GARDENS OF PAEONIA MOUTAN IN CHINA.
BY R. FORTUNE.
These gardens are situated near the village of Fa-who, about 5 or 6 miles west from Shanghae, in the midst of a vast country of cotton plantations. On the way I met a large number of coolies each carry two baskets of Moutan-paeonies in full flower; they went to sell them in market. Arrived at the gardens I found there a number of these plants in flower and of a remarkable beauty. The purple and lilac species especially attracted the sight: among others a very pretty kind apparently distinct, with finely cut leaves and flowers of a velvety purple, like the Tuscany rose of our gardens. The Chinese call it Moutan Peony (black) and I believe it to be the same as that called atro-sanguinea by Dr. Lindley, in the journal of the Horticultural Society of London. Another species called “tse” or purple, had double flowers of a remarkable size; it is probably this variety which they say has a thousand petals, and did not exist but in the garden of the emperor. The third kind is called “lan” (blue;) it is a lilac variety; its flowers are of the color of Wistaria Sinensis. There are besides other kinds of purple differently shaded, very distinct from the preceding and equally beautiful.
The double whites are also numerous and very remarkable. The largest among them has been called P. globosa by Dr. Lindley, but there are 4 or 5 others which approach very near to this. Some have a light shade of lilac, which gives tone to their color. The best is that called “wang” (yellow) by the Chinese; this variety, of a straw color, is very beautiful, but notwithstanding inferior to some others.
The red peonies (Hong) are equally numerous. What is strange, is, that the kinds common at Canton and in England, are very rare here. These gardens contain about a half-dozen of new varieties of red peonies; among others, that called “Van-yang-hong” by the Chinese, is the most beautiful plant which I have ever seen. Its flowers are of a bright and pure red, entirely different from all the others perfectly double; each of them is about ten inches in diameter. In all I counted nearly thirty distinct varieties in these gardens.
The greater part of these beautiful varieties of Paeonia Moutan are unknown at Canton. This may seem strange in a country where flowers are so generally sought for; but the Chinese are in everything such conservatives that a slight acquaintance with their customs will suffice to explain this apparent anomaly. The gardens of Canton derive their supplies of P. Moutan from a district situated more in the west than Shanghae. From time immemorial the same gardens have furnished these flowers; they arrive always by the same road, and at the same time of the year. It seems that Shanghae until the end of the last war, has never been in communication with Canton, at least in what concerns flowers, consequently these beautiful varieties of Peony could not obtain a route towards the south and thence to Europe.
The establishments where they cultivate exclusively the Paeonia Moutan are numerous, but very small. They have the appearance of our cottage gardens, and are cared for in the same way, that is, by all the members of the family: the women take as much part in it as the men: they are very avaricious and love money extremely. When they have been consulted, I always had to pay dearer for the acquisitions of plants which I made. The soil of these gardens is rich and well-manured; this latter circumstance renders it less compact than the soil where they cultivate cotton.
The propagation and management of the Paeonia Moutan seems to have been perfectly understood by the Chinese at Shanghae, much better than with us. Our horticulturists complain without ceasing of the difficulty of multiplying this beautiful plant, and this makes the price remain high. Here is the method which the Chinese pursue, and which our growers may try.
At the commencement of October, they collect in the sheds and out-houses a great quantity of the roots of a certain herbaceous Peony, roots which must serve for subjects of Paeonia Moutan. The bundle of tubercles which forms the root of a herbaceous peony is divided, and each little root, in shape of a finger, becomes a subject upon which they graft the P. Moutan. Having placed a great number of these tubercles upon the potting table, they bring the grafts of the plants which they wish to multiply. Each graft is but an inch and a half to two inches long; it is the extremity of a shoot made during the summer just finished. The under part of it is cut into a wedge and inserted on the top of the finger shaped tubercle of which we spoke. The graft is covered by a ligature or by clay and the operation is complete. A great number of grafts being thus made, they are carried to the garden and planted in rows distant about a foot and a half; the same space is left between plants in the same row. In planting, the head of the graft only remains above the soil; the part where the graft unites with the tubercle is always buried. Kaempfer says that the Chinese multiply the Moutan Peony by bud-grafting; this is an error, this process is never practiced by them, they do not even understand it. The author has been led into the error by the smallness of the bud which they use, this having but one eye at its end.
Each autumn sees thousands of plants grafted in this way. The little empty space which may be seen in the rows proves the goodness of the method; in fact a graft rarely fails to grow. At the end of about fifteen days the union of the root and the graft is complete: in the following spring the plants are beautiful and vigorous. They generally flower the first spring or at the latest in the second; it is then that they are taken up and carried to be sold in the market in the way I have described. The plant which has but one stalk and one flower has more value in the eyes of the cultivator at Shanghae than a stronger one; it is sold more easily, produces a very large flower, and presents no difficulty neither for lifting nor for transportation. Thanks to this circumstance I could always procure strong plants more advantageously than small ones.
In the gardens of the mandarins can often be met Peonies of a considerable size. Near Shanghae there is one which annually produces 3 to 400 flowers. The proprietor takes as much care of it as could the most enthusiastic amateur of his tulips. During its flowering, it was protected from the burning rays of the sun by a tent of canvass; in front was a seat where the visitor enjoyed in full the sight of these magnificent flowers. Every day, for several hours, the old man installed himself there, and while pipes and bowls of tea succeeded each other he looked lovingly upon his favorite “Moutan wha.” It was certainly a noble plant, well worthy of the admiration of the old amateur, to whom I wish the pleasure of sitting a long time yet under his tent, to enjoy so beautiful a sight.
Translated from the Flore des Serres.