JamieV wrote “although P. 'Pageant is an P. officianalis X (P. lactiflora x P. macrophylla), which is then similar to your version of P. 'Athena's parents and P. 'Roselette (Saunders 1943) is listed as P. lactiflora X (P officianals x P. macrophylla). Saunders was apparently always 'pushing the envelope' as he lists complex parentage, but not always the order of the cross. He even crossed P. emodi x P. lactiflora, which I have tried but never got it to take.” My source gives Roselette as lactiflora ×(tenuifolia × mlokosewitschii); for Pageant, it gives the same parentage you give, but indicates that this is an F2 hybrid. Don’t give up on lactiflora × emodi: Saunders himself seems to have gotten fewer than twenty hybrids from this cross – evidently it’s doable but not easy. Saunders described P. emodi as self-sterile, but my plant sets viable seed on its own pollen. By the way, I assume Saunders used pollen of P. emodi on plants of P. lactiflora, but I’m not sure. P. emodi is one of the earliest peonies to bloom here in Maryland; it blooms weeks before the lactiflora sorts. My source for this information is The Peonies, edited by John Wister, 1962: it has lots of detailed information about Saunders, his methods, his sources, his notebooks and his hybrids. For those of you who have followed this thread, let me add some human interest. Saunders was the product of a distinguished Canadian family of intellectuals. He taught chemistry at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., spoke German and played the violin when he was not hybridizing peonies. Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where severe storm warnings are in effect throughout the night. My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/