In short
- Very long-lived – it can grow in the same spot for decades.
- Key point: plant the eyes shallowly (3–5 cm) – deep planting inhibits flowering.
- Requires full sun and a fertile, free-draining soil.
- Dislikes being moved – choose the final position carefully from the start.
- Tall double cultivars need staking.
- It sets several buds on one stem – removing the side buds gives one larger flower, leaving them all extends flowering.
- It reaches full flowering only in the third or fourth year after planting.
- For the vase, cut buds that are soft and already coloured – hard, entirely green ones will not open in water.
Botanical data
- Family
- Paeoniaceae (Paeoniaceae)
- Height
- 0.6–1 m
- Width
- 0.6–1 m
- Habit
- Clump-forming
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Position
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil
- Loamy, Humus-rich
- pH reaction
- pH 6–7
- Moisture
- Moderate
- Bloom
- May–June
- Hardiness
- USDA 3a–8a
- Propagation
- By division
Characteristics
A perennial forming dense clumps of glossy, divided leaves. The flowers are large, single or double, in shades of white, pink and red, and often intensely fragrant. The clump reaches 60–100 cm in height and a similar width, and each year it regrows from thick, tuberously swollen storage roots – the top growth dies down after the first frosts. In spring the shoots push through the soil as reddish spikes. The leaves are biternate, with lance-shaped leaflets, dark green and glossy above, and in some cultivars they turn burgundy and brown in autumn, which extends the ornamental value of the clump after flowering. The feature that tells it apart from the common peony (Paeonia officinalis) is the number of buds: the Chinese peony sets several buds on a single stem – a terminal one and side ones – whereas the common peony usually carries one flower per stem. The flowers most often measure 10–15 cm across and can be larger in double cultivars; their form ranges from single, through Japanese and anemone, to semi-double, bomb and fully double. Flowering falls in May and June; a single cultivar flowers for 7–10 days, and combining early, mid-season and late cultivars extends the season to several weeks. It grows slowly: it reaches full flowering in the third or fourth year after planting and then persists in one place for decades. It needs a cold winter – it is fully hardy, but flowers poorly in a warm climate.
Popular cultivars
- ‘Sarah Bernhardt’
- The most popular cut-flower cultivar: densely double, silvery pink flowers with a paler petal edge, fragrant, flowering late. Stems of 90–100 cm need supports under the weight of the flowers. Introduced in 1906.
- ‘Festiva Maxima’
- White, densely double and strongly fragrant, with characteristic carmine flecks on the inner petals. One of the oldest cultivars in cultivation (1851), it flowers early and reaches about 90 cm.
- ‘Duchesse de Nemours’
- Creamy white, bomb-shaped, with a yellowish tint deep in the flower and a very intense, sweet scent. It flowers early and grows to 80–90 cm; a cultivar from 1856, prized as a cut flower.
- ‘Bowl of Beauty’
- Japanese type: pink outer petals surround a dense tuft of creamy, narrow petaloids. The flowers are lighter than those of double cultivars, so the stems flop less often; height about 80–90 cm. The only one of these six with a flower accessible to pollinators.
- ‘Karl Rosenfield’
- Deep carmine, densely double, with strong, stiff stems that less often need supports. It flowers in a mid-late season and grows to 80–90 cm; a classic red cultivar from the early 20th century.
- ‘Monsieur Jules Elie’
- Very large, bomb-shaped flowers in silvery pink, strongly fragrant, flowering early. The heavy flowers on stems 90–100 cm tall absolutely require supports. A cultivar from 1888.
Growing and care
Watering
Water regularly during budding and flowering; mature clumps are fairly drought-tolerant. Waterlogged soil is not tolerated.
Fertilizing
An excess of nitrogen produces lush foliage at the expense of flowers.
Planting
Fertile, free-draining soil in full sun; KEY POINT – set the eyes (buds) shallowly, no more than 3–5 cm below the surface, or the plant will not flower.
Pruning
Cut the stems back to ground level in autumn and remove them to limit fungal diseases.
Companion plants
Good companions
Similar requirements – sun, fertile free-draining soil; a classic, elegant pairing in ornamental gardens.
Bad companions
The peony copes poorly with competition for water and nutrients and with shading by larger plants.
The evidence level indicates whether the relationship is backed by research, observation, or gardening tradition.
Diseases and pests
A white, powdery coating on leaves, shoots and buds. The leaves turn yellow, become deformed and drop prematurely. The coating develops on both sides of the leaf blade, is often clearly visible from above, and can easily be rubbed off with a finger — it is the superficial mycelium of an ectoparasite that draws nutrients from the epidermal cells by means of feeding structures (haustoria). At first single, round, white spots appear, which in time merge and cover the entire leaf surface and the young growth. Young leaves and the current season's shoots are the most susceptible; heavy infection causes them to pucker, stiffen and stop growing, and on buds it leads to deformation or death of the flowers. On the fruit of some species (gooseberry, apple, cucurbits) the coating leaves russeting or a corky skin. Towards the end of the season, small, dark fruiting bodies (chasmothecia, formerly called cleistothecia) — the pathogen's overwintering structures — appear within the coating. The disease affects many plants, including roses, oak, privet, lilac, cucurbits, cereals, grapevine, apple, gooseberry, phlox and coneflowers, with each of these hosts being infected by a specialised species of fungus.
