Come look at the photo gallery I created of the beautiful peonies at my farm!

I simply adore tree peonies and have been collecting them for quite a long time.  This was an especially good year for my tree peony border and even though their flowers have faded, I thought I’d give you a glimpse of their extraordinary blooms.  There is an entire photo gallery I captioned on the next page!

The Chinese have been cultivating tree peonies, or mudan, for 1,500 years.  But these fabulous flowering shrubs are still a novelty in American gardens because Chinese garden nurseries have been off-limits to gardeners in the West, until recently.  Close relatives of the familiar herbaceous peonies, which die back to the ground every fall, tree peonies, on the other hand, are woody-stemmed.  In addition to producing the garden’s largest, most glorious flowers, the plants are also hardy and attractive shrubs.

The Japanese were introduced to tree peonies when seafaring monks brought them to Japan more than 1,000 years ago.  The Japanese developed their own hybrids.  Many are extremely fragrant, and some bear flowers up to twelve inches in diameter.  A third group of tree peonies was created in the United States during the twentieth century. Known as American hybrids, their blossoms are generally smaller than other peonies, but the colors are extraordinary.  The wonderful thing about the three different groups is that they have different blooming periods.  In my garden in Westchester County, NY, the Chinese mudan bloom first in mid May, followed by the Japanese hybrids, about two weeks later.  My American hybrids bloom last, giving me a full month of incredible blooms, some as large as dinner plates.  And each year the prolific peonies produce more and more gorgeous flowers.

I took these photos with my Canon.

VIEW MY ALBUM

Comments

[jon beattie]

Wow they are beautiful. How do you keep them up ? mine always droop as soon as the bud starts to open

Thanks for sharing!

[Jan Erickson]

Hi Martha, Your peony trees and the gallery of photos of the peony blossoms are absolutely stunning. The colors and sizes of the blossoms are magnificent. How lucky you were that the weather cooperated this year to produce such beautiful results. It's really great that you were able to save some from Turkey Hill and that they adapted so well to your fantastic farm. I love all of the peonies, but my favorites were the true mauve and the irridescent. Thank you so much for sharing. I would love to have some of your warm weather. It's still in the 50's here in the Puget Sound area with snow in the Cascades. Jan

[Isle Dance]

So pretty!

[Marie]

Martha, these are beyond charming! My blood pressure just dropped several numbers after viewing these lush flowers. What a pleasure. Thank you so much!

[Shirley Hawksby]

Your peonies are absolutely beautiful!! I have quite a few myself and besides lilacs, they are my favorite flowers!! There is nothing like a large container of peonies in the middle of my dining room table. Thanks so much for sharing!!

[Bet]

Your photos have inspired me to try adding tree peonies to my garden--they are just gorgeous.

[Paula]

Very pretty !!! I could smell them from here !! :)

[Cass]

They really are perfection. Beautiful shots.

[Muriel]

Vos pivoines sont magnifiques. Cette année a été particulièrement adaptée à leur floraison, même ici en France.
C'est ma fleur préférée, avant même les roses que j'adore pourtant.
Merci pour ces belles photos.

[Kim Wylie]

MANY thanks for sharing these beautiful pictures! Peonies have got to be right up there in my "favorite flowers" category (right up there with magnolia, hydrangea, and a few others). Any time I see stems for sale at the farmers market, I have to snag them up and put them all over the house. I may have to go play with my camera outside, now! :)

[Ann]

These are simply beautiful! We've just purchased a home with one tree peony and several herbaceous peonies. However, the tree is in a dark secluded spot as are two of the bushes. Should I transplant them? I have enjoyed your beautiful photos and look forward to seeing more of your gardens as the summer progresses. Ann

[charmayne]

m so glad i read ur blog, i did not no tree peonies became a woody shrub,(i have herbaceous) neat that u photo and keep catalog, i do 2, 2 compare from yr 2 yr, u r the coolest

[Edi Gardner]

Fantastic!!!

[Pamela Beier]

Hi Martha,
Wow,how beautiful.I have 3 bushes, all the same color(dark pink)my favorite color ,but I'm getting a white bush next. When we step outside we can smell them,and it's great. Thank you for all your great pictures.
Pam from Wi.

[Trish]

Your camera is the best; your pictures make me feel like I'm right there in your garden! I can't wait to see the herbaceous peonies; it looks like you have a million of them! The deep-pink blooms in glasses on that tray just make me smile. What do you use to make your grass so green? Our sod never gets that green even with fertilizer. Trish

[jessica~]

Oh, my very favorite flower! They were the highlight of my beautiful (and very heavy) wedding bouquet.
This is my bouquet:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/knitfit/115876961/in/set-72057594087328979/

You peonies are absolutely stunning! Gives me inspiration for my new garden that I am planning for next year. Thank you!

[Gail from Glosta]

Your peonies are absolutely lovely, they remind me of my mother, she loved pink...pink ruffled dresses and large pink bows....childhood memories. My peonies bloomed all at once yesterday morning, a large bouquet of about 30 in shades of pink, right by our ocean garden in beautiful Gloucester Harbor. Isn't it wonderful how these smells and colors of summer bring back so many beautiful memories, and make many new memories. I love your programs, and books, you are truly unique in what you do. Thank you for being Martha.

[Angie D]

Martha... It would be so enjoyable to wake up and have those peonies waiting to greet you. To eat your breakfast, or take a moment for a cup of tea, just gazing at their beauty.

So what exciting plans do you have for the summer?

Ang

[MMC from San Diego]

Hi Martha--

Lovely peonies--a floral extravagance we never see here in So. California. Thanks for sharing yours!

[Paula M. :)]

Martha,
How can you pick a favorite out of all those beauties? I wanted to dive right in those photos and just smell those blooms..especially love the white ones. What a beautiful tree peony garden you have and I love the Alchemilla bordering them too. I have Alchemilla around my roses...you gave me that idea!! ;-)
Do you have the variety of photo 16 that captions "so fragile'? I couldn't stop looking at that one! We have one tree peony that we purchased from White Flower Farm in Litchfield, CT. We had 2 more but they didn't make it through the winter. Now our gardens are more protected and I'm anxious to plant more.
I am so glad you were able to move some species from Westport...I would cry if I had to leave mine behind. Do you transplant in the fall just like herbacious ones? Do you dig out the whole tree? Please let us know that info too if possible. Love the gardening photos and can't wait to see your new herbacious peonies in bloom!
BTW..picked my herbacious peony blooms this morning and put in an ironstone antique pitcher. My husband commented that it looked like a Renaissance painting. I am familiar with Khelm Nursery and plan to buy some new varieties in the fall. Thank you Martha!

[michael anthamatten]

Martha,

I love the 'album'. This was so easy to view the pictures. I never knew there wa so much variety in this flower. I loved the burgundy color, all of them really.

[Joan Dawson]

The most beautiful Peonies. Colors are so stunning. I finally had a white bloom this year. I had planted two a few years ago, it was wounderful to see it bloom.
Any tips on more blooms?

[trinabel]

Wow! Your peonies are absolutely gorgeous.
Thanks for sharing these pictures.

[Kathy :)]

Mine droop too....what is your secret???

Lovely pictures.

Kathy ;0

[Sylvia Burke]

Beautiful pictures! Makes my four peonie plants a bit sad. We are luck to have had any bloom with all the rain we have had here in Central IL.
Check out Sensitivecarpenter.com
He is right in your backyard.