All peonies have a blousy opulence about them. There are two types: herbaceous peonies and tree peonies and the difference between them are the stems. Herbaceous peonies have stems that die right back in autumn and leave no trace until they re-emerge in the spring. We have several un-named varieties at Springfield and my favourites are the over-the-top round, magenta and red blooms – some of which are bigger than my clenched fist. However, much as I love them I have never managed to photograph a peony in flower. Usually I forget to erect the plant supports and by the time I notice the flower buds it is too late. They soon become so top-heavy that they collapse to the ground. If it is rainy and windy, then you lose the flowers anyway, rather like roses lose their petals. Still, I would not be without peonies and last autumn I put sticks in the ground so I know for definite exactly where they will emerge, so I can stake them appropriately. Well that is the plan anyway.
The stems of the tree peony are woody and stay above the ground all year.
They grow into medium sized shrubs, to a maximum of 6 feet (2 metres) and are covered with lots of lush, beautifully divided foliage. Each stem produces one large, exotic flower usually with a dramatic and very beautiful centre. Some varieties are scented and I have been told that they are very good as cut flowers. The colours are similar to those of the herbaceous peony; white, pink and red, but many varieties produce true yellow flowers. I have a friend who, last year, tried to count the flowers on her tree peony. She lost count at a hundred.
Peonies are supposed to only like chalky soil but ours have not read any text books. We have mostly acid soil and they thrive. I have also managed to successfully lift and divide them and this year we have a clump in a pot for a change, potted with a loam based compost. It is a myth that herbaceous peonies don’t like to be moved; in fact it does them good after a few years. If you make sure you keep the crown level with the surface of the soil, they are fine. They are tough plants; they are fully hardy, like full sun and ours have rarely suffered from pests or disease. Although people associate them with the hot, Mediterranean countries, they originate from Japan.
I was told that tree peonies really don’t like to be moved. We inherited a straggly pale yellow specimen which was situated in the large raised bed at the front of the house. The whole bed was overgrown and the peony had struggled for its own space and light for many years. When we finally cleared the bed in the autumn of 2010, we took the decision to ‘have a go at moving it’. The removal went well and we cut it back to encourage some new vigour. Unfortunately, a few weeks later, the hard winter of 2010/2011 began and minus 15 C was a threat to everything and we feared the tree peony would die. There was no re-growth throughout the entire growing season last year and being so busy, we somehow we did not get around to digging up the remains of our tree peony.
However, patience (okay, neglect) has paid off. Another winter has passed and amazingly there is a 1 cm new tree peony shoot growing in the centre of the dead sticks! Our tree peony may have life left in it yet. We shall have to see. I hope it is not a weed! I will keep you posted and who knows, I may have photographs of all our peonies soon.
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