For Mother’s Day I decorated the table with a big bouquet of mock orange and peony flowers. The mock orange formed a mass about thirty inches wide and three stems of Paeonia ‘Coral Charm’ were placed near the center of the mass. The mock orange formed a diffuse mass, so it was not as overwhelming as it perhaps sounds. ‘Coral Charm’ is a famous hybrid introduced about forty years ago by hybridizer Samuel Wissing. It has what I think of as tree peony colors: coral, shrimp, peach and buff, although it’s a herbaceous hybrid. The flowers are large and very beautifully formed and evidently much grown for cut flower production. Its color makes it stand out in a collection of other herbaceous hybrids. It’s also an early blooming sort: only a few wild peonies bloom earlier in this garden. And it’s vigorous. It seems to have everything, doesn’t it? And as we discovered as each admirer put his or her nose to the blooms in the bouquet, it has something it might well do without: it stinks! The old Paeonia officinalis cultivars were often described in the older literature as having a soapy smell. ‘Coral Charm’ has the scent of stale fish: it’s really terrible, but fortunately it does not carry well. Now, three days after being cut, there is a vague peony fragrance accompanying the fish stink. It’s really beautiful, just don’t put you nose into it. I’ve added a picture to the wiki, take a look at: http://pacificbulbsociety.org/pbswiki/index.php/… Jim McKenney jimmckenney@jimmckenney.com Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, 39.03871º North, 77.09829º West, USDA zone 7 My Virtual Maryland Garden http://www.jimmckenney.com/ BLOG! http://mcwort.blogspot.com/ Webmaster Potomac Valley Chapter, NARGS Editor PVC Bulletin http://www.pvcnargs.org/ Webmaster Potomac Lily Society http://www.potomaclilysociety.org/