Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-23
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. THACEWELL.

| placid days will continue for some time
at least long enough for the iris lover
to order few new ones and put them
in the ground.
He may begin with old favorites, such
as Afterglox. AlcaZar, Ballerine, Cecil
Minturn. Isoline, Iris King, Her Maj
esty; or he may select the newer and
larger varieties, such as Dominion OF
Lent A. Williamson. We are consider
ing these flowers not from the stand
point of the connoisseur, but from that
Of the average home gardener, who bv
no means keeps strictly up to date"
on these matters.
One Of the beauty Of flowers, 1t has
always seemed to us, Is that they are
utterly free from the slightest trace OF
snobbery which clings to the newest
books and the newest" in a great many
lines of human endeavor.
The flowers bloom in our gardens ut
teriy unconscious Of our being around,
and they do not care whether we like
them or not They shine forth with
the bad alike. indifferent to our praise
or our censure.
It is for this reason that happily SC
many of the older flowers are so per-
feet that a gardener cannot imagine
any plant breeder being able to evolve
anything better; and, If he did. what
difference would 1t make2 The old
would still stand sure and true In
beauty and In light.
+ II
A gardener is not likely to forget the
peony,; glorious flower; for this Is the
only time Of the year that 1t can be
planted
1t is now or never with the peony.
- IT. 4.
pink and its variations. 1t is true that
amount to much, after all. We choose
to think mostly of the reds and deeper
shades of the pink as pinkS, for to us a
peony means a pink peony. Perhaps
others will not agree with this, remem-
bering the old-fashioned variety on
cinaliS Rubra Plena. the most brilliant
red Of them all. which Grandmother
would not have recognized by that
rather awe-inspiring name, but which
was the pride of her garden neverthe-
less.
Mrs. Edward Harding, who has be-
come the high priestess of the peony In
America, has selected the three follow
ing peonies as the finest Of them all tc
date:
lie Cygne.
Solange.
Walter FaXon.
The first is given a rating of 90 by
the American Peony Society, the second
81 and the third 9.3. lie Cygne COR the
Swami holds the highest rating of the
| society, and Is generally regarded as the
finest white peony. 1t gets its name
from a resemblance to the curvins
feathers on a swans wing.
We saw Solange at one of the flower
shows last Spring, and were as capti-
waited with it as one must be. Mrs
Harding in her "PeonieS in the Little
Garden" goes into the following ecstasy
Until the lover Of peonies knows
Solange his life is wasted, bare, unin-
teresting, impoverished and lonely be.
yond all words to tell. It's flower Il
high built, compact and composed Of
large, thick petals which closely over
lap. The color is deep cream tingec
with amber throughout, with a touch
Of soft salmon-pink glowing from it,
heart"
That Is laying it on pretty thick, ont
must admit. but Solange deserves it. Il
any peony does, and one must believe
that most of them do. Here Is one OF
the most beautiful flowers in the worlc
"a perfect bush for the garden, q sat
| iSfying companion Of the outdoors
Think of 1t now, in the Autumn, while
there Is time to plant 1t.