Peony Henry Bockstoce
W.S. Bockstoce registered this peony in 1955, under the name Henry Bockstoce. It is herbaceous, a tall-scaped, dark red double with a slight rose center. The stems are strong and handle bad weather better than some peonies. When it opens at the farm it takes little time to sell out.
D. E. R. Tall, dark red double, rose center with good strong stems. Parentage: hybrid from a cross of an officinalis with lactiflora on a 1F single red with a lactiflora double white or pink.
More than 24 years ago I met a farmer named Abbott from nearby Cabot. I was working with the State Division for Blind and Visually Impaired at the time and met Mrs. Abbott through that association. The Abbotts loved flowers and Mr. Abbott raised some beautiful peonies. He defied every rule in the book every spring when he covered his rows of peonies with fresh cow manure. The peonies not only survived and flowered in great numbers but the plants grew so big each year that Mr. Abbott built board fences around them for support. Here’s a peony he raised from seed that has that same dark red color that Henry Bockstoce has….but no name.
