Peonies in Oregon of all places

The peony is native to China. It is among the longest-used flowers and along with the plum blossom, it is a traditional floral symbol of China, where it is called 牡丹 (mǔ dān). It is also known as 富贵花 (fu gui hua) "flower of riches and honor", and is used symbolically in Chinese art. The English name comes from Paeon or Paean, a student of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine and healing. Supposedly Asclepius became jealous of his pupil; Zeus saved Paeon from the wrath of Asclepius by turning him into the peony flower. Tree peony (Mudan) and herbaceous peony (Shaoyao) are placed in the same genus and family. The leaves and flowers are similar, but the former is an arboreal plant with a permanent woody branch structure, while the latter is a perennial herbaceous plant with new growth each year from ground level. Tree peony and herbaceous peony both are beautiful and charming flowers and have prestigious reign in the flower world. The tree peony is known as "the King of flowers", whereas herbaceous peony is called "the Queen of flowers". Tree peony has been the favorite flower from the imperial rulers down to the common man for more than 1500 years in Chinese history, whereas the cultivation history of Chinese herbaceous peony can go back to 2500 years ago. During the Tang Dynasty (618A.D.-907A.D.), Empress Wu Ze Tian and Princess Tai Ping were supposedly drinking in the Imperial Flower Garden and admiring the snow when they were greeted by the fragrance of flowers; it was the aroma of wintersweet, which was in bloom. Empress Wu Ze Tian rewarded the wintersweet but to her disappointment, she found only wintersweet, winter jasmine, and narcissus blooming in the garden. She wrote a poem and sent it to the god in charge of flowers, which read “Tomorrow I’ll visit the garden; let me know that spring has come. All flowers are to bloom tonight; don’t wait for the spring breeze to blow.” The next morning, hundreds of flowers bloomed and the garden was full of Springtime. But the tree peonies stubbornly disobeyed the order and refused to bloom.

Empress Wu Ze Tian burst into rage and ordered them banished from Chang An, the capital at that time. Those tree peonies which refused to leave Chang An were burned to the ground. The tree peony was driven out of the imperial palace to Louyang in today's Henan Province. Louyang has a reputation today as a cultivation center for peonies. Throughout Chinese history, peonies in Luoyang are often said to be the finest in the country. Dozens of peony exhibitions and shows are still held there annually.

We had seen peony plants growing in the yards of several neighbors and decided that we wanted to try it too. We purchased a root section of a Mrs. FDR peony and planted it last fall.

It sprouted and produced six stems, one with a flower bud. We should have cut the bud off to allow the plant to grow another year but we couldn’t wait to see what it looked like. The bud never fully opened.

We wanted to see some peonies this spring. We had the good fortune of locating a peony garden less than an hour drive from our home; Adelman Peony Gardens in Salem, Oregon. They cultivate nine acres containing 180 varieties of peonies.

The grounds are open to the public from May 1st through June 15th; the remainder of the time they are concentrating on growing flowers for exhibits and for sale to the public. The Adelmans have taken Best of Show awards for six of the last eight years at the American Peony Society’s annual competition.

They cultivate both tree peony and herbaceous peony as well as an intersectional peony which is a cross of the two.

They sell some mature plants but the majority of their business is the sale of root sections with eyes that are planted in the fall and will produce blooms the following spring.
I was surprised to see peonies in almost every color except blue (that’s the grower’s dream color).

Individual flowersGroups of flowers

One-of-a-kind flowers

Hybrids

Saucers of petals

Compound petals

Compound, Saucer, and multi-colored

Fields stretched as far as you wanted to walk

Buttercup yellow

Fragrant with a lemon aroma or a ginger-spicy aroma

All colors in combination

And the "traditional" shape but gigntic size

It was nearing the end of the blooming season and workers were removing blooms by the bucket full and dumping them on a trailer. The blooms along with the dead foliage will be burned to minimize bacterial growth which is a problem for peony plants.

I picked up a catalog and began making a “wish list” but soon realized that neither my budget nor available growing space were compatible with a large peony garden. This fall I may purchase one or two unique types to add to the Mrs. FDR that we are already growing, but I’m afraid that if I want to see fields of peonies I will have to drive back to Adelman Gardens.