Ithaca Journal Article: Pretty Peonies

Pretty Peonies
By Mary Hirshfeld

Peonies are a widely distributed group of plants, the 30 or so species that make up the genus occurring primarily in mountainous regions throughout central and southern Europe, China, Japan, and the northwestern United States. They have a rich association with human culture throughout China where they have long been valued as both medicinal and ornamental plants. By the 18th century, many garden forms of both Paeonia lactiflora and the woody Paeonia suffruticosa were grown in Chinese gardens. In a recent taxonomic revision of the genus, Chinese botanists have determined that many of the forms of P. suffruticosa previously classified as naturally occurring variants are actually cultivated forms selected centuries ago by gardeners with an eye for improved form or unusual color.

In the United States, herbaceous peonies quickly found favor as durable, easily transported garden plants, their tough fleshy roots traveling well from garden to garden as the population moved west. Arriving on the cut flower market in 1884, their size, fragrance and sumptuous forms quickly endeared them to prospective purchasers. As demand increased, growers experimented with post-harvest methods that would allow them to store cut stems, thereby extending the peony cut-flower season. Experiments with cold storage utilized blocks of ice to keep stems cool. Cut stems in tight bud could be stored for up to 6 weeks before being sold as cut flowers. The bloom most valued as cut flowers were the fully double lush heavy-flowered P. lactiflora hybrids which, although lovely in a vase, are not the best garden peonies, as their stems break readily under the weight of the oversized flowers.

For many years these large double-flowered hybrids dominated the cut flower market, and were the most popular choices for garden planting. However, around the turn of the century, A. P. Saunders, a chemistry professor at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY, began a breeding program that would bring dramatic changes in color and form to the garden peony. By 1905, Saunders had amassed an extensive collection of species peonies which he began to hybridize in 1915. He used the popular P. lactiflora as a parent, eventually developing 15,000 hybrids, many with leaf forms and flower colors not seen before in the genus. Despite the novelty and creativity of his work, Saunders hybrids, mostly single or semi-double flowers, failed to be widely accepted commercially. The large lactiflora hybrids continued to dominate the landscape. Luckily, after his death his stock plants made it safely into the hands of other peony enthusiasts who not only preserved them from extinction but also continued his hybridization work. Saunders hybrids and their descendants are wonderful garden plants, often featuring durable, strong stems, bright or unusual pastel flower colors, and attractive finely-textured foliage. 'Athena', with its single, creamy buff, pink-centered flowers; 'White Innocence', an unusually tall (5') late-blooming single white; and 'Echo', a delicate pale lavender single, can all be seen in the peony garden at Plantations. Both David Reath, a veterinarian working in Vulcan, Michigan, and Allan Rogers, owner of Caprice Farms Nursery in Sherwood, Oregon, have continued to work with the Saunders hybrids they obtained when the Clinton NY nursery closed. They have introduced several wonderful sturdy garden hybrids as a result. Ithaca has its own small claim to fame in the annals of peony history as the home of Colonel J.C. Nicholls, who introduced a number of worthy garden plants. The best known of these is 'Mrs. Livingston Farrand' named to honor Daisy Farrand, a highly skilled gardener, and the wife of Cornell's fourth president.

The herbaceous peonies that are the best garden performers usually have smaller flowers than those preferred for the cut flower trade. Peony flowers are divided into several forms based on the degree of doubleness the flower has assumed. Single flowers have a tuft of fertile golden stamens and green carpels surrounded by a row of five or more colored petals. Semi-doubles have this fertile center surrounded by several rows of petals. Japanese flowers begin to lose the fertile central components which flatten and become sterile, petal-like "staminodes," which form a dense central tuft surrounded by five or more large petals, often called "guard petals." Anemone flowers have the central tuft of staminodes very tightly filled, with the flowers being almost double. Double flowers have become sterile and are entirely composed of staminodes and larger petals. In general, single, semi-double, and Japanese flower types can be counted on to stand up well to Ithaca's weather-they are light enough to permit the stems to withstand typical May thunderstorms without flopping over or breaking below the flower.

Most tree peonies, although a bit fussier culturally, are durable plants that display their flowers well through moderate wind and rain and offer color combinations not currently available in herbaceous selections. A. P. Saunders included tree peonies in his extensive hybridization program, using the yellow-flowered P. lutea, red-flowered P. delavayi and several cultivated forms of P. suffrutiocsa to produce an array of stunning hybrids
Paeonia cv. Savage Splendor with flowers ranging from bright yellow to black-red. The first of these was 'Argosy' with bright yellow flowers, introduced in 1928, followed by 'Banquet' with bicolored strawberry-red and yellow flowers, and 'Age of Gold' with tightly double clear yellow flowers. Saunders went on to introduce more than 70 hybrids including double and single-flowered yellows, ivory and mauve bicolors, dark maroon double and yellows suffused with rich red. Look for 'Age of Gold', 'Black Panther', and 'Savage Splendor' in the peony garden at Plantations.

Throughout his years of tree peony crossing Saunders relied on his assistant William Gratwick who continued this work after Saunders' death in 1953. Gratwick transported stock plants to his estate 'Pavilion' near Geneseo, New York where he worked with New York City artist Nassos Daphnis to develop a series of advanced generation hybrids. These are remarkable for their striking flower colors and attractive fine-textured foliage. 'Gaugain' with yellow flowers marked with a dark red center and red streaks on the petals, and 'Leda' pink with plum tones are both growing at Plantations. One of my favorites is a selection of P. suffruticosa derived from seed Gratwick originally imported from the Chungai Nurseries in Japan. 'Guardian of the Monastery' is a tall-growing vigorous plant that carries delicately tinted ivory and lavender flowers.

One of the most exciting, although still extremely rare and thus costly groups of hybrids are called the "Itohs" in honor of hybridizer Toichi Itoh, or "intersectionals" referring to their parentage involving both tree and herbaceous peonies. In the 1960's Itoh crossed a yellow-flowered tree peony with a double white herbaceous peony and obtained a group of brilliant yellow-flowered plants with a herbaceous habit. These were introduced into the United States in 1974 where they found their way into collector's gardens. 'Yellow Dream', one of these first four is growing happily at Plantations where it puzzles visitors with its bright yellow flowers and tree-peony like foliage held on herbaceous stems. Several peony enthusiasts have made this group this specialty and have expanded the color range to yellow with a red center, white with a purple center and apricot-rose blends.

If you are planning to add peonies to your garden get out and see plants in bloom now so you will remember which ones to order this coming fall. Although peonies can be transplanted in spring, most growers prefer to ship them in the fall since they proceed to quickly establish feeder roots when moved when the fall soil is still warm. They will tend to languish for a season if moved in the spring. Make sure you dig a big planting hole and provide fertile soil or plenty of added compost and set dormant crowns so the pink "eyes" or vegetative beds are no more than 2" below the surface. Plants set too deeply will often refuse to flower. Tree peonies are most frequently propagated by grafting the woody scion onto the root of a herbaceous peony, a labor-intensive process that explains the high cost of named tree peony cultivars. By the time these plants have reached an age to ship, the herbaceous nursery roots have been removed, so just go ahead and set the plant at the same depth it was in the pot or where the soil line indicates it was planted in the nursery. Be patient--peonies are slow to get underway, and the first two years will not yield much horticultural gratification, but year three should begin to provide an indication of your peony's potential, and every year after that things will only get bigger and better!