The new perennial flowers - New Plant Parade '85

Flower & Garden Magazine, Dec-Jan, 1984 by Rachel Snyder

THE NEW PERENNIAL FLOWERS

In perennial flowers we have a surge of activity. Peonies, hostas, daylilies and various irises lead the pack, but many other kinds as well are represented by new introductions. As a result of the recent founding of the Perennial Plant Association (which consists primarily of commercial growers) we should see even more expansion in variety and availability of perennial flowers.

Peonies

Considering the many years required to create and propagate a new peony, the number of new ones turned up in this year's survey is remarkable, as we find at least 14. Despite the marvels of tissue culture propagation, it has not yet worked well for peonies, so they are propagated the old way, with time and hand labor, lots of both.

Klehm Nursery announces introductions of three new Estate peonies--her-baceous types; and three tree peonies. The Estate series is a line of mostly patented varieties selected in three generations of peony work by the Klehm family in Illinois. Developed by Roy Klehm, "A La Mode' is a midseason snow white 7-inch single flower, sweetly musk scented, with a pom of gold stamens at the center. Blooms are generously produced on 33-inch stems clothed in dark clean foliage. "Burma Midnight,' a rare seedling developed by Klehm from Glasscock's "Burma Ruby,' has flowers of much darker scarlet, on an early blooming vigorous 38-inch plant. "Salmon Chiffon' blooms at early midseason with soft salmon-pink single cupped 6-inch flowers, a rose blush on each petal, plants 22 inches tall bearing deep green clean foliage. Flowers have sweet musk aroma. It was created by Nathan Rudolph of Illinois.

For the first time Klehm will offer tree peonies--three new introductions. Tree peonies have woody shrub-like stems that lose their leaves but do not die down in winter. "Artemis,' a Nassos Daphnis hybrid, has large single silk-like blooms of light sulfur yellow on vigorous bold plants. "Guardian of the Monastery' is a moutan hybrid developed by William Gratwick--huge single blooms, on strong growing plants, mauve to lavender with red flares at centers. "Renown' is a lutea hybrid by the late Prof. A. P. Saunders; elegant single blossoms, often ruffled, of light copper and raspberry tones, with yellow overtones, handsomely irregular. This plant tends to rebloom through summer and fall. As a Saunders creation, "Renown' rates as a classic going far back in American tree peony hybridizing, but it has not been widely available. Now Klehm offers it.

Busse Gardens announces its own new line of herbaceous peonies resulting from their acquisition six years ago of the entire collection of hybridizer Mervyn Pees of Belle Center, Ohio. Pees, who was superintendent of Belle Center schools, died unexpectedly in about 1977. He had grown and bred peonies as a hobby for many years and was a friend of another Belle Center peony hybridizer, the now legendary Walter Mains. His garden had many of Mains' varieties. Mains, who died about 1965, had over about 40 years created and registered some wonderful peonies but did not get many of them into commerce. The peony collection which Mr. and Mrs. Norman Busse purchased and moved to Cokato, Minn., in 1978, includes a strong representation of Walter Mains' work as well as all the selected seedlings created by Mervyn Pees. At that time, it consisted of 1500 mature clumps. Now after six growing seasons they are learning what they have and are pleased, to say the least. This year they introduce four newly registered Pees originations, and two that Walter Mains registered long ago but are little known and recently unavailable. Undoubtedly, more are to come.

The four from Pees are headed by "Dance Ballerina Dance,' a spectacular midseason peony of unusual form and colors--soft pink anemone type petals outermost, than a set of pale yellow to nearly white petalodes. At the center of all is a tuft of pink petalodes, all on strong 34-inch stems. "Finlandia' is an exciting white Japanese type, late flowering and exceedingly productive, the large blooms held up on stiff stems above dark green foliage. Inside the two outer rows of rounded petals is a center of loose pale yellow petalodes fading to white at tips, nestling a set of bright green carpels. The introduction named "Mervyn Pees' in tribute to its hybridizer is a brilliant red Japanese type, two rows of rounded non-fading petals centered with a tight mass of curly yellow staminodes (stamen-like filaments) at center. "Maid Marion' is named for Busse daughter Marion Heidi, who helped select it. Late to bloom, it is a pink flower of Japanese style, the pinkness achieved by fine lines drawn in deep tones over a lighter pink background. Cupped petals are outlined in white, with a large yellow center studded with shocking red carpels.

The two Busse listings from Walter Mains' work, while not new, have not been in commerce for a long time. "Constance Moore' is a dark red Japanese style with stamens the same color tipped in white; carpels (immature seed pods) are completely capped with an informal arrangement of center petals. It blooms at midseason on 34-inch strong stems over medium green foliage. The other Mains variety, "Ann Zahller,' has mid-size semi-double flowers of hard-to-describe colors--light red fading to cherry pink. Four or five rows of these slightly ruffled petals surround a cushion of white-tipped yellow stamens, carpels at center of the same yellow.