Plant ID, please

I'd much appreciate the i.d. of this flower, seen in Beverly, MA, U.S.A. Thanks,
- David

 

Hi David:

I could be wrong in my assessment but this plant is
a lavender pink Peony. I have not been able to track
down the varietal name of it. With 8 petals it is the
old standard form single.

Here are two URLs that show some Peonies.

http://www.peonyparadise.com/Varieties.html

http://www.nichollsgardens.com/peon_m.htm

Sorry I could not be more help. If I learn the
varietal name I will repost to this thread.

Jim

 

Thanks. It looks a bit like the Angelus peony on the Nicholls Garden site you referred me to, which I've attached, although it seems to be a simpler variety than the Angelus. What do you think?

- David

ed: see this link - Nicholls Gardens Peonies (it's the third photograph on the page)

 

Hi David:

I looked through several sites yesterday looking at Peonies.
Even looking at firms that I have bought from mail order
many years ago that are online, hoping they had some of
the older Peonies available. While looking at mail order
sellers I knew years ago, now online sellers also, I did find
my old supplier of Lilies (Oriental and Martagon types)
that just recently came online. I was quite pleased about
finding them.

Personally, I think your Peony is an older form, one that
has been around a while but I could be wrong about that.
It seems the more expensive, popular and more recent
introductions are online. It was not that long ago that the
Japanese forms were "scarcer than hen's teeth" to find.
Now several web sites have them.

A case in point is that from mail order firms years ago
I could buy and did buy Peonies for as little as $2 each
purchased in quantities of 6 or more. Now when I see
prices ranging from $16-100 each I tend to feel that the
older Peonies are not being offered nearly as much as
they used to be. It still could be that a nursery had some
of the old Peonies for sale and that the plant you saw is
from that nursery. I have no way of knowing how old
the plant is that you saw but the leaves are right for a
herbaceous Peony and the shape of the flower is right
for it to be an old form single. Tracing the name of it
will be the tough part and I may have it in some of
my 10-25 year old mail order catalogs.

Jim

 

Jim,

Your analysis makes sense I believe I shot this picture at a garden of a mansion which is now part of a state preserve in Beverly, MA. It seems likely that the peonies there are not of recent vintage. If you happen to run across it, great, but please don't put yourself out unless the "hunt" interests you, too.

I was surprised to see how expensive peonies are today, and how elaborate. There is something beautifully elegant about this older, simpler breed, in my opinion.

Thanks again,
David

 

I'm of a similar mind.

 

Hi David:

Whether I am right or not on the age of this Peony is
not important. Sometimes the new improved varieties
are not necessarily better than their forerunners. I think
single flowers have an elegance all their own. I would
not trade our 'Cocktail' and Rosa chinensis 'Mutabilis'
Roses for any other Rose that I've had or have seen.

Actually, single Peonies are rarer than most of the
other forms. Years ago there were not many singles
around and even today there are not many available
still.

Thanks for showing us this Peony.

Jim

 

Thanks for letting me know what I was looking at, and for the mini history lesson on the changes this flower has gone through. I never had much interest in flowers until I started photographing them. Now they constantly amaze me.

- David

 

I thought you folks might be interested in what I'm doing with these flower images I've been asking about for the past year. Here's a link to a photo gallery I just set up a few minutes ago of mandala-like images I've made from the flower pictures I've been shooting:

Flower Mandalas

I may be picking your brain for possible better identifications of flowers broadly identifed as dahlias and lilies (though I know that's a tough request, as there are so many varieties).

Thanks again for your help.

- David

 

David,

Those are stunning. I really appreciate your sharing this.

Would you be okay with us featuring this on the UBC Botanical Garden Weblog under
Botanical Art?

 

Thanks. No, I don't mind your putting this on the weblog. However, I'd like to tinker with it first -- change the "About Me" so it's specific to these images and allow for the possibility of someone buying a print, if they'd like to. I put the initial site together just to show you folks, but I can easily alter it, if that's all right with you. I should be able to do that within a couple of hours.

- David

 

Daniel,

Okay, I've tinkered with the site and I'd be very pleased to have you put it on the Botanical Art weblog. I'm flattered. Thanks -

- David