Paeonia peregrina. This one from wild seeds in Serbia. First bloom. I have others of this species from there, but this one seems to be somewhat earlier (see the last image for an older plant which blooms later). It has that attractive glossy red petal colour. Difficult to capture by camera; in the image with the petals take a look at the one…Read More
Paeonia arietina Northern Glory. I am unsure whether it is a ‘pure’ selection as it never sets seeds and I never got any results from its pollen, so I’d rather think it is a hybrid (and I’ve seen images of the supposedly same cultivar that cannot be the same, so there are others being sold under the same name). I have another P. arietina, which…Read More
If I don’t forget it (which I quite often do) I always take some images of the roots of my species plants whenever I move or divide them. Given that I often loose them afterwards you might say it’s for ‘nostalgic’ reasons mostly. The roots are an important determination characteristic when trying to classify species plants, but you don’t often see…Read More
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I have some seedling species peonies that I will need to move this fall and next fall. Do you have advice on transplanting to avoid shock/ death?
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@rmulhero Transplanting species peonies is more difficult than transplanting usual cultivirs with a higher fail rate. But it goes best when they are young, thus small seedlings. From what I read, it seems your plants are just that. Absolute key to success is clearly the location where you plant them. Most species need some shade, unlike most…Read More
Paeonia emodi. Easy grower, but also easily damaged by poor weather. The ones growing outside look terrible, with lots of damaged leaflets and flowers. I have one plant growing in a sheltered position, that one is looking great and here are some images of it.
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Paeonia officinalis ssp microcarpa (also known as Paeonia humilis). Growing in Portugal/Spain and South-West France. Not a fast increaser here, only one stem, but it does show the characteristics of the species with rather narrow leaflets and indumentum on the stems and petioles. The subspecies microcarpa differs by having more segmented leaflets…Read More
You rarely see images of them at all, and then it happens that in the span of only two days several dozens appear. Here’s P. tomentosa again on instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C6EKWFLIBHx/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==Some improvements to the SPIN plants database. You can now sort them in several ways (by species name, but also most recent ones, those with images first, by origin…). Or you can filter them (the difference with sorting is that the ones not ticking the boxes are not listed anymore). And you can search within these plants for whatever you like…Read More
The person posting the images of wild P. tomentosa on instagram surely has an interesting page with many botanical treasures of Iran. I was wondering whether I would come across some other peonies and hey, what did I find? Another so-called P. wittmanniana, but this time from Mazandaran province, which lies much further to the East and which is…Read More
Rare pictures of Paeonia tomentosa in Iran (not P. wittmanniana, that one doesn’t grow there).
https://www.instagram.com/p/C5_fYJhv89h/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_linkA seedling flowering for the first time. Should have been P. japonica. Clearly it isn’t. The leaflets have the correct shape, but a reddish pink flower isn’t and P. obovata it is neither as the carpels are tomentose. I quite like the white flare in the petals, it gives a conspicuous contrast.
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The new database of SPIN plants is ready I think. I’ve been adding the plants in the old list to the new one, although there’s no real automatic way to do that and I have to do this manually. It may take a little more time to add the last ones of them. But in ways of functionality I think it is more or less finished. I would appreciate any…Read More
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I got 2 in the fall – they are not yet ready to flower and are only just sprouting now – a young kesrouanensis Kemer syn. turcica is also there – it is also only showing tender shoots in the wind-protected cold frame.
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I don’t think kesrouanensis and turcica are the same. P. turcica will show reddish or rather dark foliage upon emerging, whereas P. kesrouanensis is green from the onset. P. kesrouanensis is also a rather pale pink flower colour, whereas P. turcica is most often reddish, the few pink exceptions notwithstanding of course. P. kesrouanensis flowers…Read More
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Showing the plant from the side, you can see how small it is when it flowers here. Images I’ve seen from Syria also show it flowering before full development, but at least in a more advanced state. I believe the much higher altitude and thus lower ambient temperatures prevailing there are the cause of that.
