Peony Registry

Parentage: Some time in the mid 1930’s, A.P. Saunders made a cross of Willmottiae x Macrophylla which first bloomed in 1940. This he propagated and introduced in his 1949 cataloge as ‘Silver Dawn’. It was not listed in his catalog again until 1965 and then only to allow Silvia Saunders to report it as having been lost since 1950. There have been no credible reports since then that speak of its existence. However, there was a seedling of ‘Silver Dawn’ (not recorded as having been named) which produced its own seedlings. A few of those 3rd generation seedlings made the rounds among hybridizers as “Silver Dawn F3.” At least one of these has been properly named, the others appear not to have been. You will also occasionally find offered something called “Silver Dawn F3 Mix.” “Silver Dawn F3 Mix” is not a unique cultivar but is a mixture of individual seedlings many generations removed from Saunders’ original ‘Silver Dawn’. ‘Gerardus Mooijekind’ is apparently a seedling of one of these. Grown from seed from Canadian Peony Society Seed Exchange 2008, Lot #67, labelled as “Silver Dawn F3.” First bloomed 2014. Yellow SINGLE flowers, 6½ inches in diameter (16 cm), one flower per stem. Petals rounded, cupped, surrounding a center of yellow pollen-bearing stamens. Pleasant light fragrance. Height to 38 inches (96 cm). Named in memory of the originator’s father, Gerardus Mooijekind (1912-1996), for whom the peony had no secrets.