Is It or Isn't't?

'White Gardenia'

ProfessorRoush almost wrote the title as "Is it or Isn't It?"   Looking it up, it seems there is much debate over the use of "isn't", or "is not".  What I really mean, minus the contractions, is "Is it,?" or "is it not it?", so the use of the second "'t" seems sensible to me.   But, then, "isn't't" only saves a couple of letters and cannot be found online, so I think I've slipped the surly bonds of English and need to come back to Earth.  

'White Gardenia'

Similarly, my parsimonious nature has caused a matter of great controversy in my garden.  Three summers ago, I bought a bag of bargain peony roots (containing two roots) labeled as 'White Gardenia', a peony that I didn't have in my garden.  I suspected a scam from the outset, as big box stores seem to be prone to offering common and popular plant varieties labeled as something else, something new, and also because the store was selling another peony variety labeled 'Red Gardenia', which doesn't seem to exist.  I purchased them only after confirming that 'Gardenia' exists, the latter a 1949 introduction by Lins.  It is, by description, a very floriferous Paeonia lactiflora variety with 6+ inch blossoms of pure white and a strong Gardenia scent.

'White Gardenia'

Both my purchased specimens survived and have slowly built themselves into a nice clump, blooming just now.  However, the presence of a few red streaks on the blossoms makes me wonder, "Did I purchase two, more common 'Festiva Maxima' varieties, or the intended 'Gardenia'?  My identification woes are complicated by the fact that some online sources describe 'Gardenia' as "a fragrant, ivory-white peony cultivar with 6+ inch flowers featuring blush-pink outer petals and red-tinged tips", and by the fact that I can't distinguish the fragrance of gardenia from peony, having few, if any chances to experience a real gardenia aroma in this Zone 5 area.  I  will admit that the fragrance of these blossoms is lighter, and more pleasant, than most peonies, and that the blossoms are larger than 'Festiva Maxima'.  Online images of 'Gardenia' are also not helpful, as a few, but not most, show the red streaks similar to my specimens.

'White Gardenia' ???

I'm reasonably suspicious, however, that these are in fact, the historic 1851 'Festiva Maxima' cultivar, based on the fact that these plants lack the red stems that all online sources ascribe to 'Gardenia', and because the described pink blush is missing from all of the blossoms on both my plants.  Also, these plants are blooming at the same time as my established 'Festiva Maxima'.   Now, the question is, is my big box store source to blame, or are these two cultivars mixed up in commerce these days?

'Coral Sunset'

You are probably thinking that I shouldn't care; I should just be grateful to have two healthy peonies in my landscape.  But the "plant collector" part of me just can't let it go.   Thank God, my 'Coral Sunset' purchased in the same manner and around the same time, seems to be exactly that!