Peony of the Month – ‘Bowl of Beauty’

These fantastical pink flowers remind me of something that might feature in a Dr Seuss movie. I expect a whole family of microscopic people to be living within its anemone-like centre.

‘Bowl of Beauty’ is an early flowering, herbaceous peony. Their blooms are massive, measuring up to 20cm across, and have a lovely fragrance. And you’ll be making the bees very happy having this one in your garden with its open, Japanese form.

Registered in 1949 by Hoogendoorn, this Chinese peony is also the recipient of an RHS AGM (Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit).

But what’s an AGM all about?

What’s an AGM?

The Award of Garden Merit is based on assessment of the plants performance under UK growing conditions and the Royal Horticultural Society’s seal of approval for consistent performance. Beginning in 1922, this has been an award for quality to garden plants (including trees, vegetables and decorative plants) by the RHS.

What does it take to nab that AGM?

Before being awarded, the plants go through trials that are often done at Wisley and judged by experts. The plant has to be proven reliable in the garden and the AGM is the RHS’ seal of approval for consistent performance.

The award winning plants must:

  • Be available horticulturally
  • Be of outstanding excellence for garden decoration or use
  • Be of good constitution
  • Not require highly specialist growing conditions or care
  • Not be particularly susceptible to any pest or disease
  • Not be subject to an unreasonable degree of reversion

 

You will find this and more information on the AGM here – RHS AGM

This award is applied to a limited amount of plants each year so if a plant doesn’t have the stamp of approval it doesn’t necessarily mean it isn’t a good choice for you.

However, if you see the AGM stamp of approval you can be sure that plant is suitable for most British gardens. And it will most probably do well in yours.

Reviews of the awarded plants are done regularly to ensure that the list stays up to date. This is because some plants may no longer meet this criteria or have been replaced by better cultivars.

After a recent peony trial, the RHS awarded an Award of Garden Merit  to 45 varieties of peony, 39 of which we are currently growing!

Some of these are mentioned here (thanks Country Living!)

Have you got any AGM holders going and growing in your garden already?

If not, maybe you’ll want to start with this beauty…

Growing Peonies for Cut Flowers

Keen on growing your own peonies specifically for cut flower?

Some varieties are better suited to cut flower production than others. We are looking for stems that are long and strong with striking, large blooms.

Herbaceous peonies are a great option as they perform well in both the vase and garden. There are many varieties to choose from, in a range of colours, and many peonies are fragrant so there's the added bonus there!

But where to start?

Let’s have a look at some of the things you’ll want to bear in mind when planting peonies for cut flower.

Location

Any position in the garden will be fine, in either full sun or part shade preferably in a more sheltered place away from strong wind.

Soil Conditions

Any type of soil will be fine as long as it has excellent drainage. If you do have lighter, sandy soil, remember to add a generous amount of organic matter to the bottom of your planting hole and perhaps feed a little more regularly.

Best time to Plant

In cooler climates like we have here in the UK, peonies can be planted in either Spring or Autumn.

Planting Depth and Spacing

  • Don’t plant them too deeply. The eyes should be no more than 2.5-5cm below the surface
  • When you order from us your peony will be in a pot already planted at the correct depth which makes it easy to plant it straight in the ground at same depth
  • Make sure there is enough space between plants – at least 60cm – as peonies benefit from good air circulation. This also makes them easier to pick

How long until Harvest Time?

If your peony plants are still less than 3 years old you won’t see many (if any) flowers yet. Peony cutting gardens take a little while to get going as the plants develop relatively slowly and need time to establish well before flowers can be picked.

Not having any flowers is not a bad thing as it means all the energy and nutrients are going in to the roots and building a strong foundation. You want a strong plant that will keep on going for decades so you can reap the gorgeous rewards for as long as possible.

From 4 years and up you will see a marked difference in flower production.  At Primrose Hall we nurture all of our plants until they are at least 5 years old ensuring they are mature flowering Paeonia plants. So you are much more likely to see it flowering from its very first season in your garden. Little patience required.

When to Pick?

The best time to pick peonies is when the bud is quite soft but not yet opened. A gentle pinch between your forefinger and thumb should reveal that the bud is as soft as a marshmallow. Pick them at this point, rinse them in cold water (especially if they are covered in ants!) and put them straight in a bucket of water or vase.

Within in a day or two the flowers will have opened and you should have beautiful peonies in a vase for at least a week.

