origination:
LADY LIBERTY (Harold Entsminger, Cut Bank, Montana Jan. 2001) Seedling number N/A. Parentage Sport X Great Lady. Single hybrid. First bloomed 2000. RHS Red color group 40-B. Cupped form, stamens, good substance, one bud per stem, reliable, good amount of bloom. 20 inches high, with good stem strength. Mid June in Montana. Vigorous. Same exact plant as Great Lady only flower color is bright flame red, not light pink as is Great Lady. Cold hardy.
Reiner Jakubowski on Y!peony on Febr. 2006:
Hello everyone,
I recently received a letter from Harold Entsminger, originator of 'Lady Liberty' (2001). He pointed out that van Bourgondien is offering a peony called Lady Liberty in their spring 2006 catalogue, but that it IS NOT Harold's origination.
I cannot find any information about this peony on the Internet other than what's given on the sites of the two mail-order houses where I found identical pictures and much the same description. The peony in question is a pink lactiflora anemone type, with typical pale yellow centre made of stamens transformed into petalodes. It's a nice looking peony if you like that colour and form, but there are many other very similar ones with well established names and the legitimate history attached thereto. Most importantly for us, it is not the single red hybrid which would be expected from searching registration files for information.
None of this means that it is not a legitimate name well established in the jurisdiction in which it arose, but only that it is unknown to me. If anyone has information about van Bourgondien's Lady Liberty, please let me know. Thanks, Reiner Jakubowski
Wang Jian Li
Heze Spring Nursery
www.hezespring.com
Hello Reiner,
This variety factually is a Chinese peonies variety, its real name is "Lian Tai". Van Bourgondien just renamed this variety. Please see below link from their site: (link) below words are from their site
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PLEASE NOTE: Peony Lady Liberty was unfortunately mis-named in our spring 2006 catalog. The correct name is Peony Lian Tai. We apologize for any confusion. Size: 2-3 eye roots. Zone: 3-9
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Best regards, Wang Jian Li, Heze Spring Nursery, www.hezespring.com
Hello Wang Jian Li,
Thank you for this information. I hope it is the beginning of a trend for western peony vendors to keep the true variety names of peonies originating in China and Japan. Current International Cultivar Registration Authority guidelines stipulate that ideographic characters found in written languages such as Chinese and Japanese, be transcripted into Roman script using standardized methods for doing so. For the serious peony gardener, keeping the real name of a cultivar is an important part of their gardening enjoyment. There is much history lost when the names are changed, and much confusion results when names are not unique to only one peony.
There is also the tendency in the west to translate the meanings of names originating in foreign lands. This too is contrary to the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants. It is fine to translate the names for the sake of interest, but in commerce the true variety name should be used, otherwise we lose track of what is what. Once we lose confidence that the peony we want will be the one we receive, then we will either not buy that variety or we will stop doing business with vendors we perceive to engage in these detrimental practices.
Thanks again for updating us on 'Lian Tai'. Reiner Jakubowski
