Common Name: Peony
Botanical Name: Paeonia
A few weeks ago, I was aghast to see peonies beside the amaryllis and snow berry at the Boston Flower Exchange. Irony of ironies! The one flower in the Chinese Empress’s palace garden that refused to bloom on command one winter night, and honored forever by the Chinese for its unyielding nature; that very peony or its South American cousin suddenly available year round? Go see for yourself.
The peony blooms in New England from late May to late June. Sought after by brides and designers for its luxuriant large blossom and divine scent, it has a short, charmed life.
Emerson may have said, Beauty is its own excuse for being, but take note, the peony has more than looks to recommend it. Its ancient history, mythic origins, variety, longevity, luscious fragrance, and curative powers, account for its magnetism. (Even ants find the bud’s nectar irresistible; they crawl all over it, some say helping it unfurl its dense confection of petals.)
Growers across the country have caught the peony fever. “We’re just mad about peonies,” writes Kasha Furman, owner of Cricket Hill Garden, in Thomaston, CT. Other cultivators from New Hampshire to Washington State sound equally enthralled.
Growers across the country have caught the peony fever. “We’re just mad about peonies,” writes Kasha Furman, owner of Cricket Hill Garden, in Thomaston, CT. Other cultivators from New Hampshire to Washington State sound equally enthralled.
Like most goddesses, the peony appears in many narratives world wide. A constant muse, it has inspired Chinese painting, poetry, and legend. Its name Sho Yo means most beautiful and it is considered the flower of prosperity. The symbol of healing in ancient Greece, the peony takes its Latinate name from the physician Paeon. In 77 AD, the Greek naturalist Pliny the Elder first described the peony’s rare medicinal gifts – it is said the root cures convulsions and high blood pressure. Charlemagne called the spring flower “the friend of physicians and the praise of cooks.”
What more to recommend it?
In Japan the peony promises a happy marriage and virility. In Germany it is known as the Pfingstrose, or Spirit Rose, as it blooms at the time of Pentecost.
Superstition follows the peony. It is said that under a full moon peony petals possess a soft radiance, that a woodpecker will peck out the eyes of anyone who disturbs its roots (As gardeners know, the peony plant, famous for lasting a century or more, likes to stay put.) According to Feng Shui, the red peony symbolizes good fortune associated with women and romance. It is believed to keep passion and love alive; and evil from the door.
Several years ago, I was booked to design flowers for a late June wedding. The bride, just out of law school, wanted among other flowers, pale pink peonies. I cheered her on. But when three weeks before her wedding, she opted for the more vibrant and dashing burgundy peony, I started to quake. A promise-her-anything-but give-her-Arpege tactic kicked in. But of course, I said, and suffered several sleepless nights full of courtroom dramas related to flowers.
Several years ago, I was booked to design flowers for a late June wedding. The bride, just out of law school, wanted among other flowers, pale pink peonies. I cheered her on. But when three weeks before her wedding, she opted for the more vibrant and dashing burgundy peony, I started to quake. A promise-her-anything-but give-her-Arpege tactic kicked in. But of course, I said, and suffered several sleepless nights full of courtroom dramas related to flowers.
Why? Because, dear reader, late June is pushing it for peonies, especially the darker ones. I needed a sure source of crimson peonies at a time when peonies play hard to get.
None of the vendors at the Boston Flower Exchange could promise dark peonies for June 25. Local gardeners said the same thing. Everything depends on the weather. A cool June would keep the peonies blooming; a hot month would hasten their demise. The days were heating up, and so was my anxiety.
None of the vendors at the Boston Flower Exchange could promise dark peonies for June 25. Local gardeners said the same thing. Everything depends on the weather. A cool June would keep the peonies blooming; a hot month would hasten their demise. The days were heating up, and so was my anxiety.
It all came together in the end: I found armfuls of burgundy peonies, quite enough for every vase and bouquet, in exactly the proportion the bride wanted. I didn’t learn until much later, a chemist named Saunders developed a hardy hybrid crimson peony in the 1920s.
So where are autumn and winter peonies coming from? South America, my friends, like so many cultivated flowers these days. It’s just a shock, that’s all - a pale face in autumn’s panoply of apricots, sages, and rusts. I’m going to pretend it’s not there, and hold out for peonies in season and true to nature.
The pedigree of a classical beauty:
Peonies are among the oldest plants cultivated for their flowers and the healing properties of their tuberous roots and shiny dark seeds. In China, where records mentioning peonies date back to 600 B.C., it was known as "the King of Flowers," and often portrayed with the phoenix, a symbol of life arising triumphant from the ashes. The genus includes about 30 species, but the two chief divisions are the herbaceous peonies, those soft-stemmed plants that die back in winter, and "tree" peonies, shrubs that have a persistent woody framework.
The pedigree of a classical beauty:
Peonies are among the oldest plants cultivated for their flowers and the healing properties of their tuberous roots and shiny dark seeds. In China, where records mentioning peonies date back to 600 B.C., it was known as "the King of Flowers," and often portrayed with the phoenix, a symbol of life arising triumphant from the ashes. The genus includes about 30 species, but the two chief divisions are the herbaceous peonies, those soft-stemmed plants that die back in winter, and "tree" peonies, shrubs that have a persistent woody framework.
Peonies range in color from white to lemon white to white with splashes of pink, from pale to rich pink to burgundy to salmon to lime; from single- to multi-petaled. Their blooms can grow up to 8 inches across, and their names, particularly those of the Chinese tree peonies, read like the names of Bodhisattvas from an ancient Buddhist sutra: Taoist Stove Filled with the Pills of Immortality, Necklace with Precious Pearls, Palace Dress, Compassionate, and so on.
Known and valued in Europe since the middle ages, the heavy-headed lush lactiflora hybrid peony first appeared in America on the cut flower market in 1884. Beginning in the 1920s the chemist A.P. Saunders, started on his thirty-year quest to develop a hybrid peony by crossing the Chinese peony (lactiflora) with the European P. officinalis. He succeeded.
Working in his lab in Clinton, NY, Saunders created a lighter-headed peony that flourished in the garden, where the old world top heavy peony had a habit of falling on its face. Among Saunders’s hybrids are Athena, a creamy pink centered flower, White Innocence, a tall late-blooming single, Echo, a pale single-petal lavender, and the burgundy Early Bird.
Known and valued in Europe since the middle ages, the heavy-headed lush lactiflora hybrid peony first appeared in America on the cut flower market in 1884. Beginning in the 1920s the chemist A.P. Saunders, started on his thirty-year quest to develop a hybrid peony by crossing the Chinese peony (lactiflora) with the European P. officinalis. He succeeded.
Working in his lab in Clinton, NY, Saunders created a lighter-headed peony that flourished in the garden, where the old world top heavy peony had a habit of falling on its face. Among Saunders’s hybrids are Athena, a creamy pink centered flower, White Innocence, a tall late-blooming single, Echo, a pale single-petal lavender, and the burgundy Early Bird.
The Pre-Raphaelite William Morris said things should be either beautiful or useful; the peony succeeds in both.
Peony growers in New England:
· Cricket Hill Garden, in Thomaston, CT (1-860-283-1042
· Maple Ridge Peony Farm in Conway, MA 01341.
· Cricket Hill Garden, in Thomaston, CT (1-860-283-1042
· Maple Ridge Peony Farm in Conway, MA 01341.
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