Peonies have been grown for thousands of years and were in cultivation in China more than 2000 years ago. The Greeks, Japanese, and Emperor Charlemagne, and 15 century English literature, all mentioned or used Peonies for beauty or medical purposes.
In the United States, Thomas Jefferson mentioned working with and breeding peonies. Peonies are great beauties, very colorful, long-lived, and quite hardy. There may be few landscapes that would not be enhanced with a Peony.
Peony Care & Info
Peonies prefer a sunny, well-drained location. They will tolerate some shade but will bloom more prolifically in the sun. Peonies do not like to compete for moisture and nutrients with large trees or big shrubs. Plant them away from such competition.
They prefer to be planted in a neutral soil pH, with a pH of 6.5 being optimum. Peonies are not heavy users of fertilizer. An application of a slow-release fertilizer every several years should be sufficient. Available as both bareroot and container plants, you’ll find a Peony that’s perfect for you!
Peony won’t need much care or maintenance. Deadhead blooms after they fade (if you’ve not snipped them all for indoor bouquets already), and let the foliage remain on the plant until autumn when the foliage yellows. At this time it is safe to snip the foliage off near the ground and remove the trimmings from the area.
Nature Hills offers a variety of Peonies! While they are all gorgeous and fragrant, here are the top 5 highest rated Peony varieties!
- Deer & Rabbit Resistant
- Full Sun Lovers
- Easy Care & Low Maintenance
- Great Cut Flowers
- Long-Lived & Extremely Cold Hardy
Nature Hills Nursery Top 5 Peony Varieties
#5 Festiva Maxima Peony
Glorious white whipped cream poufs of petals are what make up the Festiva Maxima Peony! Divinely fragrant and accented with hot pink to reddish edges in the centers of each enormous double bloom, adds dreamy elegance!
These ruffled wonders are a gleaming gardener's favorite in the garden and as cut flowers for bouquets! The creamy dreamy white blooms are bridal quality!
#4 Coral Charm Peony
Gorgeous bowl-shaped petals surround a frilly golden yellow center of these coral-hued silky petals. These are lightly fragrant and have long-lasting blooms that have won awards for their exceptional color! This is a perfect mixture of orange and pink, the blooms fade to a delicate hue as they age.
Perfect cut flowers and vibrant garden addition to the bed or border to attract pollinators galore! The inward curving petals are lovely landing pads for bees and butterflies!
#3 Bartzella Itoh Peony
Yellow is a rare color for Peonies and the Bartzella Itoh Peony is a buttery soft shade of this sunny color! Double blooms open to display an orange eye with yellow stamen for a lovely bit of contrast! These are a unique hybrid cross of a Tree Peony and Herbaceous Peony, the ferny foliage and larger blooms herald their Tree Peony parentage.
Just like the color of the petals, these blooms have a light lemony scent! Long-lived and cold-hardy, it’s no wonder this unique Peony has earned the #3 spot on our list!
#2 Sarah Bernhardt Peony
Creamy pink that fades at the edges of each voluminous petal of these baby pink blooms that are gorgeous and extremely fragrant! Named for the French actress, these huge blossoms take on a two-tone effect as the petals fade as layer upon layer of petals opens to reveal pompoms of lovely blooms.
Grown for over a hundred years, Sarah Bernhardt is more disease-resistant than most and extremely cold hardy and long-lived as its cousins and forms rounded bunches of foliage that look handsome for the rest of the growing season.
#1 Kansas Peony
Bold double blooms of ruffled silky petals, the Kansas Peony takes the number one spot on our list because of its heavenly fragrance and bold pink hue that’s so dark it’s almost a scarlet red! Strong stems and glossy green foliage, these are garden must-haves that add bright pops of color to the landscape that won’t fade in the sun!
Strong and durable, these plants live for over 50 years and are among the easiest to care for and the highest in disease resistance available! They have everything you could hope for in an ornamental flowering perennial!
Honorable Mentions:
Butter Bowl - Bowl-shaped blooms with baby pink outer petals a creamy buttery yellow inner petals
Shirley Temple - A smaller plant with loads of smaller blooms in baby pink and white! As cute as the child actress it’s named after.
Karl Rosenfield - So dark pink it’s almost scarlet red, this large double bloom appears to have stacked layers of ruffled petals!
Red Charm - An unusual red double blooms are dramatic blooms that won’t fade!
Raspberry Charm - Early blooming bowl-shaped blooms that are long-lasting in bright raspberry red with yellow centers!
You will never be sorry for planting several Peonies in your garden and landscape! With fragrance, color and silky petals plus lovely foliage, you won’t go wrong! Order your flowering ornamental flowering perennial plants from NatureHills.com today and get your garden blooming with help from our experienced and knowledgeable horticulture staff!
Happy Planting!
