| Although I have grown Peonies from seed, I bought
the plant pictured here as a two year old seedling at an
AGS plant stall. It was re-potted into a larger pot in a
50:50 mix of grit and potting compost with added Blood,
Fish & Bone. It was re-potted each year, with no
additional feeding after the initial BFB; eventually to
a 26cm pan. It took a further three years to first
flowering. There was one flower, the next year two, then
none, but last year it was looking promising, and
produced fourteen blooms. They opened just a week before
the Ulster Show, and by keeping it in cool air they
remained in excellent condition – I was delighted when
it won a Farrer Medal! |
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| Peonies are found across the northern hemisphere,
from China through the Northern Mediterranean to
a few species in Western North America. Paeonia
cambessedesii is a native of Majorca and Menorca,
where it is being endangered by development as
well as the taste goats have for its buds
(below). It is named for the 19th-century French botanist
Jacques Cambessèdes (1799-1863). |
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Peonies are rhizomatous
and spend their winter in dormancy. Although from
Majorca, I have found P. cambessedsi relatively hardy. I
keep the plants covered for most of the winter,
insulated by peat in polystyrene fishboxes from November
to April. They are kept relatively dry in winter, with a
first watering in February, and watered when taken out
in the summer.
Seed which I sowed in 2000 has produced several
seedlings, with variation in flower colour, one of which
was a prizewinner in the seedling class in Dublin this
year.
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