Perfect peonies

There are three basic types of peony and each has a great deal to offer in terms of gorgeous fragrant blooms, says Anne Swithinbank, as she reveals her top picks

- Anne Swithinbank

AS spring changes to summer, herbaceous peonies hold us spellbound with their sumptuous, usually fragrant blooms, held on mature, well-grown plants. The showy doubles are like big frothy desserts, with names to match like ‘Peaches and Cream’, ‘Raspberry Sundae’ and ‘Pink Parfait’. Singles and semi-doubles are great for pollinating insects and top-notch as cut blooms.

It’s not all about flowers, either, as glowing pinkish-red new growth complements spring bulbs, and peony buds are bewitching, especially when they split to reveal the colors inside. Flowers demand to be visited daily, as their shapes and shades change with maturity, and after flowering many peonies produce structural seed pods and a blush of red leaf tints in autumn.

Three basic types

Garden peonies divide into three basic types. Tree peonies are deciduous, maintain a woody structure above ground, and are spring flowering with an awesome color range. Herbaceous peonies (most cultivars of Paeonia lactiflora) die back in autumn, to a crown just below ground level and grow again every spring. A relatively new group, called Intersectional or Itoh peonies (after Toichi Itoh, who launched their breeding in 1948), are a cross between tree and herbaceous peonies.

Compact and floriferous