In 1917, Mrs Edward Harding wrote, in The Book of the Peony, ‘Within the past 20 years, Victor Lemoine of Nancy, who occupies the old establishment of Crousse, has become one of the world’s greatest hybridisers in peonies... His varieties – the most recent of the French introductions – are notable for their distinction of form and colouring, in addition to their rare beauty. Among the best are La Fiancée (1898), Madame Emile Lemoine (1899), Alsace-Lorraine (1906), Sarah Bernhardt (1906)...’
The peony flourished as a garden flower from the mid-19th century after a trio of French nurserymen, Jacques Calot, Auguste Dessert and Felix Crousse and an Englishman, James Kelway, began crossbreeding European Paeonia officinalis with Chinese Paeonia lactiflora, creating a range of flamboyant hybrids. Their big powder-puff flowers were perfect…
