Plant perfect peonies
Stage a late-spring spectacular with hybrid forms of these glorious flowers
Peonies are among the most beautiful perennials. There are lots of varieties to choose from so specialist nurseries, such as ours, divide peonies into distinctive groups to reflect the way a plant grows. The largest group is herbaceous peonies, which die back in autumn. Then there are tree peonies that have wood stems and don’t die back. The last is a group called intersectional peonies, which are the result of crossing the other two types and have some stems that die back and others that don’t. In common with many garden plants that have many varieties, peony breeders have divided these groups further and included a rather confusing group known as hybrid peonies, which have been raised by crossing two herbaceous wild peonies. The results have produced a beautiful group of peonies that have a lot to offer. Hybrid peonies bloom in May or June, earlier than the older lactiflora peonies, such as ‘Sarah Bernhardt’. The colours are varied and include yellow and orange hues, not seen in the lactiflora varieties. Because the flowers of many hybrids are single in shape the stems won’t fall over in windy and wet weather. The leaves are also very handsome – often shiny and dark green, they’re sometimes so finely divided they appear lacy.
I’ve grown hybrid peonies for many years and discovered that not all make good garden plants. Some of the early introductions were truly experimental, the parents originating from places with difficult growing conditions. As a result, although the plants are very beautiful, they’re not always hardy or vigorous. On the whole, though, hybrid peonies need no additional requirement to any other peony, just a well-drained soil in sun or part shade. Left alone they’ll thrive for years.
Of the few semi-double varieties, ‘Buckeye Belle’ (H and S: 75cm/2½ft) is the most beautiful. In certain lights the petals of the rosette-shaped flowers are tinged mahoganybrown. There are a number of double, red hybrid peonies well worth growing.
‘Red Charm’ (H: 80cm/2¾ft; S: 75cm/2½ft) is not unlike the classic red cottage peony Paeonia officinalis ‘Rubra Plena’ (H: 75cm/2½ft; S: 90cm/3ft), but its flower stems are much stronger and less likely to fall over. Smaller paeonia ‘Eliza
Lundy’ (H and S: 60cm/2ft) has double, red flowers held on short stems that also don’t flop, even in a windy situation.
There are many shades of pink, including lipstick pink ‘Paula Fay’ (H: 90cm/3ft; S: 80cm/2¾ft) and ‘Cytherea’ (H and S: 60cm/2ft), which are so bright they’re difficult to blend with other plants, but when grown where nothing else is in flower they make an eye-catching focal point.
True white varieties are few and far between. One of the most beautiful is ‘White Innocence’ (H: 1.2m/4ft; S: 90cm/3ft), which has an intriguing white centre, but it’s difficult to grow, therefore rare. Other white-flowered varieties start very pale pink or cream and fade to white as they age. ‘Picotee’ (H and S: 60cm/2ft) is one of my favourite plants. It graces a corner of my front garden where, in early May, it forms deep cups of palest pink and as the blooms open they fade to white. Once the petals have dropped, big seed pods develop above a wonderful clump of large, oval, glossy green leaves, creating a great backdrop to other perennials throughout the year.
Yellow-flowered peonies were once only found on tree or woody peonies.
‘Claire de Lune’ (H: 90cm/3ft; S: 80cm/2¾ft) is a revolutionary plant in peony terms. The only child of thousands of crosses done by its breeder, it opens into a large, soft yellow saucer and has a beautiful centre of golden stamens. More recently two outstanding yellow-flowered plants have become available to gardeners. ’Lemon Chiffon’ (H and S: 80cm/2¾ft), which is a soft yellow semi-double, and ‘Goldilocks’ (H and S: 75cm/2½ft), with glorious double, dark lemon flowers. For those who want something truly unusual, these are it. Orange or coral-coloured peonies, such as
‘Coral Charm’ (H: 90cm/3ft; S: 80cm/2¾ft), are perhaps the most unusual. Stunning to behold, for me they’re not always the best garden plants, but as long as you’re prepared to prop the stems up with plant supports they really do add an ultimate ‘wow’ factor to the garden.
l Claire Austin Hardy Plants; 01686 670342; www.claireaustin-hardyplants.co.uk.