Surely a royal flower!

We are dreaming of Peony Rose season and waiting patiently for their time to roll around again. Big, blousy, sumptuous blooms – there are so many adjectives to describe these gorgeous flowers that have been treasured for centuries.

But where did they come from?

The national flower of China, where they originated, and revered in Chinese culture as the ‘King of Flowers’. They have long been a symbol of grace, happiness, wealth, honour, and prosperity.

According to www.chinahighlights.com there is a peony tree that is 1,600 years old called ‘Peony King’. It stands 2½ metres high and has large blooms ranging from 13cm to 20 cm across. How amazing!

From China, then spreading to Japan, and throughout the world. Since 1656 there has been a connection between Heze, an important breeding and research centre in China, and the Netherlands which is well known as one of the great producers of cut flowers worldwide.

Celebrating the Peony

The Yuushien Peony festival in Japan has an amazing display of Peonies as part of their “Spring Garden party” celebrations. On Daikon Island they float 30,000 peonies on a pond and the footpath is lined with Peonies called “Botanenji”. Check out the Yuushien Peony Society website for details, it looks fabulous.

In China at the National Peony Garden in Luoyang there is a Peony Fair held every year from about mid-April to mid-May. The display consists of over a million blooms with 1,200 different varieties – imagine the fragrance!

The meaning of Peonies, according to “Flowerpaedia”

I find it a bit fascinating that a flower in times gone by held such meaning and conveyed emotions that were not spoken so they literally became a language in themselves.

Some of the meanings that are associated with the Peony Rose (according to our flower bible, “Flowerpaedia”) are: I wish you a happy marriage, happy wedding anniversary, good health, romance, compassion, female fertility, nobility, and oddly, shame. That could add up to a very confusing message if you were sending a traditional Victorian posy to convey your feelings.

Cut flower care:

• Re-cut stems and place straight in water.
• Peonies are big drinkers so keep your eye on the water levels.
• If droopy, soak in a trough or deep bucket of water as they absorb water through their petals.

Planting

There are 2 hard-and-fast rules for planting peonies.

1.When planting in autumn, they must be planted at the correct depth with the buds/crowns which form the next year’s growth no more than 5 cm deep.

2.Don’t overwater them. Water immediately after planting then let nature take care of it unless it is dry then a good soaking twice a week.

(As recommended by Jane Eastoe’s book ‘Peonies – Beautiful Varieties for Home and Garden’)

Common reasons for failure to bloom

• Planting too deep
• Recent planting
• Too much shade, they need all the weather – frost, sun, etc.
• Poor drainage
• Lack of nourishment
• Lack of moisture at flowering time or the previous autumn
• Frost damage
• Old age

As you can see, they truly are a royal bloom and rightly so.