Self -guided tour for the University of Michigan, Nichols Arboretum Peony Garden Fragrant Peonies

Peonies are often esteemed for their intoxicating fragrance. These scents range from sweet and rosy to citrusy and spicy. Surprisingly, not all peonies are fragrant. The double form white and pink peonies tend to be the most aromatic. Some semi-double and anemone formed peonies boast an attractive perfume as well. However, most single and red peonies do not have a scent—though there are a few exceptions. Below are some of the top-rated fragrant peonies in the Peony Garden. Smell and compare, then choose a favorite!

20 Splendida

26 27 18 La France 19 Richardson’s Grandiflora

24 25 14 Albert Crousse 17 John Richardson 13 16 Chestine Gowdy Do Tell 21 22 23 12 Avalanche 18 19 20 15 Sarah K. Thurlow 11 Bayadere

15 16 17 10 Mary Brand

12 13 14 7 James Kelway 9 La Perle 9 10 11 5 Nympheae 8 Mignon 6 7 8 4 Madame Emile Lemoine

3 Octavie Demay 3 4 5 6 Primevere

2 Madame Calot 1 2

1 Duchesse de Nemours Fragrant Peonies

1 1856 8 1908 15 1921 Duchesse de Nemours Mignon Sarah K. Thurlow This beautiful white This elegant peony This rose-scented peony has an blooms pink and peony blooms a intoxicating aroma. turns to flesh white pale pink and fades when fully open. It has to white as it opens. It has a 2 1856 a rich rose fragrance. smooth, rose-like center. Madame Calot 1886 9 16 1946 This early pink double peony produces many La Perle Do Tell flowers on sturdy stems This old-rose This peony and has a strong fragrance. colored peony has creates a bold a distinct lavender contrast with its 3 1867 shade and a spicy fragrance. orchid pink outer Octavie Demay 1907 petals and its thin reddish pink inner 10 petals. It has a light citrus fragrance. This early pink- Mary Brand flowering variety is 1904 somewhat dwarf and Red peonies are 17 has a distinct collar of often not fragrant. John Richardson narrow, almost white petals. Yet, Mary Brand breaks the stereo- This late blooming double peony has a 4 1899 type with its pleasing fragrance. This crimson peony is deep pink center Madame Emile Lemoine good for both cut flowers and that pales to the edge This white peony of the petals. opens with crimson 11 1910 streaks on the inner 18 1901 petals and a flush of tiny Bayadere pink dots that fade to a creamy white. La France This double white 1919 peony has large, This fragrant 5 translucent white peony has large, Nympheae overlapping petals with an inner perfectly formed yellow glow from intermingled pink flowers splashed This creamy white stamens. It has excellent foliage with specks of crimson peony is flushed with and a strong fragrance. and petals of a crisp, fresh texture. pink and its petals Valuable as both a garden decoration form a tuft in the center and a cut flower. of the flower. A rich gold color is suffused 12 1886 throughout the flower from the many Avalanche 1883 stamens intermingled with the petals. 19 This blushing white Richardson’s Grandiflora 1907 peony has compact 6 blooms sometimes This peony is one Primevere edged in red. It has a of the last varieties very strong, but not sweet, to bloom. Its large, This anemone type fragrance. flat, rose-pink flowers peony has creamy white are very fragrant. outer petals sometimes 13 1913 splashed with crimson and a center of narrow yellow petals Chestine Gowdy that become lighter with age. This peony has a 20 1850 distinct two-tone Splendida 7 1900 quality and a James Kelway pleasant fragrance. This peony is known for its large This peony is noted in 14 1893 flowers and unusually Mrs. Alice Harding’s Albert Crousse pleasing fragrance. book Peonies in the Little Garden as having a This creamy rose- wonderful fragrance, but other pink peony is a sources say it has no scent. Either profuse bloomer way, this fluffy, loose-flowered peony with compact ball-like makes a lovely addition to any garden. flowers and a mild fragrance. Self -guided tour for the University of Michigan, Nichols Arboretum Peony Garden Famous Ladies Many peonies are named in honor of a loved one while others are named to commemorate an event or a famous person. A number of the peonies in the Peony Garden are named after famous ladies in history. See if you can find all of these famous ladies in the Peony Garden. Can you find other peonies in the garden named after famous people?

