Paeonia

"missing species"

Species listed in our main printed list but not found below, have already sold out.

Paeonia cambesedessii

This is a wonderful Majorcan endemic, restricted to the limestone ridges of the north of the island and now considered rare and endangered.

In gardens it displays none of the fickle temperament that its restricted range and rarity might imply. It makes glossy green leaves with purple undersides, as the pale pink flowers are produced, early in the year, usually from February onwards.

The doom merchants will tell you that it is not hardy, but I neither support, nor even believe this, it grows perfectly well here, despite being frosted and frozen regularly. Even when the seed pods were coated in ice, they set viable seed 6 months later.

We only ever seem to have a limited number of plants. The tubers of this species are naturally smaller than many paeonies.

Paeonia cambesedessiipaecamcam	£37.50		1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Large view

Paeonia caucasica

This is the Caucasian member of the mascula complex, with decorative sage-coloured, green foliage, that lacks hairs. The underside is shiny purple-red.

The flowers open in April here and are sumptuous open bowl-shaped goblets of intense rosy-red to red-pink.

These plants are propagations from a seed-grown stock, itself raised from material originally found in the Daba Forest in Georgia. Mature plants just approaching their first flowering.

Paeonia caucasicapaecaucau	£22.50		1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Large view

Paeonia emodi

This was raised, by division, from plants passed originally from Highdown, the old garden of Sir Frederick Stern.

Superb great white chalices with a central boss of yellow anthers. One of the most stunning and growable of the white Paeonies. These are large, plants, fully capable of flowering in their first year although this is never assured after transplanting.

Paeonia emodipaeemoemo	£30.00		1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Large view

Paeonia kesrouanensis

Stems from 40-60cm tall clothed in lovely glabrous, biternate leaves. The foliage is in fact further cut to give 12-15 lobes in all. The flowers are each about 10cm across with rounded 6cm long petals of rich rose pink forming a bowl around the central boss of sherbet yellow stamens, which itself surrounds the crimson style.

Paeonia kesrouanensis was discovered by J. Thiebaut and named in 1936 but it has hardly been seen in cultivation since then no doubt because of the volatility of its native haunts in the garigue of limestone mountains in Lebanon and adjacent Syria.

Early ripening, expect delivery of this ahead of the other species

Paeonia mascula mascula

The true plant and not some mis-named hybrid! 12cm purple flowers, with purple filaments, in April. The sharply pointed glaucous leaves are glabrous on the underside, just as they should be.

The parents were raised from Tbilissi B.G. seed. Flowered mature plants.

Paeonia mlokosewitschii

The wonderful Caucasian species, now very rare in the wild, but more in danger from wild hybridisation than from man.

Lovely large, pale lemon-yellow bowls with a large central boss in deep gold. There is just no other species that is like it.

Easy but very slow, so that these mature plants, although not as large as many Paeonia would be at this age, have taken several years of patient cultivation. Our own stock oversold and will need time to recover but, despite the price, we could not resist getting these in when offered them by a top grower. Few.

Paeonia mlokosewitschiipaemlomlo	£49.50		1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Large view

Paeonia officinalis

A very desirable plant with divided blue-green leaves and superb, large, bowl-shaped flowers of stunning bright pink.

This is the true species and not the so-called officinalis of the garden-centre trade, which is an old, often diseased, compound hybrid. The true species is rather slow to make size but these plants, grown from wild collected Croatian seed, are probably large enough to flower.

A rare but highly desirable plant for a well-drained fertile soil in half shade.

Paeonia officinalis banatica

A very desirable plant with divided blue-green leaves and superb, large, bowl-shaped flowers of stunning bright pink.

Again I stress that this is the true species officinalis and not the hybrid, so-called officinalis of the garden-centre trade. The true plant is rather slow to make size but these plants grown from seed of our 1982 collection, are large enough.

A rare but highly esteemed early-flowering plant for a well-drained fertile soil in half shade.

Paeonia ruprechtiana

Originally from Tbilissi Botanic Gardens, this has attractive purple-brown foliage, which appears in mid-March along with the large, bright pink-purple flowers.

After flowering the stems elongate to 35cm as the foliage fades to green. A little-known Caucasian endemic.

Paeonia steveniana

Sometimes called wittmanniana nudicarpa; the situation surrounding the precise naming of many of these rare, narrow endemic Caucasian Paeonies is complex and poorly understood.

The plants offered are from a seed collection made near Bakuriania, S. Georgia. Some have reddish stems and leaves, some green, all have large, palest pink to almost white flowers with a central golden boss, none are anything but superb!

Paeonia tenuifolia flora plena

A very different plant indeed, a selection of the species, rather than a hybrid.

Expect very finely divided, almost dill-like leaves, (given a touch of descriptive license!) above which are borne deep blood-red, fully-filled flowers usually with two complete sets of petals.

Paeonia tenuifolia flora plenapaetenflo	£29.50		1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Vegetative divisions of flowering size. Naturally smaller and of a different structure to the other species. Generally ready earlier - Sept-Oct. Large view