Paeonia lactiflora Sorbet

Paeonia lactiflora 'Sorbet' is a deliciously spectacular Chinese peony, highly sought after for bouquet making. Its astonishing double flower, pleasantly scented, offers a rare colour and a very unusual shape, evoking a frozen sweet topped with whipped cream. Small frilly petals of vanilla cream are sandwiched between layers of larger petals in strawberry and raspberry ice cream colours. This spring flowering becomes increasingly abundant over time, and it is even possible from the first year.

The Chinese herbaceous peonies primarily come from Paeonia lactiflora, a perennial herbaceous plant native to central and eastern Asia (from eastern Tibet and 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. Easy to grow in all regions, they thrive in loose and rather moist soil, in full sun. Robust and faithful, they sometimes take a little time to establish themselves, but they grow year after year and can live for more than 50 years.

The 'Sorbet' peony is an horticultural variety of unknown origin discovered in an orchard by Luc Klinkhamer, a Dutch specialist in perennial plants, during a trip to South Korea in 1987. It flowers in May-June, more or less early depending on the climate, for 2 to 3 weeks. Its well-double flower, in the form of a more or less elevated pompom, 15 cm (6in) wide, has 3 layers of petals of different shapes and colours: the first composed of rather round and wide petals of a fresh pink, the second composed of small petals called petaloids of a light yellow to cream white colour, and the third composed of small petals of a lighter pink. They exhale a sweet sugary fragrance. Its intensely green foliage, deeply lobed, is decorative. It often turns red at the end of the season and disappears with the first frost, only to come back stronger in spring. It plays the role of a beautiful bushy clump in flowerbeds with its stems that emerge from the collar. It is a low-maintenance and very hardy peony. When fully grown, it can reach a height of 1m (3ft) when in bloom.

The 'Sorbet' peony makes a great impact in flowerbeds, accompanied by other perennials such as bellflowers and catmints, but it can also be placed alone, prominently displayed. It was used in traditional vegetable garden paths, at the foot of fruit trees. This peony also forms sumptuous bouquets which, along with lilacs and irises for example, will perfume the house. In China, where it has been cultivated for over 2000 years, the peony is a symbol of wealth and honour.