10 Martha Bulloch 26 27 8 Marguerite Gerard

24 25

9 Mrs. F. D. Roosevelt 21 22 23

7 18 19 20 Phoebe Cary

15 16 17 6 Florence Nightingale

12 13 14

3 Lady Alexandra Duff 9 10 11 5 Sarah Bernhardt

6 7 8

2 Mrs. Edward Harding

3 4 5

4 Fanny Crosby 1 1 2 Edith Lyttelton Famous Ladies

1 6 Edith Lyttelton Florence Nightingale Edith Lyttelton (1865-1948) was a British World Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) was born in and War I-era activist, novelist, and spiritualist. She named after Florence, Italy. Nightingale decided to gave assistance to the unemployed in London, and devote her life to nursing in 1844. She worked to she served on the War Refugees Committee during reform military hospitals and improve medical care World War I. Later, Lyttelton became the Deputy and living conditions for soldiers and the poor. After Director of the Women’s Branch of the Ministry of 1860, Nightingale’s health prevented her from Agriculture. Lyttelton was appointed Dame Com- physically working as a nurse, but she continued mander of the Order of the British Empire in 1917 her activism through her writings. She was awarded and Dame Grand Cross in 1929. many medals for her service.

2 7 Mrs. Alice Harding Phoebe Cary

Alice Harding was a gardener and writer of the Phoebe Cary (1824-1871) was an American poet and early 20th century. She lived on Burnley Farm in champion of women’s rights. She and her sister, Alice, Plainfield, New Jersey where she collected, tested, began publishing poetry together, but eventually they and evaluated the finest new peony varieties. both began publishing their own volumes. Cary also Alice Harding had a rose, an iris, two French edited a newspaper published by Susan B. Anthony. hybrid lilacs, a tree peony, and two herbaceous peonies named in her honor. 8 3 Marguerite Gerard Lady Alexandra Duff Marguerite Gerard (1761-1837) was a leading Lady Alexandra Duff (1891-1959) was the grand- French female artist. She learned much of what she daughter of King Edward VII. She served as a nurse knew from her brother-in-law, artist Jean-Honore. at St. Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, and she worked Marguerite painted in a precise, romantic style, on the behalf of local hospitals in South Africa. Lady often depicting domestic scenes and scenes of the Alexandra Duff had many honors bestowed upon her wealthy enjoying a care-free life. Napoleon including Royal Red Cross 1st Class, Dame Grand purchased her only historically themed painting and Cross of the Most Venerable Order of St. John of commissioned her to paint others. Jerusalem, Royal Family Order of King Edward VII, and the Royal Family Order of King George V. 9 4 Mrs. F. D. Roosevelt Fanny Crosby Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) was the first lady in the United States from 1933 to 1945. She Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) was an American supported the New Deal reforms put in place by lyricist best known for her Protestant Christian her husband, and she was an advocate for civil hymns. She was stricken blind as a baby when an rights. Eleanor Roosevelt also helped begin the incompetent doctor treated her for inflammation of second wave of feminism when she was on JFK’s the eyes. She attended the New York Institution for committee – the Presidential Commission on the the Blind for twelve years and remained there as a Status of Women. teacher for eleven more. Fanny was friends with almost every president during her lifetime and wrote more than 8,000 hymns. 10 5 Martha Bulloch Sarah Bernhardt Martha Bulloch (1835-1884) was the mother of Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) was a French stage U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt. She went by, and early film actress. She was brought up in a ”Mittie,” and was a true southern belle. It is convent and began acting at age 18. She started rumored that the character Scarlett O’Hara in her stage career in comic theatre and burlesque Gone with the Wind is modeled after Mittie. She and eventually moved on to film. Sarah Bernhardt married Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. in 1853. Mittie was made a member of France’s Legion of Honor in died of typhoid in 1884. 1914. She also helped organize a military hospital in the Franco-Prussian War during the 1870s. Self -guided tour for the University of Michigan, Nichols Arboretum Peony Garden Best of the Oldies Peonies have been used for food and medicine in Europe and China for hundreds, even thousands of years. It was not until the early 1800s that people started growing peonies as ornamental garden plants and breeding them for characteristics such as flower size, color, and form. The Peony Garden was opened in 1927 and holds many historic varieties of peonies. Here are some of the best of the old varieties, many of which are still available today!

