In the summer of 2005 Horsford’s received an intriguing email from a peony grower in China. The writer wondered if we would be interested in purchasing peonies directly from China. He sent us color photos of named varieties.

As it happened I had had a conversation about the Chinese flower market just a few weeks earlier with a cut-flower grower/supplier at a garden show at Winterthur. The peony has played an important role in Chinese culture for centuries, particularly for its medicinal
qualities. Over the past few years a market has developed for peonies as cut flowers and garden plants. However getting plants that are true to name is a problem. When peonies were dug for medicinal purposes the roots were replanted without keeping varieties separated, and a major effort is now underway to sort and correctly label the cultivars.

In September Horsford’s purchased two each of 12 varieties. The majority has been planted in a test garden near the “new” old barn across from the iris/daylily display gardens. A few were planted in nursery pots to test how well they’ll do in pot production.

We’ll be observing:
1) if they are true to their labels
2) how hardy they are
3) how quickly they multiply
4) growing habits
5) bloom time and length of bloom
6) vase life

The plants that meet all of our criteria for a hardy Vermont plant will be propagated for sale for home gardens. Our guess is that their bloom time will be early June. Our hope is that this wacky winter, with the prolonged warm spells followed by extreme cold and no snow cover, did not have an adverse effect on the newly planted roots. We invite you all to come and observe this experiment.

While waiting for the new Chinese herbaceous peonies to come on-stream we continue to
offer a nicely diverse selection of classic to new cultivars in our potted perennials area. You may want to try some of the following highly recommended peonies that are new to us this
season. All are hardy to zone 2 and need full sun:

P. ‘Abalone Red’ Graceful, single, coral-pink Blossoms with sunny yellow stamens adorn the dark green foliage. Early blooming and slightly fragrant. Zone 2, Ht. 26”.

P. ‘Coral Sunset’ One of the new coral peonies. It has deep coral semi-double blooms with overtones of rose and deep yellow stamens. An early bloomer and slightly fragrant. Zone 2, Ht. 28”.

P. ‘Coral Supreme’ Salmon-coral, cup-form blossoms atop beautiful green foliage. Early
blooming. Zone 2, Ht. 36”.

P. ‘Green Lotus’ A unique, cactus-flowering dahlia type, single white peony with striking
lime green streaking and soft pink highlights. Early blooming. Zone 2, Ht. 28”.

P. ‘Miss America’ An American Peony Society Gold Medal Selection with layers of snowwhite petals opening to expose golden yellow stamens interspersed with white petals. A profuse early bloomer. Zone 2, Ht. 36”.

P. ‘Paula Fay’ Another American Peony Society Gold Medal Selection with deep, shocking pink petals having a wavy texture. It is early blooming, with an excellent plant habit and dark green foliage. Zone 2, Ht. 36”.

P. ‘Spiffy’ A Japanese blossom type with fuchsia- red and soft pink-cream petaloids
surrounded by matching fuchsia-red petals. Mid-season and fragrant. Zone 2, Ht. 28”.

There is also a new tree peony, Paeonia suffruticosa ‘Hoki’, that has lipstick red, semi-double blooms in late spring. Include it in your shrub border with a dark green evergreen as a backdrop. Zone 4, Ht. 4-5’.