Actually, first here’s the question for you:
Which plant, when grown here in Blighty,
1) has absolutely no garden pests – nothing from slugs to rabbits to deer will touch them,
2) despite being a shrub requires no pruning,
3) once planted is unlikely to need real maintenance of any kind in the garden, save for maybe a decent annual mulch,
4) is ridiculously hardy, down to about -25C at least,
5) produces some of the most spectacular, highly fragrant and breathtakingly beautiful flowers of any plant anywhere,
6) was, very possibly, the first plant anywhere on earth to be grown for purely ornamental reasons,
6) is flowering right now,
7) oh, and is the number 1 subject of Japanese tattoos…
Give up?
The answer is the Tree Peony, or more accurately the Tree Peonies.
Paeonia Golden Thunder.
Emblematic of several Eastern countries, Peonies have permeated Japanese and Chinese art and culture for millennia where they have always been deeply revered.
Paeonia, the slightly awkwardly spelled genus to which they belong, is a highly distinctive group of less than 40 species.
Despite many attempts to lump them in with various other plants, (particularly the buttercup family) recent genetic studies have revealed that these ancient and highly aristocratic plants are not closely related to anything else.
Paeonia suffruticosa.
Of those 40 species more than 30 are herbaceous and disappear entirely below ground each winter.
The remaining 8 are woody and slowly build a permanent branching structure, much like any other shrub. Reducing things still further just 4 of those 8 species (namely: P. delavayi, P. ludlowii, P. rockii, and P. suffruticosa) are widely cultivated.
Thanks to several thousand years of intensive cultivation and hybridization in the East those 4 have, between them, been responsible for the creation of a multitude of forms and colours, some of which are now readily available for gardeners to plant and enjoy here in the West.
Cultivation.
Paeonia delavayi.
Tree Peonies are not hugely fussy about most aspects of their cultivation and are extremely easy to please in the garden. Plants may be seed grown (the species) or grafted onto a rootstock (the named cultivars).
If grafted, and supplied bare root, then they should be planted deep, with the graft union around 8cm beneath the surface of the soil. This helps to stimulate the grafted plant to create it’s own roots, and forms a stronger plant in the long run. Potted plants should be supplied in very deep pots, having already been planted with the graft union underground.
Soil type is not particularly important. The driest and wettest sites should be avoided, certainly, as should sites in deep shade. In the wild most species grow in quite bright, open situations, on poor soils, and although the plants will thrive in complete shade in cultivation, they will certainly flower much better in a reasonably sunny position. Good air flow is useful too, and will help prevent any fungal disease, although a site with too much exposure risks having the often large flowers smashed in high winds.
Growth habit.
P. ludlowii - new growth unfurling.
Tree peonies are never fast growers, and could certainly never be accused of romping away. Typically a plant will put on perhaps 15cm of new growth each season and will eventually form an attractive, dome shaped shrub of around 2 metres by 2 metres.
The foliage is extremely handsome in it’s own right. The leaves of P. ludlowii & P. delavayi in particular are very large and very heavily divided into various intricate patterns. This foliage is generally cut back by the first hard frosts leaving the thick, densely woody stems over winter. New shoots start to appear in March and (in my experience at least) are completely untroubled by frosts.
The enormously fat flower buds develop alongside the new foliage and open in succession throughout May and on into June, depending on the temperatures. The species will also set large amounts of seed, from which new plants can easily be germinated.
The species.
Paeonia ludlowii.
Although the hybrids are very spectacular the smaller flowered species from which they were derived are also extremely garden worthy.
P. delavayi (with incredibly intense, blood red flowers) and P. ludlowii, (with larger canary yellow flowers) are very closely related to one another and often considered part of the same species.
Both are widely available as very good value seedling plants, which will flower when only 30cm or so tall, and are to be highly recommended.
P. rockii form.
P. suffruticosa is the Chinese species that forms that backbone of all of the Tree Peony hybrids.
It is widely variable in the wild, with flowers ranging from white through pink to deep crimson and it’s this variation that has provided so much material for generations of plant breeders.
Finally P. rockii (named after the Austrian-American botanist Joseph Rock) is another widely variable Chinese species, but the finest and most sought after forms have single or demi-double flowers that are pure white with black-red markings in the throat. Although there are numerous variations on that theme they are collectively known as the Rock Peonies.
The hybrids.
Paeonia Botan Pink
With such a long and important history of cultivation there are, not surprisingly, innumerable hybrids and named forms in China and Japan.
Widespread interest in the UK has only really taken off in the last 15 years or so, and there are now a number of specialist suppliers who are introducing the Asian hybrids (often under their true Chinese names, sometimes under Anglicised versions) in increasing numbers.
Most of these are regarded as heritage plants – i.e. amongst the heirlooms of the gardening world – and many command hefty price tags that reflect the slowness of grafting and the limited quantities of plant material.
A single flowered P. suffruticosa/rockii hybrid
Flower forms encompass singles, semi-doubles and full doubles, whilst colours range from white through all possible shades of pink and red, together with yellows and a few peachy/oranges, some with contrasting streaks and stripes in the petals and many with darker centres, where these are visible.
For me, though, the beauty of the Tree peony flower comes through it’s simplicity and purity of form.
The single-flowered white, yellow, and intensely red plants, each with a contrasting boss of golden stamens, some with that dark central “eye” and many with a beautiful perfume, together sum up the glory of the garden on the very cusp of summer.
Her tail feathers were looking a bit mucky, so I tried to bath her in a bucket of warm water, and then on closer examination, I found that she had louse eggs firmly cemented to the base of her feathers. After seeking some advice from a fellow hen keeper, I have dusted all the girls with some Livestock Louse Powder and will check later in the week, to see if the problem is under control. I love the ethos of the EcoCharlie Garden, and would prefer to use environmentally sustainable products as much as possible, so I researched some methods for keeping chickens fit and healthy, and found that if you add Apple Cider Vinegar and garlic to their drinking water, it works not only as a poultry tonic but also to control intestinal worms and parasites. My garlic is growing well at the moment so we soon be self sufficient, and I have found a local source the the vinegar … it has to be live and non-pasturised and not the sort you buy from the supermarkets.
