The Daphnis Hybrids

The F1-crosses

In order to get a F1-cross the breeder gives pollen of a pure Moutan on the stygma of a Paeonia lutea or a Paeonia delavayi. Of the first F1-crosses performed during the years 1946 to 1949, the following have been registered with names by the American Peony Society. Nearly all plants (not only the F1-crosses) are described by the breeder himself.

'Aphrodite'

The double flower has three rows of petals, which open into a pale creamy yellow which in the course of the flowering period change into white. The plant remains low and has strikingly wavy foliage. The center is tinted slightly red. Aphrodite was the goddess of love in Greek mythology. Photo: Nassos Daphnis

Ornate-throned immortal Aphrodite, wile-weaving daughter of Zeus, I entreat you: do not overpower my heart, mistress, with aclee and anguish. Sappho, Fragment 1 L - P

Parents	Paeonia lutea x 'White Empress' (Moutan)
Number of seedling	D-33
Crossing	F1
Year of crossing	1950
Germination	1951
First Blooming	1960
Registration	1965
First grafted	1970
On the market since	1975

'Artemis'

'Artemis' is one of the most vigorous growing plants of all the F1-hybrids. The flower is pure light yellow with petals evenly arranged in a perfect circle. When the bud starts to open the petals unfold one by one in perfect harmony. It is a joy to watch this stage of the flower. But when it finally opens it is a great delight to see. The flower against the sun is diaphanous and has silk texture. Artemis is the name of the Greek goddess of hunting as well as the name of Nassos Daphnis' daughter. Photo: Nassos Daphnis

Parents	Paeonia lutea x 'White Empress' (Moutan)
Number of seedling	D-14
Crossing	F1
Year of crossing	1946
Germination	1947
First Blooming	1957
Registration	1965
First grafted	1967
On the market since	1972

'Avra'

'Avra' originates from the same crossing as 'Artemis'. Its flowers, however, are white. It is very interesting to see again and again how widely different descendants can have their origin in the same crossings. When it first opens it has a light yellow tint but as the flower gets older it becomes pure white. The inner row of five petals goes around the center in perfect harmony. The outside row has an open gesture. The petals have no flares. In 'Artemis' the yellow of the mother plant Paeonia lutea dominates, as is usual in such crosses, whereas in 'Avra' the white of the white blooming father plant Moutan remains dominant. Avra is the Greek word for the cool breeze which blows in from the sea in the morning. Photo: Nassos Daphnis

When the first rays of the sun struck the hilltops, I used to go hunting in the woods, as young men do. I took no servants or horses, no keen-scented hounds or knotted nets: my javeline was all I needed. But when my arm grew tired with killing wild creatures, I used to seek cool shade an the zephyr (Avra) that blew from the chill depths of the valleys. I looked for this gentle zephyr in the midday heat, and used to wait for it, to refresh me after my exertions. I remember I used to call: "Come, zephyr (Avra), come to my breast, a most welcome visitor an soothe me; be pleased to relieve, as you most surely do, the burning heat that scorches me." Ovid, Metamorphosis 7, 804 - 815

Parents	Paeonia lutea x 'White Empress' (Moutan)
Number of seedling	D-43
Crossing	F1
Year of crossing	1948
Germination	1949
First Blooming	1959
Registration	1966
First grafted	1968
On the market since	1973

'Demetra'

'Demetra' is double golden in color with red lines at the rim of each petal. The petals from the center of the flower form one circle after the other, around and around until they reach the other side in a most harmonious manner. One thinks that they are engaged in a kind of ritual dance celebrating harvest time. The stem is very strong and the flower stands above the foliage looking up. Demetra was the goddess of the earth in Greek mythology. Photo: Nassos Daphnis

Welcome, Demeter, who feed many, who bring many bushels. As the four white horses draw on the holy basket, so will the great, wide-ruling goddess come to us bringing a white (i.e. propitious) spring, a white summer, winter and autumn, and guard us till another year. Kallimachos, Hymnos to Demeter 119 - 123

Parents	Paeonia lutea x 'Shintenchi' (Moutan)
Number of seedling	D-19
Crossing	F1
Year of crossing	1949
Germination	1950
First Blooming	1958
Registration	1965
First grafted	1970
On the market since	1973

'D. H. Lawrence'

