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Introduction Peonies are stunningly beautiful, easy to grow, relatively carefree, and adaptable to any garden style. They are a favorite flower everywhere they can be grown and for good reason: the heady fragrances and enchanting colors of a peony-rich garden can evoke memories, capture an enchanted moment, and represent hope, friendship, romance, or gracious hospitality. Wherever winters are cold enough for peonies, gardeners have grown plants that have been shared with them or passed down among generations as treasured living family heirlooms. With their colors, fragrances, and forms, the cut flowers combine well in bouquets. Peonies simply have no rival in their season. Peonies blossom in a wide variety of colors and shapes. Their color range encompasses every tint from pure white through myriad pinks to the deepest reds and rich, complex chocolate tones. Almost every shade is represented except for blue and black, though now some blossoms approach those shades, as with the dazzling deep lavenders of ‘Lavender Hill’ and ‘Sonoma Amethyst’. To add to the fun and depending on the cultivar, individual peony flowers may retain the same color from start to finish, or they may begin as one color and either fade or darken to another related color. Some selections are bicolored, and, more rarely seen, tricolored. Contemporary breeders are even providing gardeners with new striped peonies such as ‘Candy Stripe’—truly distinctive treasures. The individual flower shapes, which are called forms, can be as simple as a wild rose or so petal-stuffed that it is hard to imagine how all the petals ever fit in the bud, with many variations in between. A bouquet of peonies, or even a single stem, can enhance any occasion. For floral designers, these blossoms offer much variation in visual texture and form, with petal edges that can be smooth, ruffled, or notched. Petals can be arranged in many configurations, from a single row to a tightly packed multitude. Peonies easily combine with accent flowers and foliage. Their long, strong stems provide stature and the huge petals easily define luxury. Peonies are frequently used as event flowers as they have an enduring vase life of seven to ten days from bud that can be controlled by heat and light. They are a popular favorite in wedding bouquets and have earned that honor not only for their luxurious sheen and huge size, but also for colors that blend harmoniously with any setting. From the several thousand selections currently available, we’ve chosen nearly two hundred of the best plants for garden and vase. Our goal in this book is to provide the information you need to grow these magnificent peonies with confidence, to create stunning garden scenes, and to enjoy your peonies as cut flowers. Peonies can do so much in the garden and with such little effort on the gardener’s part that they should be considered whenever a gardener wonders about what plant would best complement a particular spot.
