North America has two native species of peonies. California peony (P. californica) is only found in the Pacific coastal mountains of California and Mexico, while Brown’s, or western, peony (P. browni) can be found from California to Montana.
The peony has its roots in North America.
The only genus in the family Paeoniaceae, Paeonia contains the blooming plant known as the peony or paeony. Asia, Europe, and western North America are the native home of the peony.
Where are peony grown?
Asia, Europe, and western North America are the native habitats of peonies. The peony was once regarded as the national flower of China (it is now officially the plum blossom). In the seventh century BCE, Tang Dynasty citizens in China started cultivating peonies in the royal courts. Early in the 11th century, Japan became a popular destination for them, and in the 18th century, France and England followed. Peonies started becoming increasingly well-liked in the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In fact, the peony replaced the zinnia as Indiana’s official state flower in 1957.
Chinese or Japanese peonies?
Chinese tree peonies are a specialty of ours at Cricket Hill Garden. Because overall we think Chinese tree peonies are more varied in form, color, and fragrance than their Japanese cousins, we prefer them. The open flower patterns, upright growth habit, and vivid colors that distinguish Japanese tree peony, however, are something that every gardener with an interest in tree peonies cannot not but enjoy.
No native tree peony species exist in Japan. According to historians, the tree peonies, or botan in Japanese, first appeared in Japan in the eighth century CE. It is generally agreed by historians that Buddhist monks—whether Chinese or Japanese—were in charge of delivering tree peonies to Japan. In this setting, tree peonies were viewed as significant medicinal plants rather than beautiful garden plants. The massive transfer of goods and concepts from China to Japan included tree peonies.
Some sources attribute the first introduction of tree peony to Japan to the great Buddhist scholar and monk Kb-Daishi.
Tree peony were cultivated as attractive plants in temple and court gardens throughout the following few hundred years, but it wasn’t until the Edo era (1603 to 1868) that their cultivation spread widely. The introduction of grafting as the primary method of multiplication during this time is primarily to blame for the rapid expansion of tree peony farming. The cities of Tokyo and Kyoto, as well as the western coastal prefectures of Niigata and Shimane, became the primary centers of cultivation and dissemination.
Hyakken’s peonies
Utagawa Shigenobu’s 1866 woodblock print shows tree peonies in a well-known public garden in Tokyo.
Similar to China, tree peonies have deep cultural value in Japan. Tree peonies are a symbol of good fortune and a righteous and noble attitude in Japanese poetry and visual art.
Japanese tree peonies first appeared in western European botanical gardens in the middle of the 19th century. By the 1890s, a number of sizable nurseries with headquarters in Japan were shipping a significant amount of tree peony to both Europe and the US.
The Yokohama Nursery was renowned for its extensive collection of lilies, irises, and tree peonies. From the early 1900s to the eve of World War 2, this nursery sent goods to the United States.
A detail from a 1920s Yokohama Nursery catalog with gorgeous printing. The varieties displayed are, in order, “Peak of Mt. Fuji, also known as Fuji-no-mime, and Kasane Lion, also known as Kasane-jishi.
A side note: For those who think tree peonies are pricey, take into account that a rare book trader will charge you $5,500 for a vintage Yokohama nursery brochure. By comparison, the real Japanese tree peony on our website, which start at $89, are inexpensive!
There has been a lot of misunderstanding about the proper identification of Japanese tree peony among nursery experts and collectors since they were first brought to the United States more than a century ago. Grower John C. Wister expressed his anger in his 1962 book, The Peonies:
“Our difficulties [in correctly classifying Japanese tree peony cultivars] have been caused by some Japanese nurseryman’s negligence or dishonesty. From 1910 to 1925, the main exporters would provide a collection of fifty types under fifty different labels, and all but two or three plants would turn out to be identical. The very same company would provide fifty plants of a unique white kind, and the blooms would open in shades of pink, crimson, and purple.
Since then, unfortunately, little has changed; imported Japanese tree peony continue to frequently have incorrect labels. Whether they lived up to their reputation or not, Japanese tree peonies played a significant role in the hybridization of tree peonies by breeders like Prof. Arthur Saunders and Nassos Daphnis. To develop the stunning yellow and apricot tree peonies like High Noon and Marchioness, these brilliant hybridizers mixed Japanese tree peonies with the species tree peony P. lutea.
Some Japanese tree peony varieties created in the 19th century are still available today. The problem of mislabeling has been less serious as more Japanese tree peony are propagated in the US. We at Cricket Hill Garden promise that every Japanese tree peony we sell is authentic. Here are some of our favorite cultivars of Japanese tree peonies.
called “Black Dragon Brocade” A very dark and highly valued cultivar is kokuryu nisjiki.
The “Seven Gods of Fortune” One of our most colorful dark pink Japanese tree peonies is Shin Shichifukujin.
Perhaps the brightest red tree peony in our entire collection is ‘The Sun’ Taiyo.
