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Paeonia suffruticosa |
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| | After six years in the garden |
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| | early spring |
| Common name |
tree peony |
| Family |
paeoniaceae |
| Life cycle |
shrub (Z4) |
| Flowers |
red/white (May-June) |
| Size |
3-4' |
| Light |
sun-part shade |
I'd been eyeing up tree peonies for long enough - a few years ago, I finally shelled out and got one. A local farmers market had several for sale, and I chose one labeled as 'Shima-Nishiki', a red-and-white two-tone cultivar. It had already done its blooming, so I had to trust the label - which turned out to be trust misplaced. The flower is in fact a royal purple - which isn't half bad, either. But what I've come to realize since the purchase is that the flowers are only a small part of the story - the whole plant is an asset to our garden, with elegantly shaped, cool-colored foliage through the season, interesting knobbly trunk, burgundy leaf buds in winter... I hope I placed it in an acceptable location - it will only receive morning sun, whereas it prefers full sun. We'll see...
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| | Budding with promise, early May |
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| | Just a few days now... |
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| | Late November: the trunk is bare, but burgundy buds already show their promise for next season |
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| | Stark appearance in mid-winter |
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| | New acquisition: 'Taiyo'. Nice, but it got done in by a drought the year after it arrived |
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We left this plant behind in our Pennsylvania garden (and wish it well); we don't grow it in Houston. One or more images of this plant are included in my stock photo catalog About my plant portraits
PlantLinks to other web pages about Paeonia suffruticosa
Visitors to this page have left the following comments| Jen | May 04, 2009 | I have peony envy and wish I could grow them in my z8b garden but I am much to far south. You will get many , many years of beauty and enjoyment from yours if you have sited them appropriately. Good luck! |
| jane | Feb 23, 2011 | Beautiful!!
but well, mine do better in a light-shade garden in z5/6 than in full sun.. so, one never knows, maybe it depends on which cultivar you have.. |
| Mike Mauro | Jan 03, 2013 | Tree peonies do not prefer full sun. They like to be hidden from midday direct sun. Morning sun is perfect, or mottled shade from a nearby tree.
Thanks Mike - I've updated my page slightly. For what it's worth, most resources say full sun - part shade. I've seen them planted in exposed locations in both private and public gardens, so at least in our zone 6 area full sun should be OK. Certainly ours seems to be doing nicely in morning sun. |
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