In 2020, the Lillie M. Evans Library District started the Princeville Peony Project or P3. We worked with the Princeville Heritage Museum and other community organizations to locate, photograph, and identify Auten peonies still growing in and around Princeville.This project will take several years to complete, but we have started to catalog some of the iconic images of Princeville—the Auten peonies.
Want to see some of the 122 specimens photographed in 2020. Click here!
New in 2025--we've partnered with the Princeville Heritage Museum to start some peony fields! This year, we started a field at the Museum with 11 donated peonies which we divided into 110 plants. Volunteers helped us remove the sod from a 38' x 50' field, divide the peonies, and plant them. We already have donors to start another field next year, but we'd like to identify several more donors for 2027. If you're able to donate one or more Auten peony, please contact us! Our email address is
Thank you for helping us preserve our local history!
Peonies and Princeville
Princeville is known locally as the Peony Capital of the World due to Edward Auten, Jr. and his fields of peonies. Mr. Auten was a life-long Princeville resident who was educated at Harvard University. He graduated with a degree in economics and music and worked at his father’s bank, Auten & Auten. He had many interests and was an accomplished organist and composer.
Mr. Auten started growing peonies as a hobby. He turned to peonies after abandoning roses due to their thorns and difficulty overwintering. As his passion for peonies grew, it became a full-time business. From 1925 until he retired in 1963, Mr. Auten introduced almost 300 named varieties of peonies—many still popular today.
Auten peony fields drew visitors from across the state and around the country. Peonies would bloom in May and June along both sides of Route 91 on the north side of town and by the village of Monica, a few miles west of Princeville. Princeville’s first “Peony Day” was held on Sunday, June 6, 1937 and became an annual event. Crowds flocked to Princeville so they could view the fields and purchase varieties.
Edward Auten Jr. died on May 13, 1974 at the age of 92. By the time he retired at the age of 81, he had devoted more than 50 years to growing and hybridizing peonies. The fields are gone now, but Mr. Auten’s legacy and his impact on Princeville remains.
For more information about peonies, please visit the American Peony Society's website at: https://americanpeonysociety.org. If you type AUTEN in the search bar, the varieties shown will be Auten peonies.
Bit.ly link: https://bit.ly/PrincevillePeonies
[Photo courtesy of the Princeville Heritage Museum]