Grey mouldA grey-brown, fluffy coating of mycelium on flowers, fruit, leaves and shoots, preceded by watery, rotting spots. It attacks weakened and damaged tissue and develops rapidly in humidity and cool conditions and where air circulation is poor. Common on strawberries, begonias, peonies and roses. The coating is characteristically 'mousy' — fluffy and ashy grey, and when the infected tissue is knocked a visible cloud of spores (conidia) puffs up, which is a diagnostic feature of this disease. Infection usually starts in the weakest tissues: fading petals, wounds, hail marks or pest feeding damage, as well as pollen residue settled on the petals. Small, brown, watery spots appear on the flowers and quickly engulf the whole bloom ('flower blight'); from the infected flower the fungus often grows down into the shoot, causing it to constrict and die back. On soft fruit (strawberry, raspberry, grapes, tomato) a watery, browning rot develops, covered with a thick layer of grey, fluffy felt — the berry softens and 'dissolves'. On seedlings and cuttings Botrytis causes basal stem rot and the sudden collapse of plants. In older, dying mycelium and on plant debris hard, black, irregular lumps form — sclerotia (resting bodies), by which the pathogen overwinters in the soil and in plant debris. The disease also shows up after harvest, as a rapidly advancing storage rot of fruit and vegetables.
Verticillium wiltThe first symptom is a sudden wilting and drying of leaves on individual branches or on one side of the crown, while the rest of the plant appears healthy. A cross-section of an infected shoot reveals a brownish or greenish discolouration of the wood — the vascular bundles clogged by the fungus, which can no longer conduct water. The disease progresses over successive years, affecting an ever-larger part of the crown and leading to the gradual death of the plant. Maples (especially Japanese maple), catalpa and many other trees, shrubs and perennials are particularly susceptible. The disease takes two forms: an 'acute' form, in which a branch or the whole plant dies rapidly within a few weeks, and a 'chronic' form — a slow decline spread over several seasons, with smaller, paler leaves, marginal scorching of the blades (resembling sunburn) and premature autumn colouring on infected shoots. The sectoral, one-sided distribution of symptoms is the hallmark of Verticillium wilt above all on woody plants — the part of the crown supplied by the clogged vessels dies off. The discolouration of the wood is best seen just under the bark as longitudinal streaks, and in cross-section as an interrupted ring; in maples it is often olive-green. Symptoms intensify in heat and during drought, when the demand for water exceeds the capacity of the damaged bundles. On herbaceous plants (dahlia, aster, chrysanthemum, tomato, potato, strawberry) one observes wilting and yellowing of the lower leaves, stunting and one-sided (half-blade) yellowing of the leaf — on these species, however, the symptom picture alone is unreliable for differentiation, because one-sided yellowing may also be caused by Fusarium wilt. The vascular discolouration by itself is not conclusive — a definitive diagnosis requires laboratory isolation of the pathogen.
AphidsSmall (1–3 mm) soft-bodied insects, green, black or pink, feeding in clusters on young shoots and the underside of leaves. They excrete sticky honeydew. The diagnostic feature that distinguishes aphids from other small sucking insects is the pair of siphunculi (tubular projections) at the rear of the abdomen together with a tail-like cauda; a single colony usually holds wingless forms (parthenogenetic females) alongside winged migrants that fly onto new plants in summer. In summer aphids reproduce parthenogenetically and viviparously over many generations, so the population builds up explosively; in autumn many species produce a sexual generation that lays overwintering eggs on the host, and host-alternating species move between a winter host (often a tree or shrub) and a summer host (a herbaceous plant). Feeding symptoms include curling, crinkling and distortion of young leaves, stunted growth, yellowing, and the shedding of buds and fruitlets. Abundant honeydew coats the leaves, and the sooty mould fungus that develops on it forms a black film which limits photosynthesis; the honeydew is fed on by ants, which in return defend the colony against predators. Aphids are also important vectors of plant viruses (mosaics among them), transmitting them from plant to plant even during a brief probing puncture.
