Elizabeth Foster
A second trip to the Saunders Family Papers at Hamilton College in June, 2023 revealed the identity of Elizabeth S. Foster for whom this peony is named. She was a literary editor based in New York and close enough to the Saunders that her home address was found in their address book. Among other work, she edited a later edition of Herman Melville’s ‘The Confidence Man’.
| Cultivar: | Elizabeth Foster |
| Year: | 1941 |
| Seedling No: | 10050. Pages 22 & 37 of Saunders’ Notebook I |
| Parentage: | 7: lactiflora #3500 X “lobata of Perry” |
| Flower: | Color: | bright rose pink, outer white flares |
| Form: | single, two rows of petals, cupped | |
| Blooms: | Week 5 | |
| Carpels: | 4, light green, woolly | |
| Stigmas: | bright rose pink | |
| Disc: | pink (Silvia Saunders) | |
| Stamens: | filaments are yellow | |
| Plant: | Habit: | upright rounded bush |
| Foliage color: | medium dark green, shining | |
| Foliage form: | narrow leaves | |
| Height: | 33″ in 2021; 31″ in 2022 | |
| Recommendation: | Recommended |
| Availability: | Few specialty nurseries |
