously registered cultivars and gathering detailed descriptions. This will be a long and slow process and will require the help of many people. The results of this work however may well lead to you putting a name on your own Mystery peony one day.
In the mean time, you suspect your Mystery peony might be ‘Sea Shell’ because you have seen a photo of ‘Sea Shell’. Looking up the APS published description of ‘Sea Shell’ you find the following:
Single - Pink - Mid season. Tall. This pink single, was always one of the most admired exhibits at our peony shows. Large flowers of a bright lively pink with a full center of yellow stamens on strong stems. A center of attraction in the garden and simply beautiful as a cut flower. It is one of the best pink singles we have.
It’s a possibility, but so perhaps is the following APS published description of another peony:
Single - Pink - Late. Tall. Apple blossom shades of pink, graceful in form and carriage, and does not lose its attractiveness as the bloom ages. Shows Japanese parentage in its plant habit.
Here are pictures of both these peonies:
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From these pictures they are pretty similar are they not? The following is a picture of one of these peonies but a little further open. Can you tell with any certainty which one it is?
The bottom line being that in many cases official descriptions and a picture of a peony are grossly inadequate when it comes to putting a name to a Mystery peony.
By far the best way to put a name on your Mystery peony today is to compare it very carefully to other living specimens. It has taken me some time to determine which characteristics are important to observe and I now have a short list for herbaceous peonies that has proven quite reliable for me.
One certainly wants to record basics such as colour, height, buds per stem and flower form but there will always be variation in these characteristics. One needs to get the generalities noted but there are other characteristics that will allow positive identification.
Stigma colour, filament length and colour, number and hairiness of carpels and the presence (complete, partial or absent) and colour of a staminodal disk are all very useful characteristics to observe and compare. These structures are shown here in the image of a single form flower just because they are easy to see. They should however be noted also in other flower forms when they exist. It takes a bit of practice but in a short time you will begin to see your peonies in much greater and precise detail.
When making observations, it is very important to look at newly opened flowers at the same position on the stem. Comparing the colour of the stigmas on a newly opened flower with the stigma colour on a flower several days old is not a valid comparison. Colour changes as flowers age. Also, comparing the main flower on a stem to a secondary flower on another plant will lead to inaccuracies. A good rule of thumb is to look at the first, main flowers just as they open.
When it comes to doubles, I usually observe the main flower and then make a second observation of secondary flowers. This is useful because many doubles have their reproductive structures completely transformed on the main flower but the secondary flowers will often be less developed and it is on these flowers that it is possible to observe such things as stigma colour and hairiness of carpels.
Fragrance is another characteristic I use but only as a broad filter and only if I’m using my own nose i.e. fragrance is normalized to one individual’s sense of smell. If I have two peonies I initially suspect are the same cultivar but when I smell them, one has a great fragrance and the other does not, I can say with confidence that they are not the same cultivar. Remember however to be sure to test newly opened flowers at the same time of day as fragrance changes with age and as the day wears on. And, don’t trust anybody else’s judgment of fragrance.
Bloom time is yet another useful observation to make. A date however is not enough. You will need to record the date the first bloom opens but you will also need to record the date the first bloom opens on a known cultivar growing in identical conditions. For example, if you also grow 'Red Charm' under the same conditions, you can state when your Mystery peony blooms with respect to 'Red Charm'.
Make the detailed observations and then set out to find a list of potential candidates. Scan all the descriptions and pictures you can find in books and web sites.
The Heartland Peony Society (www.peonies.org) has a web based Peony Identification Utility that is worth taking a look at but unless more people submit precise observations its usefulness is limited to identifying potential candidates.
The Peony Bloom Date project run by CPS member Michael Denny provides a wealth of data on when certain cultivars bloom with respect to each other. There are limitations to the usefulness of this data as a way to identify a Mystery peony but it is another resource that can narrow the search by including or excluding possibilities.
You will find a list of contact information for these and other useful references via the Related Sites page of the CPS web site (www.peony.ca). These resources should help you put together a list of potential candidates.
Next, you need to seek out living specimens of these potential candidates and make a direct comparison of all the characteristics you have observed. The Society is compiling a list of where to see peonies in Canada and this will be a useful resource. Open Gardens are also an opportunity not to be missed. Unless you are very lucky, it may well take a few seasons of seeking out candidates and making comparisons before you find your Mystery peony’s name.
In conclusion, there is no one easy way to determine the identity of your Mystery peony. The search for the name however can lead you to all sorts of interesting information along the way. The best first step is to make detailed observations of your peony this season. Armed with these observations you are well placed to research the possibilities, narrow your search and hopefully eventually confirm the identity. If you’re lucky the name will be an interesting one and you will be off on another search for the story behind the name…
An extract of this article was previously published by the Canadian Peony Society in
Peony C to C, May 2007.
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P.O. Box 220, Hudson Heights,
QC J0P 1J0, Canada