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Thank you for your experiences with a scientific character – it’s fun to read. I am also looking forward a little more to my little P. turcica , which I still have to create a well-drained planting place in partial shade – whether it wants slightly acidic soil because it is a forest dweller (as some pictures of the natural habitat show) . But…Read More
Working on a better way to make a seed exchange possible. Should be as automated as possible because I only have a limited amount of time available to give attention to it and it’s clear I didn’t do that enough. You may notice some changes here in the SPIN group as I try to optimize it. The list with plants and members that was created is still…Read More
For Uwe @manolito some images of roots of P. macrophylla. From North Eastern Turkey, wild plants. As you can see: carrot shaped roots, (sometimes very) long and rather slender. Images from Cemal Sandalli, Turkish scientist, working on a paper describing this species in more detail. Publication forthcoming.
Just a small anecdote about a rare peony species P. sterniana. Last year I lost my only small plantlet of this species, even though I tried my best giving it good growing conditions. It was a small root that I received from the Edinburgh Botanical Garden (in Scotland that is). As far as I knew they had the only true plants of this species outside…Read More
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good luck pulling the plants and lots of grit under the roots.
A good new. Unfortunalely, as you say, this species is unavailable. In its habitat in South-East Tibet (Xizang), only a few hundreds of plants grow. However if seeds where distributed to growers with the aim to preserve the species, this beautiful peony could be seen in protected collections and maybe, why not, reintroduced in its natural habitat.
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@phenix Alain, My aim is twofold here. 1. As with most peony species I grow, I’d like to hybridize them with more recent advanced hybrids. And 2. Make them available to more people. To give that the best of chances I’ve also sent some divisions and seedlings to other (more) experienced peony species growers. It’s best not to put all your eggs in…Read More
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I hope you have success in growing this rare, desirable but very difficult peony. Good luck Koen!
P. macrophylla from North Eastern Turkey. A research project is going on there to classify and describe the peonies in that region. These are some images from plants growing there in nature. All plants in all populations visited so far have glabrous carpels, thus they are all P. macrophylla. Otherwise not much can be concluded yet, the research is…Read More
This flowered some time ago, although one of the later flowering species always here. P. arietina, obtained as a division from Janis Ruksans. P. arietina has either finer, somewhat more divided leaflets or wider, less divided leaflets depending on the geographical location, this one clearly has the wider ones. Not shown here is that P. arietina…Read More
Paeonia veitchii flowers for the first time. A plant bought to Gerhard Raschun. 3 years ago.
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Nice clear pictures, Alain :-) I have much difficulty growing P. veitchii / P. anomala. Either they don’t grow at all or they only start growing when most of the other peonies are already flowering. I’ve always thought it is because of too few cold here compared to the regions where it normally grows, but since you’re more Southernly than I am,…Read More
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I also noticed that P. veitchii is somewhat capricious. I thought I had lost it as all other species had already flowered while P. veitchii had not started to grow. In the wild this plant grows on limestone in wet areas. I was in NW Yunnan in 2009 where it grows and it does not freeze at 2000m and more higher particularly under the forest cover.…Read More
Maybe soon photos of 2 other peonies. One of them did flower 2 years ago but I don’t know what it is. I got it from a french collector who himself grew it from seed received from a botanical garden as “Paeonia cambessedesii” but was suspicious on the name (his was right). The second one is a peony I originaly got from seed received from a…Read More
This plant is issued from seeds received from SRGC under the name of P. emodi which is obviously not. It could either be a hybrid (maybe between mlokosewitschii and caucasica) or something else.
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P. turcica in Antalya, Turkey. Video by Sibel Erim on facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/sibel.erim.1/posts/pfbid0NLvk7DZx3kDDUxMgZtTLUstU1od2vKodD1Nahvd5Baeuo7v2qs7vJ8DLFBd4kR7Hl1 Comment
Magentas! Such generosity! Such plentitude!
Paeonia mascula ssp mascula from Cyprys, the Troodos Mountains. I used to have two different plants of it, but one of them died last Winter. This one has grown fine, from two stems last year to four this year. Whereas I often see this species with rather dark pink flowers, this plant has paler ones which pale somewhat further at blooming time and…Read More
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Cuties… Very, very pretty. Look at them!
Paeonia sp. received as P. morisii but it is wholly glabrous, so it could be P. mascula ssp. russoi.
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This is the only one of your images that I’m not really sure about what it is. I don’t yet have a decent large plant of P. mascula russoi, but it looks somewhat different? Could it perhaps not be P. corsica from Corsica itself? P. morisii/P. corsica are quite often used as synonyms but it is said that P. corsica from Corsica is actually different…Read More
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In fact I received this plant labelled P. morisii together with an other one labelled P. corsica. Both plants from G. Raschun. I was just wondering whether labels were mixed up or not. My Paeonia corsica is very tomentose under the leaves which are shiny/glossy.
