parents:

Blushing Princess (Saunders – Reath 1991)

Sparkling Windflower

CARNATION BOUQUET (Bill Seidl), Manitowoc, Wisconsin, July 9, 1996. Seedling #DPSW-1.  Parentage, Blushing Princess x Sparkling Windflower. First bloomed about 1985. Pink hybrid, good substance, reliable, one bud per stem, seeds. This pink double flower has petals tending to be of uniform size, giving the flower a carnation-like appearance. Clove scent, but warm humid conditions are needed to release it. Small, 4-5" flowers are in scale with thin stems that bend but still provide adequate support. Vigorous, new division establishes quickly, producing 30+ stems per clump. Eventually measuring 30" high x 48" wide.

Pink, double, midseason, fragrant, 32" tall, hybrid. Petals of uniform size give a carnation appearance. Wonderful spicy fragrance. Unusual bud turns into a swan

Carnation looking! This peony produce pretty double flowers with petals arrangement looking like the flower carnation. The flower is of a vivid rose, very bright. One flower per stem. Stems strong supporting the flowers without support. Very easy to grow peony with a pretty foliage. Plant of 85 cm. Strongly spicy fragrance. Produce few seeds and own an interesting genetic for the breeders : (Blushing Princess X Sparkling Windflower). An almost perfect note for the whole plant. New and hard to fin perennial!

Semblable à un oeillet! Cette pivoine porte de jolies petites fleurs doubles dont la forme rappelle celle d’un oeillet, d’où son nom ¨Carnation¨. La fleur est d’un rose vif, très lumineux. Une seule fleur par tige. Tiges assez fortes et ne nécessitant pas de support ici. Facile de culture avec un très beau feuillage qui conserve sa tenue et sa beauté durant toute la saison. Plant de 85 cm. Fleurs au parfum épicé. Produit quelques graines et possède une génétique intéressante pour les hybrideurs: (Blushing Princess X Sparkling Windflower). La plante en général est impeccable. Une nouveauté, assez rare sur le marché. Parmi mes préférées cette année.

discussion on Yahoo-groups [peony] May 2004:

Art Wilder Zone 5, Maine: Carnation Bouquet is one of my favorite peonies- for it's spicy fragrance. I have to have a sniff every time I go past it when it's in bloom (but my sense of smell isn't very good!). I'm glad Joshua Scholten has it, I always thought it would make a good cut flower because of it's fragrance.

Robert Johnson on y!groups #5468

Re: [peony] Favorites for 2001

Gang, As you may know, I grow mostly herbacious hybrids, so my "favorites" do not include many of the lactis. They, for some strange reason, do not seem
to do as well in my sand and frosts and desert climate.
The following were my favorites this year:
'Raspberry Charm' by S. Wissing.
This is still perhaps my top favorite. The flowers this year were almost double, although I primarily like the semi-doubles that this plant can throw. It is notable for blooming quite a bit ahead of other full-flowered peonies, lasts forever as a cut flower, has stems like a tree, and is long lasting on the bush as well. Always performs well for me, which is not the case for me with all my other peonies. It is the earliest of the peonies I grow that I really look forward to. Worth searching out. (Klehm, A+D?)

'Etched Salmon' by Lyman Cousins
Perhaps the best of the wonderful Cousins things, and perhaps the most attractive of ALL hybrid creamy pinks, in my humble opinion. When will this peony get the Gold Medal? It deserves it. Always expensive because frustrating crown structure makes for few divisions.

'Helen Mathews' bought from Saunders by Kreckler.
This is new for me. It used to show up on many "My Favorite 20 Peonies" lists (see '75years of APS') which is why I tried it. A very nice 5 row single(semi-double)brilliant red that I just loved. Perhaps hard to locate,(Caprice?) but really worth growing. Fairly early among the hybrids.

'Salmon Dream' David Reath

Absolutely wonderful plant habit, and a standout color-wise wherever we saw it blooming this season. Relatively new, and hard to locate because of high demand, but sure to become more common in the future.

Honorable Mentions:

'Coral Sunset' My favorite coral.

'Command Performance' Large, sturdy, and so far quite reliable among the big double hybrids, not all of which do well for me here. From Don Hollingsworth.

'Carnation Bouquet' Unique in form, parentage, and foliage, and quite early. Good early season interest.

'Camellia' Finally nice for me this year. Unique because of how VERY EARLY (despite what descriptions say) this is for any double, especially a white. Blooms with Roselette. Not the greatest foliage later in the season, however.

'Pink Derby' One lacti that does well for me here, but paradoxically may not do well for some others in more conventional growing areas. Appears on many "My Favorite Peonies" lists. Fairly expensive, apparently because of demand.
Bob J.

Carsten Burkhardt's Web Project Paeonia - The Peony Database

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