Japanese tree peonies frequently exhibit a number of morphological characteristics in both their flower appearance and their development habits. This homogeneity is likely a product of both the Japanese tree peonies’ relatively small genetic ancestry and the producers’ aesthetic choices. Japanese tree peonies commonly have huge blooms, 8–12 in diameter, upward-facing, open semi-double flower shapes, and intensely vivid colors, yet they are frequently less fragrant than Chinese tree peonies. When mature, most shrubs are 4 tall and wide. Compared to its Chinese counterparts, Japanese tree peonies are more erect and less bushy. Many of the highly divided leaves have a bluish green hue.
This plant serves as a good example of how Japanese tree peony tend to grow straight rather than bushy.
The majority of Japanese tree peony are semi-double, however there are some significant outliers to this rule. A few types are considered fine doubles, while a large group of semi-double blossoms are referred to as jishi or lion shape. There blooms are believed to resemble a lion’s mane, which is disheveled and tangled.
Queen of Flowers
Rare Japanese tree peony called Kao blooms completely twice.
Another double form Japanese tree peony is Fusotsukasa, which means “Monitor of the Palace at Sunrise.”
Black Jade Lion
A variety called Hakuojishi is reported to blossom in the shape of a lion’s main.
According to our observations, the bulk of Japanese tree peonies bloom in the middle of the season, following our Chinese tree peonies but blooming before the lutea hybrids. Around June 1st, the Japanese tree peonies at Cricket Hill Garden often reach their peak bloom.
The Kan Botan, often known as “Winter Blooming” tree peonies, are an intriguing subgroup of Japanese tree peonies. Depending on the variety, this type of tree peony blooms in the spring and then reblooms from November to January. The plant only produces a few leaves and much tiny flowers in the winter. It is thought that these unusual varieties date back to the 1700s.
In Japan, straw mats are used to preserve tree peonies that bloom in the winter. At this picture, a tree peony in a park in Tokyo is flowering in December.
It appears that Winter Blooming Tree Peonies were created to thrive in particular temperatures in Japan. We are unaware of any American growers who have been successful in cultivating Kan Botan.
Toichi Itoh, a Japanese plant hybridizer, was the first to successfully cross a tree peony with a herbaceous peony in the 20th century, giving rise to a third kind of peony known as an intersectional peony.
One last thing about herbaceous peonies. Additionally, only few herbaceous peonies are indigenous to Japan.
Herbaceous peonies are not valued as highly as tree peonies in Japan as they are in China.
Because the first herbaceous peonies to flower in the anemone form were initially imported from Japan, anemone form herbaceous peonies are frequently referred to as “Japanese” form in America.
The cultural significance of tree peony in Japan and how they are portrayed in Japanese visual art will be covered in a future blog post.
Do peony grow naturally in California?
Native to Mexico (northern Baja California), the California peony has a distribution in southwestern California (Los Angeles, Monterey, Orange, Riverside, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura Counties), though it is unknown where it is distributed there.
[6] It typically thrives as an understory plant between sea level and 1500 m elevation on dry hillsides in coastal sage scrub and chaparral habitats in the coastal mountains of Southern and Central California. [1]
Do peony grow naturally in New England?
A popular and very spectacular garden plant in North America, the common peony is a plant that is native to southern Europe. Since it rarely leaves the garden in New England, it has been gathered in Massachusetts and Vermont. It thrives in light shade. It has split leaves with smooth margins (as opposed to the Chinese peony, which has finely serrated leaves). Look for docile ants swarming the blossom buds of this plant, which leak sweet nectar. Prenolepis imparis is the scientific name for these ants, and they are known as “honeypot ants” because the workers can store the nectar in their inflated abdomens and later feed it to their sisters in the colony.
Do peony grow in Japan?
Some sources attribute the original introduction of tree peony to Japan to the great Buddhist scholar and monk Kb-Daishi.
Tree peony were cultivated as attractive plants in temple and court gardens throughout the following few hundred years, but it wasn’t until the Edo era (1603 to 1868) that their cultivation spread widely. The introduction of grafting as the primary method of multiplication during this time is primarily to blame for the rapid expansion of tree peony farming. Tokyo, Kyoto, as well as the western coastal prefectures of Niigata and Shimane, were the primary centers of cultivation and propagation.
A side note: For those who think tree peonies are pricey, take into account that a rare book trader will charge you $5,500 for a vintage Yokohama nursery brochure. By comparison, the real Japanese tree peony on our website, which start at $79, are inexpensive!
There has been a lot of misunderstanding about the proper identification of Japanese tree peony among nursery experts and collectors since they were first brought to the United States more than a century ago. This annoyance was expressed by the grower John C. Wister in his 1962 book, The Peonies:
Jolly Longevity
A cultivar from the renowned peony-growing island of Shimane is called Shimane Chojuraku.
The Kan Botanor “Winter Blooming” tree peonies are a fascinating subgroup of Japanese tree peonies. Depending on the variety, this type of tree peony blooms in the spring and then reblooms from November to January. The plant only produces a few leaves and much tiny flowers in the winter. It is thought that these unusual varieties date back to the 1700s.
This wonderful movie depicts peonies in winter bloom in the Hakozaki Shrine flower garden, a Shinto shrine in Fukuoka City, Kyushu, Japan.