Paeonia lutea Hai Huang - Tree Peony

Paeonia 'Hai Huang', also marketed under the name 'High Noon', is a variety of vigorous and floriferous shrub peony with late but exceptionally fragrant flowers. It is a hybrid of beautiful stature with particularly elegant foliage, finely cut and dark green. Its Chinese ancestor, Paeonia lutea, has passed on to its flowers with crumpled petals its tender yellow colour.  Medium-sized and semi-double, the flowers are maculated with red at the centre, abundantly produced in late spring or early summer. Hardy and easy to grow in any good garden soil, this variety will live for many years without requiring much care, after careful planting. A very peony plant needs no description, it is simply appreciated, either in isolation or at the forefront of a shrub bed.

Peony 'Hai Huang' was introduced to the USA in 1952. It carries the genes of Paeonia delavayi var. lutea, endemic to the undergrowth of southwest China, less demanding than other tree peonies but also slightly less hardy. Its other parent is P. suffruticosa. Unlike herbaceous peonies that disappear from the surface of the ground in winter, tree peonies have one or more small woody branches that persist throughout the seasons, like shrubs.  All these plants native to the Far East are very cold-resistant. They belong to the family of Ranunculaceae.

'Hai Huang' received the Gold Medal from the American Peony Society in 1989. This variety forms quite slowly, a sparsely branched shrub, with solid, short, knotty and upright brownish-coloured stems. It has a rounded habit and reaches about 1.40 m (5ft) to 1.50 m (5ft) in all directions. The short and upright branches bear deciduous leaves, which emerge in spring and fall in autumn. They are divided into long lanceolate leaflets, incised on the edges, very smooth, strongly veined, reddish when buds burst open, quickly becoming dark green on top, bluish green underneath. The autumn colours are often very beautiful before the leaves fall.

The flowering of this 'Hai Huang' variety takes place for 3-4 weeks in May-June, it is one of the last tree peonies to bloom in the garden. Sometimes there is a slight re-blooming during the summer, depending on the climate. A 3-year-old plant will produce a single flower in the first year, but 50 after 20 years of cultivation. It starts with very large solitary rounded buds that appear at the end of winter at the tips of new shoots. They open into semi-double corollas, held above the foliage, measuring 12 to 14 cm (5 to 6in) in diameter. They are composed of slightly crumpled petals, a very light lemon yellow, with the red base more or less visible. The heart of the flower, raspberry-coloured, is occupied by golden yellow stamens, clearly visible. Its magnificent fragrance reminiscent of lilies reveals citrus notes.

The tree peony is not a plant for impatient gardeners. It takes its time, but years of patience are rewarded by the fabulous spectacle created by this opulent shrub laden with huge flowers in spring. In the garden, the 'Lu Mu Ying Yu' tree peony will be sumptuous when planted against a wall, at the forefront of a hedge or in a border, under tall trees, but always sheltered from winds and in a bright and airy location. Its magnificent flowers will be enhanced by those of other white, pink, or mauve peonies, clusters of mauve or white lilacs, or early-flowering China roses (Old Blush). This variety also pairs well with other perennials that bloom before or after it, such as garden irises or campanulas.