Published: May 17, 2008 01:47 am            

Q&A: Knobs peony farmers spring into action

What’s the definition of a true gardener?

The answer to Don Smith — a Floyds Knobs resident who has more than 300 peonies in the garden he shares with his wife Kathy — is when something is going on in your garden every day of the year.

Smith serves as the Midwest Peony Society President — a group that he formed — and on Sunday, he will be opening his garden gate to visitors who share an interest in a flower that he says has become “a worldwide phenomenon.”

Several other peony growers in Louisville will be showing off their collection from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is free, and Smith said the ease of growing these beautiful flowers is contagious.

QUESTION: Is the Midwest Peony Society associated with the American Peony Society?

DON SMITH: “Yes. All societies are affiliated with the American Peony Society. The Midwest Society covers about five or six states. We have members in Oregon, New York and Alabama, but the majority of members are within 100 miles of Louisville. We actually have people fly in from Oregon and Ohio for meetings.”

Q: What is the meeting schedule like?

SMITH: “We hold about four meetings a year. The two big ones are the spring meeting, where we typically have a national or international speaker, and the best meeting is the fall meeting. Members and the public are allowed to take part in the fall meeting — it’s a dinner and an auction.

“We usually get 4,000 to 5,000 very expensive peonies donated from all over the world from China and other places. We auction those off at meetings and we have an incredible dinner.”

Q: How do you become a member?

SMITH: “It’s just an application. You send us $10 and you’re a member for a year. We were fortunate last year, every member received an expensive Chinese Tree Peony.”

Q: How did you get started with flowers and your gardening business, which you have since sold?

SMITH: “I started years and years ago messing with daylilies. My wife wanted to. We had a pool and she read where daylilies look good next to water. They came up and bloomed and they were incredible.

“I was doing consulting work for a company in Raleigh, N.C., and it turns out in that part of the country, every other household sells daylilies. I didn’t realize people hybridized them ... When I got back to my hotel, I had $600 worth of daylilies in a shoebox. I brought them home and they bloomed.

“I met another guy (in New Albany) and his wife gave me some daylilies and I started hybridizing and planting seed and I had a farm in Borden where I planted them and it became a hobby that was really interesting. When I would go to China or wherever I went, I would bring stuff back to Floyds Knobs and our garden — fresh hybrids to breed. We were not in the plant selling business, but (after a newspaper article) we were because everybody and their mother started calling us and wanted to come out.

“That was an absolutely tremendous success and we started about 80 different people in selling, including Joe Huber. We ended up selling that business about nine years ago.”

Q: What’s special about peonies?

SMITH: “They’re just incredible plants. They’re still doing their things 50 years later and you don’t have to fertilize, they’re great.”

Q: Why did you switch to the main emphasis of peonies?

SMITH: “The other home we had was 14 acres, 11 acres was shade, so we had to grow daylilies in a spot where they had shade. This home is an acre-and-a-half, mostly sunny. I got involved with this, 120 acres of peonies, just got involved and learned more about them. Here I am today, started the society, maybe before I die it will be orchids or something else. I just love plants.”

Q: Give a history of peonies.

SMITH: “They are typically thought of as grandmothers’ plants. Original peonies came to this country from Germany. People who immigrated here from Germany stuck them in their luggage or what not and brought them across the ocean.

“They’re very fragrant, big, fluffy flowers that are mostly pinks, whites and reds. The problem with what I call the old-fashion peony is they are incredible as a cut flower but they flop, the stems are weak, especially if it rains. The double blossom fills with rain and it just flops in the mud.

“The ones we breed today have thick stems. A peony is probably the most foolproof flower. I’ve never heard of anybody that lost a peony. You plant it in the fall and from that point, 50 to 100 years later, it still comes up. It’s almost risk-free and the color ranges and styles of bloom are just incredible. It has become a worldwide phenomenon.”

Q: Do you ever get tired of hearing you have a green thumb?

SMITH: “(laughing) Yes, but then not really. But I’m pretty into it. I’m pretty passionate about gardening, more than most people. I garden every day. If I could start all over again, I would probably own a chain of garden centers, but that’s not what I did when I started out so I’ve made it an extreme hobby.”

Q: Are your neighbors jealous of your garden?

SMITH: “Sure, but most of the people in this neighborhood aren’t as crazy as I am. Some of our neighbors are now into plants — not saying it’s all because of us. Some people just like plants and we think we’ve kicked it up a notch or two and that makes me feel good.”

Q: Have you won awards for your gardening?

SMITH: “Yes, several awards. We won daylily of the year in Better Homes and Gardens three years running. We literally have a suitcase full of ribbons and trophies. We don’t do that much anymore. Once you win a suitcase full, what’s next?”

        

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