I usually deadhead my peonies before they form seedheads, but procrastination paid off here. Look at 'Richard Carvel'. The peony itself is a marvel—just the right shade of a jewel-toned raspberry-wine red, and with a spicy fragrance. The deep color carries over into the seedhead and makes it something to see.
I got to wondering about the origins of this peony's name. It was bred in 1913 by Archie Mack Brand, a Minnesotan "lawyer, horticulturalist and peony breeder" (I like the sound of that! Wait...what color is my parachute again?), at a time when the historical romance Richard Carvel (available online at Project Gutenberg), a bestseller when it was first published in 1899, is said to have been still popular and widely read. (Maybe I'll take a look, at least at Chapter XXII: "How the Gardener’s Son fought the Serapis".) The author of Richard Carvel was Winston Churchill. Not that Winston Churchill; rather, "the American" Winston Churchill. But back in the day, according to the web site of The Churchill Centre, it seems that the likelihood of confusion went the other way around:
Prior to the campaign Churchill had written to his namesake, the popular American novelist Winston Churchill, proposing a solution to the possible confusion engendered by the American's forthcoming publication of Richard Carvel and Churchill's own Savrola, then being serialized in Macmillan's Magazine, and his forthcoming The River War:"Mr. Winston Churchill presents his compliments to Mr. Winston Churchill, and begs to draw his attention to a matter which concerns them both...Mr. Winston Churchill has decided to sign all published articles, stories, or other works, 'Winston Spencer Churchill' and not 'Winston Churchill' as formerly. He trusts that this arrangement will commend itself to Mr. Winston Churchill...He takes this occasion of complimenting Mr. Winston Churchill upon the style and success of his works, which are always brought to his notice..."
The American responded in kind: "Mr. Winston Churchill is extremely grateful to Mr. Winston Churchill for bringing forward a subject which has given Mr. Winston Churchill much anxiety. Mr. Winston Churchill appreciates the courtesy of Mr. Winston Churchill in adopting the name of "Winston Spencer Churchill" in his books, articles, etc. Mr. Winston Churchill makes haste to add that, had he possessed any other names, he would certainly have adopted one of them...Mr. Winston Churchill will take the liberty of sending Mr. Winston Churchill copies of the two novels he has written. He has a high admiration for the works for of Mr. Winston Spencer Churchill and is looking forward with pleasure to reading Savrola."
Now THAT is fascinating. Aside from the beauty of the flower, I love these little stories - it reminds me of Ian Fleming's decision to name James Bond after an ornithologist who had written a book on birds of the Carribbean, a subject of great interest to Fleming.
Posted by: Robert the Llama Butcher | June 09, 2004 at 08:26 AM
I tried to click on the link for "lawyer, horticulturalist etc." and it told me I didn't have permission to access the file.
Posted by: Kathy | June 09, 2004 at 09:08 AM
Thanks, Robert--that's a nifty (and new to me) tidbit about "James Bond".
Kathy, the link seems to work OK at my end, but you never know with these things. There's not much content at the link beyond what's in the quote (the information on Archie Brand is a short entry in a longer list of (go figure) lilac breeders). If it still doesn't work (and you're still curious), doing a Google search on the quote will probably turn up the site (it's called "Syringa, Appendix D, Last update: August 10, 2000"), perhaps with a link that works better.
Posted by: Chan S. | June 09, 2004 at 10:41 AM