The Peony

All About the Peony Flower: Description and Guide

Peonies are known for their large, often fragrant, and showy flowers that bloom in late spring to early summer, featuring a wide range of colors including white, pink, yellow, and red. These perennial plants can be herbaceous, dying back to the ground in winter, or woody shrubs. Peony flowers have a short blooming season and are popular for their decorative value, symbolic meanings of good fortune and love, and use in traditional medicine.

Appearance

• Flowers: Peonies produce large, showy blossoms that are often full and fluffy, creating a bowl-shaped or spherical appearance. They can be simple and loosely packed with petals or double and semi-double, with many inner petals.
• Color: Flowers come in various colors, including white, cream, pink, yellow, red, and purple, but never blue.
• Fragrance: Many peony varieties are spicily fragrant, though some have a sweet scent.
• Leaves: Peonies have compound, deeply lobed, and glossy green leaves.

The Language of Peony

In China and Japan, peonies mean ‘king of flowers’, and are used in important holidays like Chinese New Year. They are also known to symbolise wealth, because for a really long time only Chinese emperors used peonies. In Japan, they represent bravery, honour and good fortune.

Generally, peonies symbolise prosperity, good luck, love and honor. So, whether you know someone who’s getting married, graduating or recently gave birth, gift them with peonies from Clayhives.

Peony Flower Symbolism and Color Guide

• White peonies symbolise bashfulness so they’re great for those times when you’ve said or done something wrong and want to apologise. No one can hold a grudge when a beautiful bouquet of white peonies shows up at their door!
• Pink peonies are super popular for wedding bouquets as they symbolise good luck and prosperity.
• Red peonies symbolise love, passion, honour and respect. Whatever stage in your relationship you’re at, we’re sure your partner will love a big bouquet of red peonies!
• Coral peonies are a unique type of peony that can change colour as they bloom. In terms of symbolism, coral peonies are often associated with elegance, good fortune, success, and strong relationships. They can also represent happiness and abundance.
• Purple peonies are often associated with royalty, nobility, and dignity. They can also represent admiration, respect, and romance. In some cultures, purple is believed to symbolise power, ambition, and luxury. A beautiful and elegant choice for many occasions.
• Yellow peonies typically symbolise happiness, warmth, and friendship. They can also represent new beginnings and prosperity. In some cultures, yellow is associated with the sun and is believed to bring good luck and positive energy. Ideal to treat family and friends about to take an exam!

Favorite Varieties of Peony

Coral Charm

The best property of Coral Charm is that its colour transforms from coral to cerise, orange and, finally, white. Besides changing colours they have thick stems that can be cut into longer lengths if desired. Last but not least the semi-double flowers are immense and can reach easily 18 cm. Coral Charm has no fragrance.

Red Charm

Paeonia Red Charm is undoubtedly the best known and most popular red peony available. Also it's one of the earliest available double-flowered varieties of the season. It has a perfect shape and can grow to be as large as 22 cm. Compared to other varieties, its vase life of about a week may seem somewhat short. On the other hand, it also gives this peony a certain uniqueness and charm. Short-lived, but powerful. That’s Paeonia Red Charm.

Sarah Bernhardt Peony

Sarah Bernhardt is by far the best known and most loved peony in the world. In fact, it’s so popular it has become the flowery face of peonies in general. It is delightfully fragrant, with rose-pink double flowers and ruffled inner petals.

Festiva Maxima Peony

Festiva Maxima is a double-layered petal type with a very large flower head. Petals are white with prominent splashes and streaks of crimson on a few central petals and some edges. It has an enduring reputation as one of the most charming peonies you can grow.

Monsieur Jules Elie

Monsieur Jules Elie is a popular, heirloom double peony cultivar. Known for its large, fragrant, light rose-pink flowers with a distinctive silvery sheen and a strong, sweet fragrance.

Fun Facts About Peony

1. Peony flowers open up three times their original size.

   Peonies will arrive in a bouquet in tight, golf-ball-sized buds but these quickly unfurl to reveal the gorgeous puffy blooms you know and love. Each petal loosens up so the flower can open up in all its glory.

2. There is a city dedicated to peonies in China.

   Luoyang, also known as the City of Peony, celebrates these flowers with gardens where over 100 varieties bloom. There’s also a festival held each year to celebrate the peony’s beauty, with folk performances and stunning flowers on display.

3. Ants love peonies in the garden.

   While you may not like the thought of creepy crawlies on your flowers, we think the idea of ants crawling inside the peony petals to get at their nectar and getting cosy inside the bloom is super cute. Plus, the ants won’t do the plant any harm.

4. Peonies are the traditional flower to celebrate the 12th anniversary.
5. Peonies come in every color except blue and some varieties can grow to over 10 inches in diameter!
6. Deer hate peonies and so do bunnies.
7. Lighter pink peonies are more fragrant than the darker ones.
8. The Chinese name for peony is sho yu, which means “most beautiful.”
9. Peonies are sun bathers and prefer a minimum of six hours of full sun per day.
10. A peony plant can live for more than 100 years under the right conditions.
11. The peony is named after Paeon, who was the student of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine. Asclepius became jealous of Paeon’s natural ability to heal, so before Asclepius could harm his student, Zeus stepped in and turned Paeon into a peony to keep him safe.