Il Libro delle Peonie Mediterranee

For the first time ever, all the species and subspecies of Mediterranean tree peonies (about twenty in all) that grow wild along the Mediterranean coasts from Gibraltar to the Dardanelles (including Anatolia) are described and illustrated. This book is the result of long, direct and personal observation by the author of Libro delle peonie (Umberto Allemandi & C.). In the footsteps of the great Victorian plant hunters, Osti has found these plants in their natural habitat (the Mediterranean coasts and inner valleys) and has studied, classified and photographed them. Their robust qualities, together with the beauty of their flowers, elegant bearing, ease of cultivation and rapid adjustment to all kinds of terrain, make these Mediterranean tree peonies a prime protagonist for our gardens.
SHORT BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR Since leaving his career in reconstructing post-war industries in 1975, Gian Lupo Osti has dedicated himself to botanical research, in particular to the discovery of arboreal peonies in the mountainous areas of China, which had not been seen growing naturally since the turn of the century. Chinese botanists have subsequently named an arboreal peony after him: Paeonia Ostii. He has also dedicated much time to finding the wild herbacious peonies which grow around the mediterranean. He is an honourary member of the International Dendrology Society; he founded and was the first president of the Friends of the Hanbury Gardens, an association established with the participation of the most important British botanical institutions, to preserve the gardens of Mortola.
Gian Lupo Osti has received the Veitchii Memorial Gold Medal from the RHS in recognition of his contribution to horticulture and botany. With Allemandi he has published The Book of Tree Peonies and The Book of Meditteranean Peonies.