Which Varieties are best?

Varieties such as ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ seem to do best as cut flowers, as do other soft coloured double varieties such as:

Paeonia lactiflora 'Boule de Neige' (Peony 'Boule de Neige')

Beautiful double white flowers, highly scented, with crimson flecks on the outer part of the petals on dark green foliage. Flowers mid-season. 

Paeonia lactiflora ‘Vogue’ (Peony ‘Vogue’) (Fragrant)

Excellent herbaceous perennial with dark green foliage and huge white double flowers with a crimson edge and inner petals with a silvery reflex. Absolutely stunning. 

Paeonia lactiflora ‘Madame Calot’ (Peony ‘Madame Calot’) (Fragrant)

Herbaceous perennial with dark green divided leaves and large, double pale pink and cream flowers. Highly scented, floriferous.

 

These ones make great cut flowers too:

Paeonia lactiflora ‘Honey Gold’ (Peony ‘Honey Gold’) (Fragrant) (Mid Season Flowering)

Fragrant semi-double creamy white flowers with a pale yellow centre on long strong stems.

Paeonia ‘Claire de Lune’ AGM (Peony ‘Claire de Lune’) Fragrant (Mid-Season Flowering)

Claire de Lune is a very special peony because of its unusual lemon coloured flowers and gorgeous scent; it also makes an excellent cut flower. Claire de Lune has distinctive broad mid-green leaves and stunning lemon coloured single, cup-shaped flowers with golden centres. Floriferous, impressive and reliable peony.

Paeonia lactiflora ‘Doreen’ AGM (Peony ‘Doreen’) (Fragrant)

A herbaceous perennial with finely cut green foliage and lightly scented, HUGE, single flowers of pink guard petals and yellow centres. Fragrant, large flowers.

Paeonia lactiflora ‘Victoire de la Marne’ (Peony ‘Victoire de la Marne’) (Fragrant) (Mid-Late Season Flowering)

Mid-sized burgundy purplish red double flowers with lighter edges. A striking flower with a distinctive colour.

 

Happy gardening! May the peonies be with you!

Caring for your Tree Peony

Tree peonies.

The loveliness that’s inspired many beautiful art pieces through the ages.

And you can have one of these charming muses living in your very own garden.

They are sure to make a real statement in a sunny garden border, growing up to 2-3 metres, although they respond very well to pruning and can be kept at a more manageable 1-1.5m.

Tree peonies are long-lived, deciduous shrubs with large, sometimes dinner plate size, flamboyant, often fragrant flowers in a variety of colours. They range from white through pink to dark red and purple; yellows are also available, along with the more unusual apricot shades.

They are happiest in a sunny or lightly shaded, location sheltered from strong wind to prevent foliage and flower damage and although they can take up to four years to get settled and start flowering the rewards outweigh the wait!

You can plant containerised tree peonies at any time in the year - just remember to water it well when you plant it.

Planting Pointers

Some planting tips:

  • Tree peonies are often grafted onto herbaceous peony rootstock so the graft union will need to be planted about 15cm below soil level. This encourages it to form its own roots
  • Once in, water generously to settle the soil

 

TLC for the Tree

Technically, tree peonies aren’t trees but rather sub-shrubs so they need much the same care as herbaceous varieties.

This is how you can help your tree peony stand the test of time:

  • It is best to water regularly during the first summer especially during dry spells
  • Mulching well in late Autumn to late winter with organic matter helps keep moisture in but leave a dish around the base of the plant which is clear of any mulch as that can lead to root rot
  • Prune in the Autumn and either take back the top growth by about 1/3 in stages or, if you have a multi-stemmed tree peony, cut back every 3rd stem to about 2cm, removing the oldest stems first
  • After hibernating happily through the winter chill you’ll want to give it a little boost with a feed come Spring time

 

Want one?

