Tree Peonies

Chinese tree peony (Paeonia rockii)

Today's post is a praise of the tree peony which we don't see enough around the Twin Cities. This time of year the towns start to go crazy over the herbaceous species of peony (Paeonia lactiflora). But, frankly, I don't know anyone else who has the woody stem tree peony species besides me (let me know if you do.)

Perhaps I am just lucky--I inherited two trees. The former owner of my home in East St. Paul was from Taiwan, where the beauty of the tree peony has been known for centuries.

They were the official flowers of the Tang and Song Dynasties (618-1279 AD.) Today, tree peonies are the national flower of China (mainland.)

Still, in the United States, tree peonies have been somewhat unknown, and thus very expensive. Prices of $75 - $125 per bush are not uncommon. Luckily, in the past few years, a few online growers have been offering them at bargain entry level prices. I couldn't help but snatch up a few more at Miller Nurseries in upstate New York.

The trees are very hardy. The problems that I have had are that you need to watch them in the early spring that they don't get surprised by a late freeze. I lost one to the ground after a freeze in 2005, though it has since re-sprouted from the roots (not sure yet if this is above or below the graft, so I may have a different flower now.) They grow very slowly, putting on only a few inches of wood each year.

By the way, you do not cut these peonies back like their cousins. Do this and you lose next year's flowers. Tree peonies don't need to be covered to protect them from the cold, but could use protection from nibbling rabbits.

are there any plants you DON'T have in your garden? jeesh...

I have several varieties of Tree Peonies. The names have been lost over the years and moving them from MO to OH didn't help the name situation. Fall 2003 I noticed a few of the plants had set seed so when the seed pods popped open I collected 99 seeds (I didn't want to be inaccurate and say 100) anyway...that winter we moved to Ohio. I threw the seeds in the new gardens, they sat there, froze winter 2004 and presto sprouted spring 2005. 40+ grew with 30+ still doing fantastic now. I must say, I was an awful "Mom" to these seeds, forgetting where I had planted them so they were disturbed many times over during the growing season of 2004. I am looking forward to some of them blooming next year, a large assumption on my part as I am thinking they should be large enough to support a bloom or two.

The point to this is, cross your own plants and see what you get. With over 50 plants now I should be in a sea of flowers in a year or two. Oh, yes, the mature plants that were moved are doing very well. I have normally found mine in the $20 to $30 range.

Love your articles, very interesting about the grape vines wintering over.

Still growing,

Marsha Moore