The American Peony Society
The History of the Peonies and their Originations p. 161
THE GOLD MEDAL WINNERS By W. A. Alexander
For almost 50 years (since 1923) the American Peony Society has, from time to time, chosen certain varieties of peonies to receive the Society's Gold Medal for outstanding excellence and performance. During the first 20 years or so, the award was made by the Society's Seedling Committee, but since then by the Board of Directors. In Bulletin tl23, December 1951, the then editor, the late George W. Peyton, published the list of winners.
The following is the list resulting from his search of records. Name of originator, year of introduction, and year of award are included.
MRS. A. M. BRAND (Brand, 1925) St. Paul, 1923
A. B. FRANKLIN (Franklin, 1928) Chicago, 1933
MRS. J. V. EDLUND (Edlund, 1929) Chicago, 1933
HARRY F. LITTLE (Nicholls, 1933) St. Paul, 1934
NICK SHAYLOR (Allison, 1931) Syracuse, 1941
ELSA SASS (Sass, H. P., 1930) Minneapolis, 1943
HANSINA BRAND (Brand, 1925) Rockford, 1946
GOLDEN GLOW (Glasscock, 1935) Rockford, 1946
MRS. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT (Franklin, 1933) Guelph, 1948
DORIS, COOPER (Cooper, 1946) Milwaukee, 1949
These ten varieties were the ones listed by Mr. Peyton up to the time of his search of records. Since then the following have been added to the list:
RED CHARM (Glasscock, 1944) Dixon, Illinois, 1956
MISS AMERICA (J. R. Mann-Van Steen, 1936) Dixon, Illinois, 1956
KANSAS (Bigger, 1940) Grand Forks, North Dakota, 1957
MOONSTONE (Murawska, 1943) Minneapolis, 1959
MISS AMERICA (J. R. Mann-Van Steen, 1936) Minneapolis, 1971
NICK SHAYLOR (Allison, 1931) Kingwood Center, Mansfield, Ohio, 1972
AGE OF GOLD T.P. (Saunders ) Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1973
WALTER MAINS (Mains, 1957) Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 1974
BU-TE (Wassenberg, 1954) Kingwood Center, Mansfield, Ohio, 1975
Both MISS AMERICA and NICK SHAYLOR were awarded a second time because no one remembered they were already among the elite, which emphasizes their excellence.
GRAND CHAMPION PEONIES - NATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
1947 BLANCHE KING
1948 YUKON
1949 A. B. FRANKLIN
1950 KANSAS
1951 RED CHARM
1952 NANCY NICHOLLS
1953 LE CYGNE
1954 ANN COUSINS
1956 LE CYGNE
1957 NO SHOW
1958 DORIS COOPER
1959 HANSINA BRAND
1960 LE CYGNE
1961 FRANCES MAINS
1962 LOVELY ROSE
1963 MRS. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
1964 HANSINA BRAND
1965 RED CH ARM
1966 ANNISQUAM
1967 DORIS COOPER
1968 CAROL
1969 NICK SHAYLOR
1970 PRINCESS MARGARET
1971 DOUGLAS BRAND
1972 SPELLBINDER
1973 DINNER PLATE
1974 PRINCESS MARGARET
1975 ROBERT W. AUTEN