26 27

18 Milton Hill 24 25

16 Marie Lemoine 21 22 23 17 Solange

18 19 20 15 14 Felix Crousse Karl Rosenfield

15 16 17 13 Walter Faxon 8 Madame Auguste Dessert 12 13 14 12 Marie Crousse

9 11 La Perle Therese 9 10 11 7 Lady Emily 10 Triomphe de l’Exposition de Lille 6 7 8

6 5 Le Cygne 3 4 5 La Rosiere

3 4 Edulis Superba 1 2 Monsieur Jules Elie

1 Grandiflora Nivea Plena 2 Festiva Maxima Best of the Oldies

1 10 Grandiflora Nivea Plena 1824 Triomphe de l’Exposition de Lille 1865 This tall, early, sweetly scented peony This lovely pink peony was introduced from one opens pink and fades to white as the of the early French breeders, Calot. The long flowers age. It is highly valued for cut flowers. stems make this peony an excellent cut flower.

2 11 Festiva Maxima 1851 Therese 1904 Festiva Maxima is a classic variety that is This peony produces huge flowers of pale still popular in many gardens today. Its rose-pink that have a golden glow emanating large white flowers are edged in red and are from the center. It makes an excellent show valuable both in the garden and as cut flowers. flower because of the well-developed blooms. It is an outstandingly beautiful plant. 3 Edulis Superba 1824 12 This peony is believed to be one of Marie Crousse 1892 the oldest cultivars still commercially This pretty French peony has large, available. It grows well in heavy soils globular blooms of a pale pink. It is a and is an early bloomer. typical French double that has been in 4 gardens for over 100 years. Monsieur Jules Elie 1888 13 This wonderfully fragrant peony has Walter Faxon 1904 flowers of lavender pink that hold up This peony is named after an American orni- well even in bright sunshine. It is still a thologist and carcinologist. It was another of popular variety grown in today’s gardens Mrs. Alice Harding’s top three peonies. It has and is often used for cut flowers. large, clear pink blossoms best when used as cut 5 La Rosiere 1888 14 This free flowering peony has large Felix Crousse 1881 white flowers on wiry stems. The flowers Félix Crousse is known for being one of the best are symmetrical and very striking. red varieties. Its brilliant crimson flowers are often edged with silver, giving them a shimmering glow. 6 Le Cygne 1907 15 This was one of Mrs. Alice Harding’s—a Karl Rosenfield 1908 gardener and garden writer of the early 1920s—top three peonies. French for This double, crimson peony flowers freely. It “the swan,” this white peony blossoms has good strong stems that make it valuable early and often has perfectly formed flowers. as both a garden plant and cut flower.

7 16 Lady Emily 1807 Marie Lemoine 1865 This light rose-pink peony is the oldest This stout little peony is another of Calot’s peony in our collection. It has been creations. Its large, flat, white flowers are growing happily in its current location tinged with yellow in the center. Occasionally, since 1927. Lady Emily blooms with the central petals will be outlined in red. multiple flowers on each stem and is notable for its fine form. 17 8 Solange 1907 Madame Auguste Dessert 1899 This was the third of Mrs. Alice Harding’s top This brilliant pink peony has large three favorite peonies. This mostly white blooms edged in silver. This excellent peony has large, tea-tinted flowers, which garden plant is free-flowering and has often take several days to fully open. It’s unique strong stems. color makes this peony stand out. 9 18 La Perle 1886 Milton Hill 1891 This spicy smelling peony is old-rose pink This peony has very large, pink flowers with an all-over lavender tone. Center with a luminous quality. Its fragrance is petals are sometimes tinged a darker red. light but sweet. The flowers of Le Perle last for a long time.