Bloom service
FALL IN LOVE WITH BEAUTIFUL TREE PEONIES... BUT BE WARNED, ONE PLANT IS NEVER ENOUGH
IT’S EASY TO
DON’T you love it when good plants become fashionable – it seems to give them a whole new lease of life. Tree peonies are a case in point. Once upon a time you’d see the odd one languishing at the back of a border in a stately home, but now they pop up in gardens large and small right across the land.
And a good job, too.
Their other common name is “mountain” and they differ from herbaceous peonies in producing a stiff woody stem that erupts with finely cut leaves during the months of March and early April.
These alone are reason enough for growing them but then you will see, nestling among the leaves, large round bullets of buds that burst open in late April and May. The spectacular flowers seem to have been crafted from crumpled tissue paper. The flowers may be pink, yellow, white, orange – almost every colour except blue – and they’re often centred with blotches of the deepest maroon.
As flowers go they are hugely drool-worthy and one plant is unlikely to be enough. Not to worry – you can add to your collection at the rate of one a year and, although the flowers may only be in evidence for a few weeks, the foliage is ample recompense from summer through until autumn.
They enjoy being placed in a sheltered site (not surprising with those delicate flowers) and a spot in full sun or dappled shade.
The soil needs to be well drained and well enriched with plenty of organic matter – use well-rotted garden compost or manure.
If you have a conservatory there is no reason why you should not grow tree peonies in large pots or tubs, keeping them under cover until they flower.
They nearly all reach around 4ft high and as much across, though the yellow Paeonia lutea ludlowii can grow to a more imposing 8ft high and wide.
When late winter arrives you can cut out at ground level any stems you do not want to keep.
Other varieties are much less vigorous and unlikely to need anything more than the trim of the odd shoot that grows where it will prove to be a nuisance.
One thing is certain, when your stunning tree peonies come into flower each year you will be the envy of everyone who walks past.
Spectacular flowers seem to have been crafted from tissue paper