I I In ln Your Yo U r L w IDIN Vl fet 6 1 SOME AMERICAN PEONIES I Almost 50 SO years ago a widow Mrs Saras A. A Pleas lived in Spiceland Spiceland Spice- Spice i land and Ind md and cared for a a small flower lower garden She found ome some tiny plants growing beneath a ape pe peony ny seedlings which she did not recognize at all so in order to satIsfy satisfy sat- sat her feminine curiosity about them she lifted each one carefully with her trowel and transplanted it t to to o a spot where extra care could be given It was a v few years before the mysterious plants bloomed although although al- al though hough Mrs rs Pleas had learned that they hey were young peo peonies ies for th the foliage of course told that She then that seeds from a mature peony flower must have dropped to the he ground and taken root root root-an an experience ex- ex x- x she had never had b before fore When these seedlings bloomed however she was astonished to tD find that hat each vcr flower was different from its ts neighbor although the seeds had come from the same flower This variation in bloom Is one of ot the most wonderful things in nature M Mrs s. s Pleas was by this ac acci acci- i- i dental development of seedlings launched on an enterprise which occupied her until she was a ve very y old lady Ea Each li year after seeing these first flowers from the Unknown unknown unknown un un- known little plants she gathered seed from her peonies s and planted them She noticed d. d that it was usually a single p peony o y which produced produced produced pro pro- the seeds although flowers which resulted were both single and e entirely double She has prod produced ced some extremely extreme extreme- ly y lovely new peonies many of or which are re to be bought today from growers and specialists One of the finest inest is Jubilee so called because it flowered first on the ho fiftieth anniversary of Mrs Pleas Pleas' wedding day Jubilee Is a large flowered variety with lacy- lacy looking petals of ot white tinged with pink occasionally on the outer petals petals pet- pet als ils and with a starry center show showing ing tints o of green The blooms are arc areso areso so big and heavy that a support is always necessary to keep them from falling to the ground This peony peon rates 89 a la good rating am and believed by some connoisseurs to be benot benot benot not as high as it deserves Another of Mrs Picas Picas' peonies is Opal also an unusually large flower In pale palo pink with long pointed petals petals pet pet- als ale which bloom in Still Stil another is Opal Iris distinct l from om Opal a palo paI salmon salmon pink Midsummer Nights Night's Dream Mrs Pleas Picas liked descriptive names is a white bluish flower wl with h crimson edges to some of the petals and a apale apale apale pale canary yellow jellow collar If you grow grow I any any any- of these or or intend buying a root this fall bU you will be interested interested inter inter- ested in 1 knowing how the the first firs Pleas peo peonies e came into being QUERIES QUERIES' Mrs V V. W. W P P. Ogden writes Can th the berries from elderberry shrubs be pla planted to make male new new shrubs 1 Ans Yes Yes certainly This is the cheapest way vay to get geta a stock of f this thi shrub In three years years you will have hav shrubs about three feet tall which will bloom