Peonies have delighted gardeners for thousands of years. A recent RHS Plant Trial aimed to highlight the best cultivars for garden use
The five-year trial at RHS Garden Wisley (2016–2020) included 140 herbaceous species and cultivars, plus 21 intersectional hybrids. Three plants of each were planted and together they created a wave of colour that began in April with citrus-yellow, copper, butterscotch and lilac-pink, and moved on to a confetti mixture of pink, cream and cerise, punctuated by soft coral-pink and lustrous red.
Excellent for ordinary use in appropriate conditions
Available commercially
Essentially stable in form and colour
Have a good constitution
Reasonably resistant to pests and diseases
Peony trial results
Of the 161 herbaceous and
A hybrid plant is the offspring produced by cross-pollinating one specific cultivar with another different cultivar. This process of cross-pollination, rather than pollination between plants of the same cultivar, generally creates stronger, healthier, improved offspring, said to have ‘hybrid vigour’.
hybrid peonies on the trial, 37 were awarded new AGMs, 7 had their previous AGMs re-confirmed, 8 were awarded AGMs following forum discussion and 2 retained their AGMs.
‘Claire de Lune’, ‘Coral Sunset’, ‘Mackinac Grand’, Paeonia emodi, Paeonia veitchii var. woodwardii, ‘Red Charm’, ‘Scarlet O'Hara’, ‘Wakatipu Wonder’
Intersectional hybrids (Itoh peonies)
A plate of Itoh peonies. Top row L-R: 'Lollipop', 'Cora Louise', 'Hillary'. Middle row L-R: 'First Arrival', 'Watermelon Wine', 'Border Charm'. Bottom row L-R: 'Bartzella', 'Norwegian Blush', 'Old Rose Dandy'.
Intersectional hybrids (Itoh peonies) gaining the AGM
P. ‘First Arrival’
P. ‘Morning Lilac’
P. ‘Cora Louise’
P. ‘Watermelon Wine’
Further award winners
Paeonia 'Coral Charm'
Re-confirmed AGMs
P. lactiflora ‘Duchesse de Nemours’
P. officinalis ‘Anemoniflora Rosea’
P. cambessedesii
P. x festiva ‘Rubra Plena’
P. daurica subsp. mlokosewitschii
P. lactiflora ‘Festiva Maxima’
P. ‘Bartzella’
Patio peonies
P. ‘Blaze’
P. lactiflora ‘Midnight Sun’
Additional AGMs after forum discussion
P. ‘Athena’
P. ‘Eliza Lundy’
P. lactiflora ‘Midnight Sun’
P. lactiflora ‘Minnie Shaylor’
P. ‘Unique’
P. ‘Lemon Chiffon’
P. ‘Ma Petite Cherie’
P. ‘White Frost’
Retained AGMs
P. lactiflora ‘Sarah Bernhardt’
P. ‘Coral Charm’
P. 'Monsieur Jules Elie'
The expert's choice
Paeonia lactiflora 'Monsieur Jules Elie'
I adore this later flowering, pink peony because the stunning fragrance seems to change throughout the day
'Monsieur Jules Elie' (Crousse 1888) wasn’t universally popular with the trials panel, although it did manage to retain its AGM. However I adore this later flowering, bombe-shaped pink peony because the stunning fragrance seems to change throughout the day. There are hints of rose, coconut and lemon and the frilly-edged petals seem to develop a silver rim in summer sunlight.
It is tall and the stems do tend to lean. It can also throw some single flowers if conditions get too dry. However, it’s universally admired in my garden when visitors arrive in June. The flowers last well in a vase – if you can bear to cut them!
'Monsieur Jules Elie' is an old double-flowered cultivar that occasionally produces single blooms in dry conditions
I love Japanese peonies too, with their circlet of rounded petals and upright staminodes. Many are red, with almost gilded centres, but the one I fell in love with on the trial was 'Sante Fe' (Auten 1937). The outer petals are a vibrant mid-pink and the middle is a softer blend of pale-pink and white, so it’s easy on the eye. The flowers are smaller than many, but there are plenty of them and I find it less stark than the similar, white-centred 'White Cap' (Winchell 1946).
Notes and further reading
Val Bourne is an award-winning writer, member of the RHS Herbaceous Plant Committee and was a forum member on the Peony Trial. She would like to thank the Chairman, David Foreman, for his help with this article.
This article is an extension of an article by the same author in The Garden magazine, June 2021 edition.
To learn more about this fascinating genus, readPeonies by Claire Austin and visit the links below.
The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.