So far it has been an excellent year for peony blossoms here at Cricket Hill Garden. While the rain last weekend hastened the end of the Chinese tree peonies, the Japanese and American tree peonies are still going strong, with the hybrid herbaceous and intersectional peonies just beginning. We are still waiting for the big show of lactiflora type herbaceous peonies to open. In the meantime, we hope that you enjoy these pictures from our garden during a time of bloom transition.
‘Late Blue’ This Chinese tree peony certainly lives up to its name. It is one of the last to open in the garden.
‘Color of Eternity‘ 万世生色 Wan Shi Sheng Se This blossom was truly massive, it may indeed have a ‘thousand petals’ as this flower form is named.
‘Shining Black Jade’ 墨玉生辉 Mo Yu Sheng Hui This is another later blooming ‘black’ Chinese tree peony which originates from Heze in Shandong Province.
‘Pea Green’ 豆绿 Dou Lu Brought inside for a studio portrait. Say what you will about this flower, but it really is green.
‘High Noon’ blooms well for us even in moderate shade.
‘Zeus’ This Daphnis hybrid tree peony looks very much like its more famous cousin ‘Leda.’
‘Antigone,’ another Daphnis tree peony.
‘Black Panther’ a Saunders tree peony in the foreground and ‘Golden Crown’ 黄冠 Oukan a new Japanese yellow tree peony in the background.
Our intersectional ‘itoh’ peonies are just beginning.
‘First Arrival’ is one of our earliest blooming Roger Anderson intersectional peonies.
‘Court Jester‘ is always a favorite with visitors to our garden.
‘Empress Wu’s Yellow‘ looks magnificent right now.
