Peony (Fernleaf)

A special plant collector’s item! The foliage is so fine that it almost looks artificial and the large flowers are fully double and an exotic shade of red. Very long lived perennial.

Peonies are the only genus within the Paeoniaceae family, with 33 known species.  They are a woody perennial that dies back close to the ground every winter.  They typically have a short blooming period of a week or two, but are absolute standouts in the garden when they do.  They are named after the Greek myth of Paeon - a student of the god Asclepius (medicine and healing).

There are three major types of peonies that are sold, with 2 of them being hardy enough to live and grow in Canada:

• Tree Peonies
• Garden (Herbaceous) Peonies
• Itoh Peonies (these are a hybrid of Tree and Garden Peonies)

Tree peonies have typically been the most desired peonies, as they exhibit larger and more varied colors of blooms.  Garden peonies are valued because most are hardy to zones 2 or 3.  Toichi Itoh hybridized the two varieties after World War II, resulting in a hybrid peony that exhibited all of the best qualities of a tree peony - with the hardiness of a garden peony.  For this reason, Itoh Peonies are the most sought after, rare, and expensive varieties.

Peonies can be dug up in the fall after they have finished for the year, and they can also be cut down to just a few inches off the ground.  The root systems can be divided and replanted to propagate copies of the mother plant.