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The Chinese name for the Peony is "Sho Yo", or "Most Beautiful". Poetry, legend and romance all have the Peony prominently involved.
The fourth month of the Chinese calendar was named "moon of the Peony". When missionary Buddhist monks traveled to Japan, they brought knowledge of the Peony.
The Japanese have always been a flower-loving people and the new flower quickly became a part of their culture. To this day, it is a symbol of prosperity. Originally, it was confined to the possession of the elite and wealthy, so was quickly associated with wealth. If you could afford a Peony in your garden you were, indeed, a rich family.
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From China and Japan one travels to Mount Olympus to find the origin of the name.
According to Greek mythology, the Peony was named for Paeon, a physician. As usual in theGreek myths, Paeon made the mistake of becoming involved with the gods, getting caught up in their personal problems. He helped one in time of trouble, making an enemy of another faction, and was saved from the fate of dying as other mortals, by being turned into a plant. The very same plant Paeon had used to heal the first god.
Seems to me that the god who Paeon had healed was a bit short in the thank you department.
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Legend and superstition have always been close to the Peony. Before Pluto and Mars were healed by Paeon, using the Peony root to cure their wounds during the Trojan wars, legends spoke of the powers of the Peony.
Powerful forces reside in the blossom of a plant that glows in the dark on the night of a full moon. Seeds from certain Peonies emanate a pale light in the darkness. To contain that magic, the roots could only be dug during the night. If one were to disturb a Peony during daylight hours, Woodpeckers would appear and proceed to peck your eyes out.
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Somewhere around 77 AD, Pliny's Natural History gives the first known detailed description of both the plant and it's seeds. Twenty known illnesses were cured by part of the plant. A bit later, Dioscorides wrote a treatise on herbs which included the Peony. That work was used as an almost absolute last word up to and throughout the Middle Ages.
Charlemagne was said to have described an herb as "the friend of physicians and the praise of cooks." That statement probably best characterizes how herbs played such a role in both the kitchen and for medicinal purposes very much an intricate part of everyday life.
Literature depicting an English garden of 1157 describes cultivation of the plant. The hardy border in the garden used Peonies in 1375. In 1884 a woodcut (the first known printed picture in England) illustrated the Peony. Shakespeare makes reference, in "The Taming of the Shrew" in 1603, to "peonied and lilied brims" of a stream.
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During all this history, species and cultivars were bred and cultivation knowledge refined. In the 1800's, the French put a flourish into Peony hybridization. Many new varieties of high quality were introduced during this period. In 1851 Miellez gave us "Festiva Maxima", a hybrid that remains in today's catalogs. Lemoine, just before 1900, was recognized as one of the world's leading hybridizers of Peonies.
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Here in America, Thomas Jefferson was writing about his experiences with Peonies in Virginia in 1771. Around 1850, the Chinese species of Peony were imported and bred with the results of the previous French, English and newer American efforts. Fragrance, good erect growth, hardiness, flower form and variable color were combined, and the demand for Peonies was renewed. A book published in 1959 list 40 pages, double column, of varieties registered with the American Peony Society.
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Bloom colors range from pristine white through pinks, cherries, reds, and corals and near-yellows. Add blushes, blends and bicolor with stamens of gold, or various centers of contrasting colors and the combinations become almost endless. Many blooms will open to one color and then age to a second. Blooms of different ages on the same clump give the appearance of two or more different colored flowers on the same plant. Many are fragrant as an added bonus.
Peony bloom classification keeps shifting through the years. My books from the 50's say 5 flower types, another publication in 1980 says there are eight. A recent article argues with both.
Most people are familiar with the Bomb and the Rose, or fully double forms. I have found three other types of blooms much more pleasing to my eye.
The Single consists of a few broad petals with a center of pollen bearing stamens and seed bearing carpels. Japanese types have the beginning of doubling. In the Anemone, the anthers have disappeared. All are simpler in form and clean of line, giving a grace not found in the heavier Bombs. (That even sounds like something you don't want to stand near.)
Peony foliage can vary considerably in height and appearance. The smaller varieties begin at about fourteen inches. Most will be two to three feet in height. Color can range from a light mint green to dark olive and deep, glossy green. Foliage is unique to each individual plant. During spring, some may emerge a pale green, while others emerge red or a deep burgundy. They all gradually turn green as they mature, but some retain the coloration in the stems for some time. In the fall, some will turn color, adding to their interest. Foliage shape can vary from almost fern-like to the more familiar, broadly oblong.
There are early, mid-season and late blooms of all flower types, so the season can be prolonged by careful selection. Making a decision whether to disbud also affects the length of show. Leave all the buds on to mature and while the flowers progressively become smaller, there are more over a longer period of time. Trim off all but the central bud and you have a showpiece, but it's only one per stem. Unless you intend to grow the seed (they will not come true to form) cut off all expired blooms and discard, allowing that energy to go into the roots.
Healthy Peonies can outlive human beings and sulk with frequent disturbance. Choose your planting site carefully, with the future in mind. Peonies do not reach full beauty until they form sizable clumps. That they will do over a period of time with many sites reported to be 50, 80 and 100 years of age. All were left undisturbed.
Peonies may be super hardy and capable of surviving abuse and neglect while still producing foliage and blooms. However, a bit of preparation can turn average into magnificent. Select a site where they can enjoy plenty of light. They will do well in a little shade. Too much shade and the number as well as size of blossoms is reduced. They will also become leggy in appearance. Keep them away from large trees where they must compete for water and nourishment.
They prefer a somewhat heavy soil, so long as it is well drained. Keep the pH neutral, as they are not fond of acidic soil. Don't skimp on the digging. These plants will eventually reach three feet in diameter. When spacing a multiple planting, allow four to five feet between plants.
Remove soil from the hole and mix liberally with well-composted manure or rich compost. A couple of handfuls of bonemeal in the bottom will help as it breaks down over time. Replace the mixed soil into the hole until a slight dome forms above natural soil level.
Never plant the eyes of the Peony roots deeper than 1-1/2 to 2" deep. Soil settles with time, so the dome will end up level with the soil in a year or two. I always mulch the first year to prevent the heaving and exposure of these large fleshy roots. In early spring, gently and carefully pull the mulch back from the new growth.
Peonies are light feeders. Too much fertilizer in any form, especially ones high in nitrogen, produce negative effects and can injure or kill. Some compost and bonemeal scratched into the soil around the new stems each spring is sufficient.
I find Peonies available at local nurseries and garden centers in Bomb, Rose and occasionally Japanese flower forms in limited selections. Specialty catalogs, richly illustrated, are your best source of information and a place to find your favorite Peony.