Paeonia x lactiflora Cheddar Cheese

Paeonia lactiflora 'Cheddar Cheese' is an imposing, vigorous peony from China with a strong habit, abundant flowering, and a very unusual yellow and white colour. This mid to late-season variety develops dark and glossy foliage and offers an abundance of very large, ruffled flowers composed of a wide ivory-white crown, curiously topped with a large pompom where white petals mix with small yellow petals. Its flowers are also highly fragrant. Robust and faithful, peonies sometimes take a little time to establish themselves, but they grow year after year and can live for more than 50 years.

Chinese herbaceous peonies are mainly derived from Paeonia lactiflora, a perennial herbaceous plant native to central and eastern Asia (from eastern Tibet to northern China to eastern Siberia), where it naturally grows in woods and meadows. This plant belongs to the family of Ranunculaceae or Paeoniaceae.

The Cheddar Cheese variety is a superb cultivar obtained in the USA in 1973. The plant forms an imposing and bushy herbaceous clump from spring, reaching up to 90 cm (35in) in all directions. Its very large double flowers, measuring 20 cm (8in) in diameter, appear quite late, in May to June depending on the climate, lasting for about two weeks. They emerge as large white buds and then open into a very original ivory flower with a fluffy heart composed of yellow petal-like stamens mixed with white petals. Although quite heavy, they are carried without weakness on sturdy stems that do not require staking. The petals, with a thick and waxy texture, give the flowers good resistance to bad weather. This variety has some lateral buds - a sign of abundant flowering. The fragrance of the flowers is quite pronounced. The young purple and shiny foliage unfolds into large, dark green, highly dissected and glossy 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 foundation of a garden. Not so long ago every garden, from the most modest to the most elaborate, proudly displayed clumps of peonies covered with fragrant flowers that made their way into the house, keeping company in bouquets with purple lilacs and blue campanulas. Bright and voluptuous, the Cheddar Cheese peony from China thrives in flowerbeds or alongside pathways, associated with timeless perennials such as columbines, campanulas, tall marguerites, 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. It is not uncommon for it to outlive the person who planted it.

Supplied as 3/5 eyes, sold individually in a peat bag