Alice Harding wrote The Book of the Peony in 1917 and its smaller companion volume, Peonies in the Little Garden, in 1923. To this day, the two books remain the only ones that provide a comprehensive understanding of these magnificent and wonderfully varied flowers. Mrs. Harding brought together in her garden at Burnley Farm in Plainfield, New Jersey, a world-renowned collection of both herbaceous and tree peonies. She believed in testing and evaluating the finest new peony varieties and maintained and propagated collections of the rarest and best varieties throughout her life.Her writing style is as engaging as a good novel and her voice as authoritative as an encyclopedia. Mrs. Harding's horticultural expertise and work were widely recognized. A rose, an iris, two French hybrid lilacs, a tree peony, and two herbaceous peonies have been named in her honor. She gave numerous peonies from her own collections to botanical gardens in England, Scotland, Austria, Canada, Colombia, New Zealand, Australia, India, and South Africa.This new edition comprehensively combines the most important elements of Alice Harding's two books. After a thorough introduction to peony appreciation, mythology, and history, The Peony focuses extensively on topics concerning the cultivation of both the herbaceous and tree peony, such as soil preparation and disease control. Roy G. Klehm, Director Emeritus of the American Peony Society, has written a foreword and appendices offering the latest information on modern hybrid varieties, mail order sources, and disease and pest updates, and has illustrated this combined edition with magnificent new color photographs.Pertinent, historically signfficant, and fascinating to read, Alice Harding's writings on the magnificent peony have yet to be duplicated. With interest in herbaceous and tree peonies at an all-time high, The Peony will be an invaluable resource for the serious gardener. Read Less