Paeonia lactiflora Purple spider

Paeonia lactiflora PURPLE SPIDER® (‘Zi Feng Yu’) is a rather exceptional Chinese peony, distinguished by its fragrant flowering, its highly intricate flower and its purplish pink colour delicately frosted at the heart. It is an original and refined variety, ideal for large flower beds and cut flowers. Provide this beautiful perennial with fertile, moist, light and deep soil.

This plant belongs to the Paeoniaceae family. It is a descendant of the botanical species Paeonia lactiflora, the Chinese peony, a herbaceous perennial whose stems die back in winter and regrow from the crown in spring. This species is found across a vast region of temperate Asia, from southeastern Siberia and the Russian Far East to northern, northeastern and central China, via Mongolia.

‘Zi Feng Yu’, whose Chinese name means “purple phoenix feather”, is an old Chinese selection associated with Luoyang, a major historical centre for peony cultivation. It is sold under the name Purple Spider®, or even 'Red Spider', although this horticultural name is not officially validated. The plant forms an upright, dense, well-balanced clump, about 80 to 90cm in all directions. Its growth is rather slow in the first few years; it has thick, fleshy roots designed to store reserves. The flowers appear between May and June, depending on the climate. They measure 12 to 13cm in diameter. Their shape is distinctive: a collar of broad petals surrounds a very dense centre of fine, sometimes thread-like petaloids. The whole effect suggests a very double “Japanese” or “anemone” form. Their colour blends deep pink, rosy violet and paler highlights, and they are randomly edged with silvery white. The fragrance is well present and slightly spicy in this variety. The dissected, bright to dark green leaves remain decorative until late summer. As with other herbaceous peonies, all above-ground vegetation dries up in autumn. Once established, it likes to be left undisturbed and can live in the same spot for 50 years.

In the garden, this original peony needs to be admired and smelled up close: plant it in a flower bed near the house or terrace. This ‘Purple Spider’ variety pairs beautifully with plants for bouquets such as the pure white Peony ‘Mistress’, creamy pink rose ‘Baie des Anges’, Delphinium Highlander ‘Cha Cha’ in smoky mauve and Gypsophila paniculata ‘Flamingo’, soft pink. You will be able to create large, beautiful spring bouquets for the home.