Paeonia lactiflora Madame Calot

Paeonia lactiflora Madame Calot is one of those varieties cherished by our grandparents that bloomed faithfully in their gardens, providing flowers as beautiful as they were fragrant to decorate the house with. Surviving passing trends and the whims of time, it stays with us, always wonderful, offering its beautiful double anemone flowers in a gradient of brilliant pink-silver to white, often touched with carmine red at the heart. One of the first to bloom in the garden, 'Madame Calot' will thrive in any loose and rather moist soil, in the sun. Robust and faithful, Chinese Peonies sometimes take a little time to establish, but they develop year-on-year and can live well over 50 years, even surviving the one who planted them.

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.

The Madame Calot variety is an old French creation by Jacques Calot, dating back to 1856. From spring onwards the plant forms a herbaceous and bushy clump, reaching 90 cm (35in) in all directions. Its flowers, of anemone type, measuring 14-15 cm (6in) wide, appear in May, more or less early depending on the climate, lasting for about two to three weeks. They emerge as a large tender pink bud, opening into a collar of flat petals wider than the petaloid stamens that make up the central 'pompom', cleverly disordered, of a slightly deeper pink. At the heart of the flower sits a small button of very reduced petaloids streaked with carmine pink. Some traces of carmine appear here and there at the base of the other petals. The young, purple and shiny foliage unfolds into large, deeply cut bright green 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 persist at ground level and will develop 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 make up the foundation of a garden. In the past every garden, from the humblest to the most elaborate, proudly displayed clumps of peonies that made their way into the house, keeping  lilacs and bluebells company in bouquets. Elegant, beautifully fragrant, the Chinese Peony Madame Calot will find a place 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.