Paeonia lactiflora Jacorma

Paeonia lactiflora Jacorma is an herbaceous variety that offers abundant, original, attractive, and fragrant flowering. It is a robust and highly ornamental peony variety with a very late flowering period, producing large, very double flowers with intense pink and magenta hues, with ruffled petals forming a dense pompom without stamens. The flowers are borne on sturdy stems above glossy, decorative, and very healthy foliage. Beautiful in the garden, the flowers are also perfect for cutting. Easy to grow, this variety is resistant to botrytis.

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 disappears completely in winter.

The Jacorma Chinese Peony was introduced to the Netherlands in 1969. This plant forms an herbaceous and bushy clump, moderately dense, reaching about 90 cm (35in) in all directions. Its large, very double flowers, 16 to 18 cm (6 to 7in) in diameter, appear very late in June, depending on the climate, and last about three weeks. They grow at the end of the stems, but also from a few secondary buds. They emerge as a large pink bud and then open into a large, double and dense pompom with ruffled petals, without stamens. The growth of this variety is good and its longevity remarkable. The young purple and shiny foliage unfolds into large, dark green, deeply cut leaves. 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 that will develop in spring persist at ground level. This long-lived perennial plant grows from a large fleshy root that does not appreciate being moved.

Chinese peonies are among those plants that form the foundations of a garden. The Jacorma peony can be planted in borders or alongside pathways, combined with timeless and unpretentious perennials such as Irises, Columbines, bellflowers, perennial geraniums, carnations or Christmas roses. It can also be grown in the vegetable garden to supply cut flowers for the house. Pot cultivation is not recommended, as its needs will not be met. Over time peonies becomes majestic and bloom ever more abundantly, producing up to 60 flowers. By combining different varieties with staggered flowering, it is possible to have blooms for 6 weeks from spring to early summer.