King’s Ransom

* It is clear that there are two different plants circulating under the name ‘King’s Ransom’. According to a notation in Silvia’s notebook, the name ‘King’s Ransom’ was ascribed to two different seedlings: #14153 and #14193. While both of these are from reverse crosses using the European species as the pod parent and a P. lactiflora as the pollen donor these two seedlings have slightly different parentage: #14153 is a cross of #5267, a lobata from seed obtained from Thompson and Morgan, with a lactiflora and #14193 is a cross of #4765, a dark crimson lobata from Anderson, with a different lactiflora. (The name “lobata” is no longer used and may refer to either a P. peregrina or a P. officinalis or even a hybrid between the two.)

Both of these numbers date to the last few years of Saunders life and ‘King’s Ransom’ was never catalogued by him. When Saunders introduced different seedlings under the same name he referred to the cultivar as a “strain”. In 1952 a plant was exhibited under the name ‘Ransom’ in Lake Mohawk, NJ with no seedling number recorded but perhaps even refers to a third plant as it was described as being a “brilliant red semi-double hybrid, with red tipped carpels in the APS Bulletin 125, page 23. That is the description that appears in the online APS Registry for ‘King’s Ransom’.

It has recently come to my attention that the plants at the Royal Botanical Garden (RBG) near Hamilton, Ontario and also grown by a former APS president are different from the plant I show here and in my book. My photos are of one of two identical plants I received from two reliable sources but may have had the same origin. While I just learned of this distinction, it was noted long ago by the then APS Registrar. Easily distinguishable differences are glabrous carpels on my plant and tomentose (hairy) ones on the RBG plant; cream filaments (RBG) and red (mine), and a darker red petal color on mine. 

It is hard to know which one is the original but the RBG plant most closely matches the description given by Silvia Saunders for her ‘King’s Ransom’ including filament color and has the best provenance, having been obtained in 1974. It is tempting to suggest that what she described and what is at the RBG is the #14153 plant and my darker petalled plant is the #14193 plant which had the dark crimson parent.

Several knowledgeable peony hybridizers have noted that the plant I have has great fragrance and its buds are very frost resistant.