Paeonia suffruticosa Lan Bao Shi

Paeonia suffruticosa 'Lan Bao Shi', also known as 'Blue Jewel' or 'Blue Sapphire', is one of the best "blue" tree peonies currently available. The plant shows vigorous growth, producing numerous delicately scented flowers and tolerating strong sunlight. Its cup-shaped flowers, pale pink with mauve highlights, reveal a purple-violet spotted centre surrounding a large cluster of stamens. The tree peony is a hardy plant, easy to grow in any good garden soil. It will live for many years with minimal care after proper installation. An established tree peony needs no description; it is simply admired, whether in isolation or at the foreground of a shrub bed.

The 'Blue Jewel' tree peony is a magnificent descendant of Paeonia suffruticosa, native to central China. This extraordinary species, cultivated for approximately 1500 years in China and two centuries in Europe, has given rise to numerous cultivars with single or double flowers in various colours, except true blue. The wild form, which remains enigmatic, has never been formally identified. In contrast to herbaceous peonies, Paeonia suffruticosa produces woody branches, one or several small trunks, and sparsely branched knotted branches that persist year-round, like those of shrubs. Its foliage is deciduous, appearing in spring and falling in autumn, sometimes displaying beautiful colours at the end of the season. All these plants native to the Far East are very hardy. They belong to the Ranunculaceae family.

'Lan Bao Shi' was selected in China in 1975. Of medium size but with vigorous growth, this peony forms a sparsely branched, rounded bush that can reach 1.40 to 1.50 meters (5 feet) in all directions under good growing conditions. The short, straight, upright branches bear leaves divided into 9 long lanceolate leaflets, very smooth, strongly veined, reddish at the start and quickly turning dark green, sometimes with reddish borders. The flowering of this variety occurs for 3 weeks in April-May, in the middle of the tree peony season. 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 buds, green and round, appearing at the end of new shoots in late winter and resisting late frosts well. They open into semi-double chrysanthemum-like corollas, upright or horizontal, measuring approximately 16 cm (6in) wide and 6 cm (2in) deep. The very pale pink petals have a dark smudge at the base, a characteristic probably inherited from Paeonia rockii. The flower's centre is occupied by highly visible golden-yellow stamens, attracting bumblebees. The light fragrance that diffuses around the flowering bush is somewhat reminiscent of roses.

The tree peony is not a plant for impatient gardeners. It takes its time, but those years of patience are rewarded with the fabulous spectacle created by this opulent shrub covered in flowers in spring. In the garden, the 'Lan Bao Shi' tree peony will be sumptuous as a standalone against a wall, in the foreground of a hedge, or in a bed, under tall trees, always sheltered from the wind and in an area with plenty of light. Its dreamlike flowers will be enhanced by those of other peonies in white, dark pink, purple, or mauve, clusters of lilacs in mauve, purple, or white, or early-flowering China roses (Old Blush). This plant also pairs well with other perennials that bloom before or after it, such as bearded irises or bellflowers.