Peonies by Pamela McGeorge, Russell McGeorge

From the Publisher

A richly illustrated guide to growing a most satisfying perennial, the peony.

The dazzling peony with its generous blooms is revered and treasured in North America as it has been for centuries in its country of origin, China. Peonies is a comprehensive guide to selecting and growing the best species and hybrids for every region and garden condition.

In an easy-to-use format, this informative and practical reference book has dozens of color photographs and features chapters on:

• Genus Paeonia and the modern hybrids


• Ornamental and herbaceous peonies


• Tree peonies, the "king of flowers"


• Cultivation and propagation techniques


• Fertilizers, preferred soil composition, watering and over-wintering


• Remedies for pests, diseases and disorders


• Landscaping recommendations with peonies


• Displaying peonies indoors


• The origin and history of peonies.

There is also a valuable appendix of selected varieties and a listing of associations and suppliers.

Library Journal

Here is an excellent overview of this mainstay of the old-fashioned perennial garden, the romantic peony. McGeorge (former editor, New Zealand Gardener) and garden and landscape photographer Russell McGeorge (with Pamela McGeorge, Irises) offer a volume that is geared to a North American audience, paying full mind to appropriate planting zones. They provide a historical and cultural overview of this "fattest and most scrumptious of all flowers" and then cover the two main groups, the herbaceous garden peonies and the woody tree peonies, as well as the crosses between them. The text will remind gardeners what exceptionally long-lived and trouble-free plants these are, how broad and subtly diverse their color range is, provide clear pointers for avoiding complications with your plants, and describe how to increase their number through division of rootstock and other methods. The enticing photographs will surely turn the most tentative new planter into a peony enthusiast. While peony titles from Timber Press by Allan Rogers and Martin Page offer more scientific and commercial instruction, this volume makes a lovely offering for general readers in public libraries, keeping us aware of the magnificent and expansive beauty and easy care of the peony. Margaret Heilbrun, Library Journal Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Product Details

• Table of Contents
• Forewords & Introductions

Table of Contents

Forewords & Introductions

Extravagant language seems to be the hallmark of peony lovers. Since we first started to look at plants for their beauty, and not just for their healing properties, peonies have basked in our admiration. Words echo down the centuries, recording the impressions that peonies have made on those who have grown and loved them.

"We cherish them for the beauty and delight of their goodly flowers," wrote Englishman John Parkinson, herbalist to the king and apothecary of the time, in 1629.

"The most superb and commanding flower which the garden holds," wrote Alice Harding, doyenne of American peony growers, in 1917.

"The fattest and most scrumptious of all flowers, a rare fusion of fluff and majesty," wrote garden writer extraordinaire, Henry Mitchell, in the later years of the 20th century.

No peony grower today would argue with these descriptions, and such is the magic of these flowers that they have seduced gardeners for more than 20 centuries-long before the massive and spectacular modern hybrids we grow today had appeared on the scene.

Peonies are divided into two main groups: herbaceous varieties, which die down in the fall; and tree peonies, which are deciduous but whose woody structure remains during winter -- like the skeleton of any deciduous tree. Both bear extravagantly sumptuous flowers.

In China, the peony has been consistently treasured down through the ages. In the West its fortunes have fluctuated. First praised for its beauty in 1629, it gradually fell victim to its success. The wealthy classes came to consider a plant that lasted the lifetime of a human being, and available to all, as vulgar and common. Theywanted rare plants, things that were difficult to grow, and the peony for a time was known as a "poor man's flower." However, during the 19th century, as the number of named cultivars with spectacular flowers increased, the popularity of peonies rose. They became symbolic of the stylish Edwardian times before their decline set in once again.

As the 20th century unrolled, the impetus for developing new peonies moved from Europe to the United States. American breeders began producing a series of handsome cultivars, both herbaceous and tree varieties, and more growers entered the market. In the last years of the 20th century, as China increasingly opened its doors to the West, new species were discovered, and Chinese varieties have been exported, adding to the pool of available plants. That trend continues.

Today, herbaceous peonies increasingly are taking a large share of the cutflower market, and named plants are sought after across international borders. Westerners go to China in the peony season to view vast plantings of this flower that has featured for so long in Chinese art and history. In the 21st century the peony in the Western world has come close to attaining the status and desirability it has always held in Chinese society.

This book is for gardeners who have already been seduced by peonies and want to find out how to choose the best varieties and care for them in their own gardens. It looks at the origins of peonies and highlights the efforts of early hybridizers. Some of the plants they produced are still popular today, more than 150 years after their first appearance on the market.

The book also discusses intersectional hybrids, a cross between tree peonies and herbaceous varieties, and introduces readers to the species, of which few gardeners are aware. Long neglected in favor of their flamboyant descendants, the species produce simpler, sometimes more elegant flowers that appeal to modern gardeners. Both plants and seeds are more available now than ever before, especially in the United States.

A list of suppliers is provided on pages 139-142. Many publish their selections or catalogs on the Internet. As with most popular flowers, new peony cultivars are constantly appearing, and suppliers can provide the most up-to-date information on which cultivars or species are available in any given season.