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One of the first peonies I added to my nursery's peony collection was 'Little Red Gem' and ever since I saw it bloom the following spring I have been telling people to consider adding this or other P. tenuifolia hybrids to their gardens.
I use the term tenuifolia hybrid to describe a peony that was created by crossing the species peony P. tenuifolia (commonly called the Fernleaf Peony) with another species peony - usually P. lactiflora but in some cases other species such as P. officinalis. The resulting hybrid peony exhibits a unique combination of the characteristics of each parent.
These peonies are almost a class unto themselves. I have been told on more than one occasion that they don't look like peonies but more like poppies. I'm not too sure I would agree with this but suffice it to say that they have a very unique appearance and come into flower well before the more well known lactiflora peonies.
Here we grow several cultivars including the following:
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'Little Red Gem'
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Though each of the above is a very distinct peony they all share a few common characteristics. The most important of these being that they all bloom very early in the peony season - certainly well before the lactifloras and before most of the other hybrids. Adding a tenuifolia hybrid to the border is a sure way to begin the peony season much earlier.
A second equally important common characteristic is the unusual foliage. Never underestimate the importance of choosing a peony with good foliage, as we will be looking at the foliage much longer than the flowers!
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'Laddie'
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The foliage of this group of peonies is somewhere between that of a traditional lactiflora peony and the needle like foliage of the so called fern leaf peony or P. tenuifolia - that is to say that it is well dissected and very distinct. (a good photo of the parent fern leaf foliage can be found in the gallery section of the Heartland Peony Society website at www.peonies.org)
Though the foliage of the parent P. tenuifolia is very attractive, it does tend to die off early in the season in areas with hot summers. The tenuifolia hybrids however tend to keep their foliage much longer, meaning that they remain respectable members of the flowerbed for almost the entire summer.
Very early blooming and interesting long lasting foliage alone are reasons to grow these hybrids but add to that the fact that they are practically impervious to inclement spring winds and rains makes them an even better investment.
In addition to the above common characteristics, all the cultivars mentioned above have single flowers in shades of red or pink. But here the similarities stop.
'Early Scout' on the has deep burgundy flowers and barely attains 60 cm in height. The flowers of 'Laddie' and 'Merry Mayshine' are much larger than the others. The flowers of 'Laddie' could be described as almost orange red while those of 'Merry Mayshine' are scarlet. 'Little Red Gem' on the other hand could be called red only for a fleeting moment as the flowers are more aptly described as deep pink fading prettily as the flowers age.
Though none of the peonies mentioned so far are particularly fragrant nor do they have more than a very occasional side bud, 'Smouthi' on the other hand has both fragrance and side buds making it an even more attractive choice.
I often get frustrated with these plants because I find they do not sell as well as I would expect such great plants to sell. I have discovered however that they are not very photogenic and because they are not commonly found in gardens, many people are not familiar with them.
So a word of advice… Don't judge them by the pictures you have seen, seek them out in botanical or collector's gardens very early in the peony season and see for yourself what wonderful harbingers of spring they can be.
Lindsay D'Aoust
email: .
phone: 450.458.2759 fax: 450.458.0253
La Pivoinerie D'Aoust,
P.O. Box 220, Hudson Heights,
QC J0P 1J0, Canada