Scientific name: Paeonia lactiflora
Family: PAEONIACEAE
Common names: “Common garden peony” “Chinese peony”
Plant Type: Herbaceous perennial
Conditions:
Zone: 6
Light: Full sun – part shade, smaller blooms in shade
Exposure: Shelter from cold winds & excessive water to foliage when in bloom
Soil: Heavy, humus rich
Moisture: Moist well drained
Aesthetic:
Plant Size: H 4′ W 3.5′, fast growing
Leaf and Stem shape: Divided foliage and erect stems
Flower: Fragrant, rose-pink – white – yellow double flowers with ruffled inner petals
Maintenance: Medium, requires staking, deadheading if seed pods not desired, hide cuts in foliage, needs to be planted shallow! just below the surface, do not add manure or mulch over crown,
Landscape use: Cut flower garden, shrub underplanting, informal, don’t like being crowded or overshadowed
Propagate: By seed and division
Pests & Disease: Susceptible to leaf spot, botrytis
Comments: Most peonies need 1-3 years to bloom, cvs’ bloom at different times
Cultivars: Early season: ‘Bess Bockstoce’ – double rose , ‘Cythera’ – coral single , ‘Pagent’ – robust single pink, vigorous with good foliage , ‘Requiem’ – single pink-white , ‘Roy Pehrson’s Best Yellow’ – single pale yellow
Mid-Late season: ‘Pink Princess’ – single pink fragrant , ‘White Innocence’ – very tall single white , ‘Milton Jack’ – heavy double deep pink – red fragrant , ‘Barrington Belle’ – deep cerise pink with a large boss of golden stamens, strong grower , ‘Glowing Candles’ -large single pink with a boss of golden stamens, fragrant , ‘Jeannot’ – double rose-pink fragrant , ‘Moonrise’ – single with large central boss of golden stamens very fragrant , ‘Nick Shaylorf’ – double blush pink – white , ‘Solange’ – double rose
Excellent Fragrance: ‘Seashell’ – one of the best for late single pink , ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ – rose-like scent, very double , ‘Gardenia’ – double bomb type mid-late
