Paeonia emodi Late Windflower

The Late Windflower Peony (Paeonia x emodi) is an herbaceous, hybrid variety that offers abundant, simple, discreet and subtly scented flowering in early summer. It is an ancient variety, robust and ornamental, with late flowering, which integrates perfectly into the garden. The plant produces a large number of simple cream-white flowers surrounding a centre filled with yellow gold stamens. It is a variety with a natural appearance, its elegant nodding flowers resembling those of a Japanese anemone. Dominating intense green foliage, the flowers rise on rigid stems, giving a graceful appearance and offering a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Easy to grow in all regions, herbaceous peonies thrive in loose and rather moist soil, in a sunny or slightly shaded site. Robust and faithful, they sometimes take a little time to establish themselves, but they develop year after year and can live for more than 50 years. Surviving passing fads and whims of time, whether as cut flowers or in the garden, peonies are vibrant, elegant and seductive, enhanced by a soft and light fragrance.

Chinese herbaceous peonies are mainly derived from Paeonia lactiflora, a perennial herbaceous plant native to central and eastern Asia (from eastern Tibet, northern China, to eastern Siberia), where it naturally grows in woods and meadows. This plant belongs to the Ranunculaceae or Paeoniaceae family. Herbaceous peonies, perennial by virtue of their roots, form a clump of foliage that completely disappears in winter. Botanical peonies are the ancestors of our garden peonies.

The Late Windflower botanical peony was obtained by Arthur Percy Saunders (1869-1953) in the United States in 1939. It is the result of cross-breeding between Paeonia emodi and Paeonia beresowskyi. It is a variety very similar to the Early Windflower hybrid (which blooms rather early in the season, towards the end of May). This plant forms a herbaceous and bushy clump from spring onwards, moderately dense, reaching 80 cm (32in) in all directions. Its flowers, single, about 12 cm (5in) in diameter, appear rather late in June depending on the climate, and last about three weeks. They bloom at the end of the stems, but also from some secondary buds. They emerge as a whitish bud and then open into simple flowers with cream-white petals surrounding a centre filled with yellow gold stamens. The vegetation of this variety is good and it has remarkable longevity. The young foliage, purple and shiny, unfolds into large dark green leaves, deeply divided. They are borne on a petiole that divides into 3, with lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate segments. The leaflets are entire or sometimes lobed. The vegetation disappears in winter, while the buds persist at ground level and develop again in spring. This long-lived perennial plant grows from a large fleshy root that does not appreciate being moved.

Peonies are among those plants that form the foundation of a garden. In the past every garden, from the most modest to the most elaborate, proudly displayed clumps of peonies covered in flowers that made their way into the house, keeping  lilacs and bluebells company in bouquets. Opulent and generous, gently scented, the Late Windflower Peony thrives in flowerbeds or alongside pathways, associated with timeless perennials such as columbines, bellflowers, foxgloves, bearded irises, carnations, or Christmas roses. It can also be grown in the vegetable garden to supply cut flowers for the house. Growing it in a pot is not recommended, as its needs will not be met. Over time, the peony becomes majestic and blooms more and more abundantly, producing up to 60 flowers. By combining different varieties with staggered flowering, it is possible to have flowers for 6 weeks from spring to early summer.

In the category Peony or Paeonia, the Late Windflower variety stands out for the originality and refinement of its simple, elegant flowers with exquisite charm. Popular and appreciated for its many advantages, the peony finds its rightful place in the garden as well as in the creation of bouquets or floral arrangements. With a very wide range of varieties, it is easy to find the one that best suits your desires.