Haven't I seen you before?- Paeonia macrophylla

Very similar, and probably well within natural variability, Paeonia macrophylla is a synonym of Paeonia steveniana which we saw a few days back. Both are subsumed by some botanists into P. wittmaniana subsp. macrophylla.

My plants are grown from seed which was collected at a botanical garden in the Rep. of Georgia, from plants grown from wild-collected seed. The species (subspecies if you prefer) is native to a small area of the Caucasus in that country, where it grows in mountain forests and subalpine meadows.

It's a striking plant with large lush green leafs with a noteable vein pattern. Large creamy flowers, which retain a globe shape. First date of bloom 31 May here this year.

Here, it differs from the steveniana I grow in a greener leaf with more noticeable veining, the flowers are paler, and it came into bloom 4 days later (there is about 3 days of overlap). These are botanically insignificant differences, although if the difference in bloom dates is stable it can be horticulturally worthwhile for the peonyphile to have both plants around, subject to space availability. For those with more limited space, I consider what I have as steveniana to be superior to my macrophylla, mainly for the flower colour.

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It's hard to believe I have been doing this for two weeks already! I knew I had a bunch of different peonies but this is beyond what I thought was going to flower this year.

On another note, I have had to change digital cameras recently, and am still going through some teething issues with it. The major thing is that it tends to overexpose except on very overcast days. I have been manually editing brightness and contrast to counteract that trend but not always with greatest success.

A giant "Globeflower" - Paeonia steveniana

The British botanist from whom I bought my seeds of Paeonia steveniana had written in his seed list to the effect that gardeners who were impressed with the Golden Peony P. mlokosewitchii needed to see steveniana. I have to admit that I wasn't impressed with it when it first flowered last year, but the plants have matured leaps and bounds since then, in all ways larger and more impressive and I am now a convert to appreciation of the magnificence of this species.

The flowers open a soft yellow (well within the range of yellow of the better-known yellow, mlokosewitschii) and will fade to ivory by the time the petals drop; you can see a bit of the fading of the same flower, between the first two photos. The centre is exquisite with dark red filaments and stigmas, is mildly fragrant, and doesn't open much further than in the second and third photos, remaining globular in shape. There are also white-flowered plants which are also great, and one of my seedlings has a fine red edging to the petals, probably the influence of inadvertent hybridizing. (due to a camera malfunction I don't have a photo of these variants). First bloom here this year was on 27 May.

The third photo is of a plant of the "high altitude form", but I don't see any difference from the rest of mine. I include it because the raindrops appeal to my artistic side.

P steveniana is one of a few synonyms for a plant which some botanists classify as Paeonia wittmaniana subsp macrophylla. The foliage is lush, soft-textured and a bit droopy in an attractive way; the leafs are pointed and quite large with clearly visible vein patterning.

It is native to the region of the Caucasus and nearby, growing in forests and amongst shrubs. They are large plants, up to a metre tall, but like all species peonies are strong-stemmed and do not need support. Mine have flowered a year younger in the open field, but are less vigorous there and in the woodland bed. The photos were all taken at the part-shade bed near the house, where the plants are at their most magnificent.

Seed of my plants was collected from the wild in the southeast of the Republic of Georgia.

Compared to P tomentosa which we saw earlier, this has larger leafs, flowers later (no overlap here), and has the distinctive globular shape to the flower. Yep, a person would really have to have both in their garden!

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ignore this bit... I'm trying to figure something out here

The Kick-off - Paeonia tomentosa

Once upon a time my website had a "Pic of the Day" page, which I discontinued this year. It had the disadvantages of crowding the available webspace and of zero archives. Then my e-pal Denis, in Australia, another peony enthusiast, introduced me to a the weblog concept. I never really clutched into it until suddenly the peony season was upon me, and so here we go...

Today's post should actually have appeared a week ago but I hadn't made the mental leap yet at that point. So:

15 May 2006: Paeonia tomentosa (synonym Paeonia wittmaniana subsp. wittmaniana), one of the many species peonies from the Caucasus region, showed me its bloom today for the first time. A surprise decent yellow (I hadn't been reading the books lately): so yellow that when I saw it in the field a couple of days ago (different plant!, same seed batch) I mistook the flower for a mlokosewitschii (more on that one in a week or few). Leaves fuzzy on back, but pointy and greener than mloko. More vigorous, and more sun and drought tolerant than mloko.

Flowers open pale yellow and fade to ivory; they last about a week to 10 days. Stigmas and anther filaments are reddish purple. Leaves are large and lush, a good landscape plant. I expect another colourful show in fall when the seedpods ripen and fold open.

This species does well in the partial shade of the display beds near the house, and is also good but less vigorous in an open field and in my test bed in the woods. Flowering was first in the field, 2 days later in the display bed, and 4 days after that in the woods. This photo is of a group of 3 plants in the part-shade bed. Plants in the background are other species of peony which will flower later.