Plant Of The Month – April 2020
‘Paeonia Claire de Lune’
The ‘Claire de Lune’ Peony is a single bloom creamy, lemon yellow coloured petals with a strong vibrant yellow centre and contrasting reddish stems. Breeding peonies is only for the most patient of horticulturalists and this particular variety took well over 500 crosses every year for 8 years to achieve this beautiful creamy-yellow Peony!
We have picked ‘Claire de Lune’ as the peony of the month in April as it is one of the early flowering peonies, it usually blooms in the garden Spring or early Summer. This peony copes well with rain and will flower for approximately 10 days. We always suggest planting the earlier flowering peonies together with some mid and late flowering varieties so that you are able to have a peony budding and flowering throughout Spring and Summer in your garden.
‘Claire de Lune’ is a reliable peony, needing very little in terms of maintenance, most importantly make sure your soil is free draining and you plant your new peony in full sun. All peonies benefit from a feed once a year but it is not essential for your plant to stay healthy. This peony plant grows into a lush green bush, usually reaching 60 -70cm in height and spreads up to 90cm, with fantastic green divided foliage which stays full until either the first frost or until Autumn arrives, when very often your peony will start to change colour into lovely orange and golden hues.
A great addition to the garden for pollinators, butterflies and bees are attracted to the sumptuous pollen in the peonies centre. If your garden has friendly wildlife visitors such as deer and rabbits, don’t worry, they are not interested in your peony, they are virtually pest free. Only thing to keep an eye out for is peony wilt but if you notice any wilt on your plant , cut the affected parts away and burn to dispose and your peony will nurse back to health in no time.
Peony ‘Claire de Lune’ is a versatile plant which can be treated as a specimen plant or planted in groups within the border and beds of larger gardens who have generous amounts of space like a classic English country garden. Peonies are also great in pots so perfect for city gardens, they do well in containers on balconies or rooftops as they are pretty drought tolerant and enjoy the sun but are also hardy down to -25C so will tolerate the UK and colder climate winters.
Another great use for ‘Claire de Lune’ is as cut stems for a vase, peonies make excellent cut flowers when they are cut while in soft bud, they will last a week in a vase bringing joy to your home.
Plant a peony for decades of blooming gorgeousness in your garden!
