How Does Your Garden Grow: Peonies

Date: circa 1953
Cfa collection: John Nash Ott Collection
Notes: Host John Ott greets the audience from his home studio and introduces the day's topic, the Peony. He speaks briefly about the history of the plant and the etymology of its name, and then presents several types including the Single, Japanese, Anemone, Semi-double, and Double. From these types, he identifies several cultivars including Helen Hayes, Philippe Rivoire, and Blush.; The scene shifts as Ott explains how to encourage a larger bloom on a peony's terminal bud, and discusses how to troubleshoot various difficulties that prevent a peony's bloom including waterlogging, Botrytis blight, and thrips.; The scene transitions again to brief footage of former secretary and president of the American Peony Society Bill Christman as he works outside in a peony patch, which is followed by time-lapse pictures of several peonies blooming, including the Japanese, Hybrid, and Bomb types, as well as identification of the Toro-No-Maki and Julia Grant cultivars. Due to a shortage of peony footage, Ott supplements the sequence with time-lapse pictures of several irises including Fire Dance, Zantha, Spuria, and Japanese.; Ott then shifts gears to demonstrate how to divide roots in order to propagate a variety of peonies, and provides several planting tips such as using mulch to prevent frost damage, digging an 18-inch hole filled with good soil to satiate a peony's heavy feeding, and attempting to cure a peony of root knot nematodes. The episode concludes with Ott's farewell to the audience.
Subjects: Flowers; Plants; Gardens; Time
Places: North America > United States > Illinois > Winnetka
Language: English
Cfa elements: 950 feet
Cfa records: https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/Detail/objects/36457