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In my experiences with Gerhard Raschun I’ve found he’s a reliable person with good plants so I think they will both be true species plants. P. morisii from Sardinia has very glossy leaves and is very tomentose on the backside. And I thus think this plant, which you show here will be the P. corsica from Corsica. I’ll try looking it up, but I…Read More
Paeonia daurica ssp. wendelboi is ready to flower but I lost P. decomposita and P. daurica ssp. velebitensis.
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P. decomposita is also struggling here. Hasn’t grown last year it seems. I had them in horticultural crates for some time and wanted to plant them outside last year. But I didn’t have any place nor time then to move them all and left one such crate under deep shade of trees. It grew very well there actually. Then I moved it to my other species to…Read More
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Thank you for your comments Koen, they are useful for our experience. P. decomposita received too much rain as we have had heavy rains and frosts just after. I will have a look to P. velebitensis in autumn and will dig it for a division if it is possible. I have a small 2 years aged seedling of P. clusii received from F. Depalle which grows well…Read More
Almost there, the first one to flower here (perhaps P. clusii would be earlier, but that one didn’t survive again): P. kesrouanensis. Blooms well before the leaflets are fully developed, I suppose in very cold weather (or high up the mountains in deeper shade) it may postpone this blooming somewhat until the leaflets are more mature. I did have a…Read More
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A bit behind schedule with asking the people growing plants to collect seeds this Spring for the ones requesting them. But we still have some time, peonies are only slowly starting to grow. In the meantime: here are some images of P. mascula ssp mascula from Turkey, a plant I grew but which probably died during Summer (it disappeared, then some…Read More
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The Peony Society uploaded the file: Latest plant list to
Species Peonies International Network (SPIN)
Some 120 plants for now. Not all available for seeds as yet, but species collecting is something that takes years of course…
Next to our daily work we have two things we’d like to do soon on this site. First one is to compile a new list of growers of species plants and compare those to the ones that have been requested. Then we can see what is possible or not. One question to ask there is whether it would be wise to send directly from the supplier to the receiver or…Read More
These are some open pollinated seedlings from Lagodekhi Sunrise, a selection from those lagodechiana hybrids (mloko x caucasica), a natural hybrid which you’ll find in Georgia. They naturally grow in shade, but my seedlings are in full sun. This shows on the leaflets, they are turning into all kinds of colours. I quite like it in fact.
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:o So close! Did not know it grew in my Motherland. What DOES not grow in the Caucasus? I will look these up. Turkey’s Black Sea climate might accommodate them.
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I can see you’re from Turkey. It has probably the most diverse natural collection of peony species of any country. P. peregrina, P. turcica, P. kesrouanensis, P. mascula ssp mascula, P. mascula ssp bodurii, P. arietina, P. tenuifolia, P. daurica ssp daurica, P. daurica ssp macrophylla, P. arietina ssp arasicola and P. x kayae (a hybrid). Perhaps…Read More
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I read with fascination and gratitude. Will definitely look them up, and draw a map!
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I am from the Caucasus, but I live in Turkey. I am stunned that Anatolia contains so, so many varieties. I will look them up, and, hopefully find and photograph them, even if others have done it before. A local Peony Pilgrimage, if you will, before I go to China and Japan. I am watching CGTN’s documentary The Peony 1-4, and my heart has fallen. I…Read More
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This is probably the best article on peonies in Turkey, listing 11 (sub-)species in 54 locations in Turkey. It’s in Turkish but I suppose that will not be a problem for you.
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I thank you infinitely! However, I cannot but help laugh at the crude ‘Bear Flower’ or ‘Bear Rose’ name our locals have given them. Poor Peonies.
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I can translate these documents for you, if you wish, as thanks.
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Oh well, that’s very friendly, thank you. But I’ve run it through Google translate. The translation is very basic and it does happen that some sentences are rather incomprehensible, but it’s good enough to understand the main part. A translation from you would of course be far better, but I think the time needed to translate such a long article…Read More
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Well, you surely can. Here’s a map showing where you can find wild peonies in Turkey. There are probably listings with more precise locations, but I’m sure if you look somewhat you can find them. Some people sometimes post images of wild Turkish peonies on facebook, you might have a look there as well and perhaps ask the photographers where they…Read More
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Try joining this group on facebook and look for some images of Paeonia turcica, paeonia arietina, paeonia kesrouanensis and paeonia arietina arasicola. There have been images posted of those from Turkey in the last two years at least.
