Paeonia lactiflora Raspberry Sunday

The Paeonia lactiflora Top Brass is a nearly fifty-year-old herbaceous peony variety that proudly displays its very different, unique flowering, both in terms of the variable shape of its flowers and their almost tricolour appearance. They have a variable shape, sometimes double and rounded, sometimes in the so-called Japanese form, but always very fragrant. Mostly ivory white, they have a heart tinged with soft pink adorned with canary yellow petaloids. A majestic Chinese peony like no other, illuminating flowerbeds during the second half of May and performing very well in a vase.

Chinese herbaceous peonies mainly come 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 family of Ranunculaceae or Paeoniaceae.

The Top Brass variety was obtained in the Netherlands in 1968. The vigorous plant forms a herbaceous and bushy clump that can reach 1 m (3ft) in all directions from spring onwards. Its flowers, 14 to 15 cm (6in) in diameter, appear in late May, depending on the climate, for about two weeks. They emerge as large white buds and then open into flowers of variable shape, sometimes fully double and rounded, sometimes almost single, but always showing a pompon-shaped center. The stamens, more or less visible depending on the doubling of the flowers, are transformed here into small, fringed, canary yellow petals. Other petaloids protrude from the center, they are white, more or less numerous, and tinged with pink. All these small petals occupy the heart of the flower, composed of wide rounded petals arranged in a corolla, ivory white tinged with pink at the base. The fragrance of this variety is pronounced and very pleasant. The young purple and shiny foliage unfolds into large, dark green, deeply divided leaves. They are borne on a petiole that divides into 3, with lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate segments. The leaflets are entire or sometimes lobed. They disappear in winter, while the buds that will develop in spring persist at ground level. This very perennial plant grows from a large fleshy root that does not appreciate being moved.

Peonies are among those plants that form the foundations of a garden. In the past, every garden, from the most modest to the most elaborate, proudly displayed clumps covered in flowers that made their way into the house, accompanying lilac and bluebell bouquets. Opulent and generous, the Chinese peony can be planted in a flowerbed or along a path, associated with timeless perennials such as columbines, bellflowers, foxgloves, garden irises, carnations, or Christmas roses. It can also be grown in the vegetable garden to supply cut flowers for the house. Only container cultivation is not recommended, as its needs will not be met. Over time, the peony becomes majestic and blooms more abundantly, producing up to 60 flowers.