'D. H. Lawrence' blooms with semidouble pink flowers. The outside blossom petals are pink with a blend of light purple streaks. The inner petals are peach with a touch of pink. The center of the flower has dark purple flares. 'D. H. Lawrence' has stamens with pollen but no seeds. The plant is named after the English writer D. H. Lawrence. Photo: Nassos Daphnis

Parents	Paeonia lutea x 'Shintenchi' (Moutan)
Number of seedling	??
Crossing	F1
Year of crossing	1949
Germination	1950
First Blooming	1958
Registration	1965
First grafted	1965
On the market since	1973

'Gauguin'

'Gauguin' is the most unusual and exciting plant we have. The flower is multicolor. It starts with red on the inside of the petals with streaks or flames of yellow running from the base to the top of each petal. The back of the petals is golden yellow with red lines running from the base to the top. The center is dark red and the anthers yellow. This flower reminded us of the painter Paul Gauguin because we had in mind the vividness of this artist's colors plus the feeling of exotic flowers of the South Seas where Gauguin had spent part of his life. Photo: Nassos Daphnis

Parents	Paeonia lutea x 'Shintenchi' (Moutan)
Number of seedling	D-22
Crossing	F1
Year of crossing	1949
Germination	1950
First Blooming	1960
Registration	1965
First grafted	1970
On the market since	1975

'Kronos'

'Kronos' is very dark red with a slight overcast of blue, a heavy flower and quite big for a hybrid. As a matter of fact, the flower is double and so heavy it bends down slightly. But when the sun casts its rays on it it shines as if it is made out of glass. This flower makes a wonderful companion with some of the yellow hybrids as they contrast in color and form. It looks very masculine. The plant is named after Kronos, the Greek god of time. Photo: Nassos Daphnis

When Kronos was consigned to the darkness of Tartarus, and the world passed under the rule of Zeus, the age of silver replaced that of gold, inferior to it, but superior to the age of tawny bronze. Ovid, Metamorphosis 1, 113 -115

Parents	Paeonia lutea x 'Ubatama' (Moutan), also known under the name 'Hatsu-Garasu'
Number of seedling	D-23
Crossing	F1
Year of crossing	1950
Germination	1951
First Blooming	1961
Registration	1966
First grafted	1970
On the market since	1976

'Marie Laurencin'

'Marie Laurencin' has a beautifully shaped flower, with pink to purple petals which are silvery on the outside. A delicate, feminine plant named after the French painter Marie Laurencin. Photo: Nassos Daphnis

Parents	Paeonia lutea x 'White Empress' (Moutan)
Number of seedling	D-24
Crossing	F1
Year of crossing	1950
Germination	1951
First Blooming	1961
Registration	1966
First grafted	1970
On the market since	1975

'Persephone'

'Persephone' is the most delicate flower of all the F1-Lutea hybrids in color, texture, form and foliage. The color is a pale yellow, almost transparent, with soft velvet-like texture. Its form is one of the best with the rounded petals bending back slightly at the end. The foliage is slender and not as heavy as some of the other hybrids. This plant was named after Demetra's daughter Persephone. Photot: Nassos Daphnis

"Not far from Henna's walls, there is a deep lake, called Pergus. The music of its swans rivals the songs that Cayster hears on its gliding waters. A ring of trees encircles the pool, clothing the lakeside all around, and the leaves of the trees shelter the spot from Phoebus' rays, like a screen. Their boughs afford cool shade, and the lush meadow is bright with flowers. There it is always spring. In this glade Persephone was playing, picking violets or shining lilies. With childlike eagerness she gathered the flowers into baskets and into the folds of her gown, trying to pick more than any of her companions. Almost at one and the same time, Pluto saw her, and loved her, and bore her off - so swift is love. Ovid, Metamorphosis 5, 385 -396

Parents	Paeonia lutea x 'White Empress' (Moutan)
Number of seedling	D-26
Crossing	F1
Year of crossing	1950
Germination	1951
First Blooming	1960
Registration	1966
First grafted	1970
On the market since	1975

'Persepolis'

'Persepolis' is a plant which blooms very well. The flowers are above the foliage and all around the plant. The stem is strong with a slight bend on the top. The color is one of the best reds of the hybrids. It has a festive quality and can be seen at a distance from any direction. The plant takes its name from the ancient Persian capital Persepolis. Photot: Nassos Daphnis