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As much as I appreciate your assistance, I have a deep-rooted aversion to fB since the day they said, ‘We have discovered that you use your fb password on other sites’ back in 2008. I will never join them unless for commercial purposes. I will see what information I can get without joining fb. Much, much appreciated. I love peonies almost as much…Read More
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Not that only species peonies grow in Turkey, here’s an instagram account of a commercial peony cut flower farm:
https://www.instagram.com/kesme_sakayik/-
Oh! Many, many thanks!
Root shapes from some well-grown species.
1. P. daurica ssp wittmanniana
2. P. mascula ssp bodurii
3. P. daurica ssp velebitensis
4. P. morisii![]()
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Paeonia daurica ssp daurica. Sometimes known as the ‘Crimean Peony’ (although there is also P. tenuifolia growing there). Old names P. triternata or even P. corallina triternata. According to Hong this species grows there but also in Turkey and westwards to former Yugoslavia. The Crimean version is known to have wavy leaflets (much more than my…Read More
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Right at my door! I will find these. Wow. The hunt is on. Thank you kindly!
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And they are so, so cute. Like little girls in new dresses out visiting.
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The seed pods are literally modern, abstract art.
Paeonia flavescens. From selfed seeds from a wild plant which originated in Sicily (around Palermo). Theoretically a synonym for either P. mascula russoi or P. mascula hellenica, and thus not officially recognized as a species itself, though there’s reason to believe it is. It resembles neither of those synonyms in fact. Looks most like mascula…Read More
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And here I thought I was looking at an orchid, when I realised the poor petal was cut away on purpose, to reveal the structure.
Paeonia morisii from Sardinia (Sardegna). According to Hong a synonym for P. corsica, which is very variable. It might be argued that his classification of P. corsica is not completely perfect as there is a P. corsica on the island of Corsica which is different from this one and there is also P. sandrae on Sardinia which is different as well. And…Read More
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Beautiful. The peak of each petal.. <3
A first post in this new group about peony species. As I’ve used it as the cover image for this group it’s only fitting to start with this species: Paeonia velebitensis. Wild collected in Croatia, the Velebit Mountains, East of the city/village of Karlobag, which is the area from where the dried herbarium specimens originated that Hong De-Yuan…Read More
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Beautiful colouring and venation. Sometimes I think Nature sits down and enjoys some painting, every once so often.
Paeonia kesrouanensis (or P. turcica depending on your views). Naturally growing along the eastern Mediterranean countries at higher elevations under some shadow from trees and shrubs. From south-eastern Turkey downwards to Syria and Lebanon. In southern and south-western Turkey the P. turcica, which is supposedly a synonym according to Hong, is…Read More
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Another one to my list! Thank you, again, for your effort in obtaining, growing, and sharing these!
Paeonia broteri grows wild in Portugal and Spain. If you’re looking for seeds from nature you can order them from the Portuguese seed company Sementes Vivas. They are located close to a natural population in Touloes, Idanha-a-nova close to the border with Spain in the middle of Portugal. It is known there as Rosa Albardeira and the company is…Read More
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Thank you very, very much!
I hunted them out online, and have found the following, in Portuguese, English, AND French:
https://www.sementesvivas.bio/en/sementes-heritage/548-rosa-albardeira.htmlWhere, unfortunately, Rosas Abardeiras seem to have sold out. Still, I am hopeful. Will email them.
Paeonia brownii. The few seeds I received over the years usually germinated, but the seedlings always died pretty soon. Giessler peonies in Germany seems to have more knowledge and sells these wonderful roots. I cannot see whether they are grafted upon roots of P. delavayi as he is able to do, but I do hope to be able to grow it a least a few years.
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Thank you kindly for the provider information and clear photo.
A form was added to this group so that anyone can submit the species plants they are growing themselves. If most of us are willing to share seeds, then it will be possible to make those rare species more widely available. You don’t need to be a member of this group nor even of the site to…Read More
Koen , do you have a picture of the roots of a P. macrophylla ? – and a good hand for the P. sterniana .