The late Dr. Neeley never placed any of his originations in commerce. He was strictly an amateur gardener and he raised hundreds of seedlings for his own pleasure. He named a great many of them and frequently changed the names until he found one he liked for that particular variety. Being more or less of an artist and a poet, he liked artistic flowers, and many of the peonies he named he kept for this reason, and so we find a great many semi-doubles and delicately colored flowers that do not appeal to the average peony buyer. However, among them are several of the finest we have today. A year or two after his death his entire plantings were turned over to the Auglaize Gardens of Van Wert, Ohio, and they have done what they could to preserve the best.
Dr. Neeley himself gave dozens of them to his friends and so they gradually made their way into commercial lists. Below is given a list of all the varieties he ever named so far as we can find records. The numbers are also given, so that any who may have some still under number may know the names if they were ever named. Quite a number he never named, but gave out under number, are still in existence. It also seems likely that some of the numbers were changed at one time and we know that several of the names were changed. We gave this information when it was known. The dates are mostly guesses.
Neeley, Dr. John H., Paulding, Ohio, 1870-1934. Peony breeder but most famous for oriental poppies.