Toxicity
| For whom | Level | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Humans | Mild | — |
| Dogs | Moderate | Contains paeonol, which is toxic to dogs and cats if eaten. |
| Cats | Moderate | — |
History and origin
The peony has been cultivated in China for over two thousand years, where it is regarded as a symbol of prosperity and honour and called the „queen of flowers”. It reached Europe in the 19th century and quickly became a garden classic. More precisely: the first plants arrived in British gardens as early as the end of the 18th century (introduced around 1784), while the 19th century brought their spread and the development of cultivar breeding. Chinese tradition distinguishes the herbaceous peony (shaoyao, Paeonia lactiflora) from the tree peony (mudan, Paeonia suffruticosa), and there it is the tree peony that holds the title of king of flowers (huawang); calling the peony the queen of flowers is a European usage, applied to peonies in general. Both have been a constant motif of painting and poetry for centuries, and the root of the Chinese peony is one of the basic raw materials of traditional Chinese medicine (pharmaceutically processed – the raw plant is poisonous and unsuitable for use on one's own). The modern range of cultivars was shaped in the second half of the 19th and the early 20th century by French nurseries – Miellez, Calot, Crousse and Lemoine – and most of the classics still in the trade today date from that period: Festiva Maxima (Miellez, 1851), Duchesse de Nemours (Calot, 1856), Monsieur Jules Elie (Crousse, 1888) and Sarah Bernhardt (Lemoine, 1906). In the early 20th century the centre of breeding moved to the United States, where the American Peony Society was founded (1903) and the classification of flower types still in use was established. Today Paeonia lactiflora is the basis of world peony production for cut flowers, grown on a large scale in the Netherlands, France and China, among other countries.
Uses
For perennial borders, cottage and romantic gardens, and as a cut flower (one of the most popular wedding flowers). The site should be sunny – at least 6 hours of sun a day – sheltered from strong wind, which breaks the heavy double flowers, and well away from tree canopies and hedges, because the peony loses the competition for water and light. It tolerates light partial shade, but then flowers more sparsely and the stems flop – hence partial shade is a tolerated position, not a recommended one. It is planted in September and October at a spacing of 80–100 cm; crowding hinders air movement through the clump and encourages grey mould. Ring supports are put in place in early spring, before the shoots grow – later they cannot be fitted without breaking the stems. In the border it combines well with roses, bearded irises, columbines and foxgloves, while lady's mantle, catmint and phlox provide a light backdrop. Only single and Japanese-type cultivars (such as Bowl of Beauty) are of value to pollinators – in densely double flowers the stamens are transformed into petals, so the pollen is out of reach. The clump of foliage usually stays ornamental until autumn, so the peony often works as a permanent structural element of the border – provided that powdery mildew or grey mould do not ruin the leaves in high summer; where these diseases return every year, it is better to plan for a plant that will mask it. For cutting, the stems are taken at the soft, coloured bud stage. The peony is a poisonous plant – the bouquet and the vase water should be kept out of reach of dogs and cats (eating it causes vomiting and diarrhoea in them). Container growing succeeds poorly – the plant needs a deep growing medium and years of undisturbed roots.
Trivia
- Peonies can flower in the same spot for over 50, or even 100, years.
- The sticky buds of the peony are often visited by ants feeding on the sweet secretion – they do the plant no harm.
- The genus name Paeonia refers to Paeon, physician to the gods in Greek mythology, and the specific epithet lactiflora means milky-flowered – after the creamy white flowers of the wild form.
- Coral and yellow garden peonies are not cultivars of the Chinese peony itself: the coral ones are interspecific hybrids (most often involving P. lactiflora and P. peregrina), and the yellow ones are either hybrids with yellow-flowered species (P. mlokosewitschii) or the Itoh group, that is crosses of herbaceous hybrids with the tree peony.
Frequently asked questions
Why won't my peony flower?
The most common cause is planting too deep – the eyes (buds) must sit no more than 3–5 cm below the soil surface. Other reasons include a plant that is too young or recently moved, too much shade, or an excess of nitrogen.
Are the ants on peony buds harmful?
No – the ants feed on the sweet secretion of the buds and do the plant no harm, nor are they needed for it to flower. It is an entirely natural phenomenon.
Can peonies be moved?
They can, but reluctantly – peonies dislike root disturbance and may fail to flower for 2–3 years after being moved. The best time is September, again keeping the eyes planted shallowly.
When should peonies be cut for the vase so that they last a long time?
At the soft, coloured bud stage – the bud already shows the colour of the cultivar and gives under finger pressure like a marshmallow. Hard, entirely green buds often fail to open in the vase, and flowers cut fully open last only briefly. Cut in the morning with sharp secateurs, leaving at least two thirds of the stems with their leaves on the plant – these rebuild the crown for the following season. In the first year after planting it is better not to cut at all.
Why do peony buds turn black and dry up before opening?
This is usually peony grey mould (Botrytis paeoniae), which strikes in a cool, wet spring and in clumps planted too densely: the buds turn brown and dry up, and a grey coating appears at the base of the stems. Remove affected buds and stems at once, cut down and dispose of all the top growth in autumn, keep a spacing of 80–100 cm for better air movement, and water at the root rather than over the leaves.
Sources
- Plants of the World Online (POWO)Database (GBIF, POWO…)
- RHS — PeoniesInstitution / botanical garden
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