Persepolis was the capital of the Persian Kingdom. Alexander (the Great) described it to the Macedonians as the most hateful of the cities of Asia, and gave it over to his soldiers to plunder, all but the palaces. It was the richest city under the sun... Diodor of Sicily, 17, 70, 1/2

Parents	Paeonia lutea x 'Ubatama' (Moutan)
Number of seedling	D-145
Crossing	F1
Year of crossing	1955
Germination	1956
First Blooming	1966
Registration	1970
First grafted	1974
On the market since	1980

'Redon'

'Redon' is the biggest hybrid we know today. In measuring the flower we found it was about 25 cm in diameter. It can compete with any of the Japanese Moutans in size. The petals unfold like the petals of 'Artemis' one by one until the flower is open. They are also bent back at the end. The color is pale pink with a bluish cast over it. It may be either a bluish-tinged pink or peach-colored, blossoming on the same plant. It has a pastel quality similar to the pastel flower paintings of Odilon Redon. Photo: Nassos Daphnis

Opening flower bud of Paeonia 'Redon' (Lutea hybrid) Photo: Nassos Daphnis

Open flower of a side bud of Paeonia 'Redon'. Photo: Walter Good

Parents	Paeonia lutea x 'Shintenchi' (Moutan)
Number of seedling	D-21
Crossing	F1
Year of crossing	1950
Germination	1951
First Blooming	1960
Registration	1970
First grafted	1974
On the market since	1975

'Tessera'

'Tessera' was the fourth plant crossed, which accounts for the name. Its single flower is a pale peach-like color with a few big petals.

Parents	Paeonia lutea x unknown Japanese Moutan
Number of seedling	D-4
Crossing	F1
Year of crossing	1950
Germination	1946
First Blooming	1947
Registration	1957
First grafted	1965
On the market since	1970

'Themis'

'Themis' has two sets of petals, the inner circle and the outer. The petals that form the inner circle are bent inwards and form a cup-like effect. The outer petals are bent back or flat. It looks like a plate with a cup in the center. With the pistils and the anthers inside the cup one thinks that he is offered something very special. There is an order and a symmetry in this flower. The color is light pink with a tint of blue. The center at the base is red. Themis was the Greek goddess of justice, law and order. Photo: Friedrich Hertle

At the temple steps they both fell forward, prone upon the ground, and timidly kissed the chill rock, saying: "If the gods may be touched and softened by the prayers of the righteous, if divine anger may be thus turned aside, tell us, O Themis, how we may repair the destruction that has overtaken our race." Ovid, Metamorphosis 1, 375 - 380

Parents	Paeonia lutea x 'White Empress' (Moutan)
Number of seedling	D-54
Crossing	F1
Year of crossing	1955
Germination	1956
First Blooming	1962
Registration	1966
First grafted	1970
On the market since	1975

'Tria'

'Tria' is so named because it was the third plant crossed; it also has three flowers on each stem. These flowers bloom in sequence: the primary flower first, after 4 or 5 days, the second and then the third. Thus the blooming time of this plant is extended to 10 to 15 days more than any other tree-peony that we know. It is the first of the Lutea hybrids to bloom (it is blooming at the same time as the Moutans) and the last one to go. The stem of this plant is very strong. The flowers stay up above the leaves. The color is pale yellow and the petals open in an orderly fashion, well formed with some ripples at the beginning. But as the flower grows older the color fades to a silvery yellow and the ripples disappear. The foliage is delicate and not as heavy as some of the other Lutea hybrids. When this plant is in full bloom it is a joy to see. It makes a wonderful garden plant. Photo: Nassos Daphnis

Parents	Paeonia lutea x unknown Japanese Moutan
Number of seedling	D-3
Crossing	F1
Year of crossing	1946
Germination	1947
First Blooming	1957
Registration	1965
First grafted	1967
On the market since	1972

We can see this abundance in the great variety of colours and forms which we find in the offspring 'Gauguin', 'Redon', 'D. H. Lawrence' and 'Demetra' of the pink blooming 'Shintenchi' and the yellow blooming species Paeonia lutea.

The same genetic abundance of the Japanese Moutans we find in the offsprings 'Marie Laurencin', 'Persephone', 'Aphrodite', 'Themis', 'Avra' and 'Artemis' of the white blooming 'White Empress' and the yellow blooming species Paeonia lutea.

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