Paeonia officinalis

Not an especially good picture - not sure what happened to it between the camera and the computer, but you get the idea of what it should look like. I'm just happy to finally get back to blogging.
This was the first peony named by Linnaeus and originally covered all the peonies he knew. The species officinalis is the peony of Pliny. It grows in northern Italy, Switzerland, France, the Tyrol and Albania. It is 15-24 inchs in heght and has 4 1/2 inch red flowers. Up to 1815 only the double form was known in England. The name means of practical use to man. It is tetraploid. (all information for this and the following posts will be from the book "The Peonies" by John C. Wister.)
This one looks like what most people thinks a peony should look like. More species tomorrow - unless our phone service is out again. 2 days without phone is not fun. They finally found the problem in the main office after re-doing the box down at the road and the box on the house. I guess we shouldn't have any problems soon since we have lots of new wires. At least I hope so.
We'll be very busy this week prettying up the gardens for the Columbus Hosta Society (COHS) and the Perry County Master Gardeners, both groups coming in the next week to visit. Wish all of my readers could visit. I'd love to meet you all.
Jane