So! If you are thinking about adopting a tree peony into your peony family have a look at these lovelies (pictured right):

Paeonia suffruticosa ‘Kokuryu Nishiki’ (Japanese Tree Peony) (Early-Mid Season Flowering)

Japanese tree peony with large semi-double incredible dark burgundy/purple flowers with white veins/flashes on the outer petals

Paeonia ‘High Noon’ AGM (Japanese Tree Peony) Fragrant (Early-Mid Season Flowering)

Stunning semi-double to double, large yellow lemon scented flowers with a red basal flare. Will often flower again in the autumn. Awarded the RHS Award of Garden Merit so it is a very reliable tree peony

Paeonia suffruticosa ‘Shichi Fukujin’ (Japanese Tree Peony) (Early-Mid Season Flowering)

Japanese tree peony with large papery thin striking double pink flowers with a raspberry basal flare. Often with a crinkled edge

Paeonia suffruticosa ‘Kuro-Ageha’ (Japanese Tree Peony) (Mid Season Flowering)

A romantically deep red bloom with large golden stamens in the centre of this semi-double peony

Paeonia suffruticosa ‘Fuso-no-tsukasa’ (Japanese Tree Peony) (Mid-Late Season Flowering)

An absolutely stunning, elegant Japanese tree peony with large, pure white double flowers

Peonies that Symbolise Love

With Valentine’s Day coming up are you wondering what peonies to send to a loved one? Which peonies symbolise love?

Peonies symbolise many different things, depending on the colour. In China, red is a symbol of royalty. Only emperors and their families used it, so red peonies came to embody wealth, prosperity, honour and respect. Peony is a traditional flower symbol in China and is called 牡丹 (mǔdān) which means “the most beautiful”.

In Western culture red flowers are generally associated with love and red peonies have come to symbolise love, romance and passion.

Pink peonies are commonly used in wedding bouquets as they symbolise lasting love, good fortune and prosperity. They can also depict love at first sight.

FLOWERS SPEAK A THOUSAND WORDS

These days most of us don’t think very deeply about the specific meaning of flowers when deciding what flower to pick. We usually just go with a colour or form we like, don’t we?

But there was a time when flowers spoke volumes.

Communicating with flowers dates back to the 1700s in Turkey but the Victorian era was a time when this form of communication really took off. This happened after Lady Mary Wortley Montagu visited Turkey and discovered the way harem girls communicated with each other – sending coded messages via flowers.

She wrote:

“There is no colour, no flower, no weed, no fruit, herb, pebble, or feather, that has not a verse belonging to it; and you may quarrel, reproach, or send letters of passion, friendship, or civility, or even of news, without ever inking your fingers.”

 

It was the ideal vehicle for expressing thoughts and feelings that were considered taboo at the time. And in the Victorian age full of rules and restrictions, that was just about anything to do with expressing emotions.

Assigning meaning to specific flower types to communicate feelings or desires is known as floriography and it became not only a craze but one of the main ways anyone was able to get their untoward thoughts across without uttering or writing a single word.

So if you received a bunch of flowers like this:

White Peonies (bashfulness) + Red Peonies (true love) + Magenta Ranunculus (dazzled by your charm)  + Pale pink Sweet Peas (meet me)

You can be sure potential love is on the horizon!

GIVE THE GIFT OF A PEONY

So why not send a peony? You never know what could happen…

Some options of appropriately named and coloured peonies you could go for are:

'Love Affair'

Unusual, rare and highly sought after. A mid season flowering 'Itoh' semi-double, white, bowl-shaped bloom with a beautiful fragrance

'My Love'

Herbaceous perennial with striking double blooms in blush with small red flares fading to white

'Bowl of Love'

A short version of 'Bowl of Beauty' with carmine pink outer petals and pale cream petaloids. An exquisite fragrant, mid season bloomer

'Pillow Talk'

A gorgeous, sweetly scented, large double peony with soft, creamy cameo pink rose-type flowers. Makes an excellent cut flower.

'Berry Berry Fine'

Unusual and highly collectable, mid season ‘Itoh’ with finely cut foliage on sturdy framework and incredible fragrant, single to semi-double, deep lavender pink flowers highlighted with darker pink streaks and plum basal flares

'Pink Parfait'

A late flowering, herbaceous perennial with double, deep pink highly fragrant blooms that make excellent cut flowers

'Red Charm'

An indulgent, sturdy, early flowering, herbaceous perennial with large, fragrant, deep ruby red cup-shaped flowers with ruffled centres

'Blaze'

An early-mid season, strong and reliable herbaceous variety that’s a floriferous grower. It has beautiful fragrant, semi-double bright red flowers with golden centres

'Peter Brand'

A heavily scented herbaceous perennial with divided foliage, erect stems bearing deep pink-red double flowers, with ruffled inner petals

Which peonies would you choose?

Click on a pic to take your pick!