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