PEONIES
These outrageously beautiful blooms are popping open all over Hampton Roads right now. A garden favorite, who doesn’t love the low maintenance, ruffly big flowers of a peony? These blooms are the quintessential wedding bouquet flower, so remember to cut the blooms and bring them inside for colorful indoor vases. Peonies come in several varieties: Tree peonies, Herbaceous peonies and a cross of the two -- Itoh peonies.
Herbaceous peonies are the most well known type of peony and produce beautiful cut flowers. These deciduous perennial peonies die back to the ground every winter and re-emerge each spring. They grow in part sun but benefit from some afternoon shade here in Hampton Roads. Most prefer neutral to slightly alkaline soil and good drainage is essential. The flower stems may not be strong enough to keep the often heavy, flamboyant flowers upright so we recommend staking these peonies. These low maintenance shrubs are deer proof. Choose from these varieties: Hawaiian Coral, Pink Parfait, Primevere, Sea Shell, Shirley Temple, Paul Wild, Miss America, Do Tell, Bowl of Beauty Karl Rosenfield, and Velvet Splendor.
Tree peonies are not exactly trees, in fact they are long-lived, hardy deciduous shrubs. We recommend planting them in full sun to part shade. They can tolerate some light shade but the plants may begin to grow towards the light. Their woody structure allows them to support beautiful dinner sized plate blooms. After blooming, they provide structure in the garden with deep green leaves in summer and bronze-purple foliage in fall. These peonies grow between 3-7 feet tall. Choose from orange, red and yellow varieties.
Itoh peonies are a cross of the green foliage and exotic blooms of the tree peony and the seasonal growing habit of herbaceous peonies. Itoh peonies are grown for their huge, beautiful blooms and lush green foliage. Historically, Itohs were challenging to grow and thus hard to find and rather expensive. But that’s all changed. A mature plant may produce 50 or more dinner plate size flowers on strong, short stems that do not requiring staking. These peonies are more compact in size and grow 2.5 feet tall - 3 feet wide. With dinner-plate sized flowers, a compact shape, deer resistance and low maintenance, what’s not to love about these beauties? Choose from these varieties: Cora Louise, Morning Lilac, Dandy Keiko, Scarlet Heave, Paeonia Singing in the Rain, Paeonia Lollipop, Paeonia Magical Mystery Tour, Paeonia Scrumdidleumptious, Paeonia Berry Garcia and Paeonia Magical Mystery Tour.