Peonies have been the favorites of many, many generations
of gardeners for their lovely colors and fragrances. Strangely,
however, public peony gardens allowing visitors to view and compare many
varieties planted together are quite rare. This Peony Garden
is an exception. Among the newest of the beautiful botanical gardens in
Springfield, Missouri, it allows visitors to see, enjoy, and compare
more than 50 peony varieties ranging from those old-fashioned favorites
to the very newest hybrids. Begun in 2008 and scheduled for
completion this year (2011), the garden is the creation of Dr. Bill
Roston, who has designed many of the botanical gardens. Bill plans to
add even more varieties and several tree peonies as well in the near
future. The Peony Garden can be visited in Nathanael
Greene/Close Memorial Park at 2400 South Scenic in Springfield.
Note: The garden does not yet include labels identifying all peony
varieties, so the names on these photos, unless in single quotes, are
only placeholders until we can provide thevarietal names.
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