The Gardener's Peony: Herbaceous and Tree Peonies

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Tree peonies are among the oldest plants in the world and have made an indelible impact upon the world's art. The Chinese have been growing these lovely shrubs for approximately one thousand six hundred years and it is still easy for us to imagine the sense of awe that Europeans must have felt when they first saw them over three hundred years ago. The flowers were many times larger than those of a rose, and they must have seemed incredibly exotic. Most of us still have that feeling when we look at a mature plant, covered with dozens of flowers. On the face of it tree peonies appear to be rather delicate, but they can tolerate low temperatures in the winter when they are dormant and will withstand summer drought.

History

Tree peonies are endemic to China, where they have been grown as medicinal plants since at least the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.–A.D. 220). The first reference to their medicinal use was found in a medical book, excavated in 1972 from a tomb in Gansu Province (Lianying et al., 1998). Carved on sheets of bamboo and dated to the first century A.D. the book refers to the bark of tree peony roots being used to prevent blood clotting. Two centuries later the Wu shih Pên Tshao, which was written in A.D. 235, says that "The root is the thickness of a finger, and black, this is where the dangerous active principle resides. The fruits and seeds should be picked between the second and the eighth months, and when dried in the sun can be eaten. They lighten the body and promote longevity."

We do not know how long the Chinese have been growing tree peonies as ornamental plants, but they first appear in paintings as early as the fourth century A.D.. Theearliest record of cultivated varieties comes from the time of the Sui Dynasty (A.D. 581–618), when tree peonies were grown in the imperial gardens in Xiyuan (now Luoyang). Most of them were probably collected from the wild and included plants with white, red or pink flowers. The tree peonies were so highly regarded that the Emperor Yang Ti issued a decree placing tree peonies under his personal protection.

During the reign of the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618–907) China became a prosperous and peaceful country. Chinese nurserymen and private gardeners started to collect all of the species of tree peony that were available and experimented with them until they discovered how to graft them. Cultivation seems to have started in the old capital of Changan (now Xi'an in Shensi Province) and then spread to other provinces, where breeding continued and in some cases the plants were crossed with other wild species that were endemic to that region.

While open pollination must have taken place and new cultivars arose naturally it also seems likely that the Chinese would have quickly learnt how to pollinate the plants artificially and produce their own seedlings. One of the leading horticulturists of the time, Sung Shan-Fu (A.D. 713–755), is said to have produced a thousand varieties and made a plantation of "tens of thousands of them" for the emperor at his summer palace at Li Shan (Needham et al., 1986).

Tree peonies gradually spread to the rest of China, so that by the time of the Song Dynasty (A.D. 960–1279) they were among the most popular of all garden plants in China. The main centre for tree peony cultivation at this time was Luoyang, where the Chinese started to produce cultivars with double flowers. The majority of the plants were named after the family that raised them and some of the ancient plants, such as Yao's Yellow,have survived to the present day.

The most important historical account of tree peonies grown in China is Ouyang Xiu's Lo-Yang Mu-Tan Chi (Account of the Tree-Peonies of Luoyang), which was written in A.D. 1034. He says:

Most Loyang households have tree-peony flowers, but few of the plants grow into big trees, because without grafting the most elegant blooms are not produced. Early in the spring Loyang people go out to the Shou-an Shan and cut small scions for sale within the city, cuttings which are called 'mountain combs'. The townsfolk cultivate the soil around their homes, making little bordered garden plots in which they plant the cuttings, and then when autumn comes they are grafted. The most famous practitioner of this art was a man called Mên the Gardener (Mên Yuan Tzu) and among the rich families there were none who failed to employ him. A single graft of the Yao yellow is worth 5000 cash. Contracts are made in the autumn, and when spring comes and the flowers appear, then the full payment is remitted (to the grafter). Loyang people are deeply attached to this variety and loth to allow the spread of its cultivation. If privileged patricians or high officials come looking for this flower they are likely to be given a graft which has been killed by dipping in hot water. [from Needham et al., 1986]

Ouyang Xiu relates how tree peonies could be grafted or grown from seed and describes twenty-four varieties that were grown in Luoyang, including plants with red, yellow, purple and white flowers. The Chinese continued to breed tree peonies, so that by the early seventeenth century the author Xue Fengxiang is able to describe more than 260 cultivars in his book Mudan Shi (History of Tree Peonies) (Haw, 2001). In circa A.D. 1600 the Chinese discovered that tree peony cultivars grew better if they were grafted onto the rootstocks of wild tree peonies (Hsüeh Fêng-Hsiang, 1610).

Tree peonies now grow in public places throughout northern and central China, north of the Yangtze River (the Great River). They are deep within the Chinese psyche, and widely represented in traditional and contemporary propagandistic art because they symbolize prosperity. A potted tree peony is considered to be the perfect New Year's gift in China because it represents prosperity, good fortune and love. In the nineteenth century the Dowager Empress Ci Xi (A.D. 1835–1908), the country's penultimate imperial ruler, declared the tree peony the national flower of China. During the Cultural Revolution, which started in 1966, the cultivation of tree peonies was banned. The Chinese were forbidden to grow them for ornamental purposes, but most of the cultivars survived because the people claimed that they were growing the plants for medicinal purposes. In 1994 a poll was held to choose a new national flower, but the popularity of the tree peony is firmly rooted, because it still came top.

Horticultural Sharp Practice

Chinese tree peonies have been one of the best-kept secrets in the horticultural world. The Chinese have always been extremely wary of foreigners and during the latter part of the eighteenth century they did their best to prevent Europeans from obtaining their national flower.

European traders were well established in China by the end of the eighteenth century, but were restricted to trading posts, such as Canton and had little opportunity to explore the interior. The first cultivars that reached Europe have been criticized because they have very double flowers that hang between the leaves. Regardless of their political system the Chinese have always proved to be astute businessmen and, tempted by sufficient money, a few of them would have been willing to provide the Europeans with some tree peonies. The traders were probably happy with their purchase, but the Chinese appear to have had the last laugh because they supplied them with some of the worst plants. Some Chinese traders were even more devious because they boiled the tree peony roots in water to prevent them from growing.

In 1656 the Dutch East India Company sent traders from their base in Canton to the imperial capital Peking, where they saw tree peonies for the first time. The Europeans described the plants as being like roses but without thorns and having flowers that were twice as large (Haworth-Booth, 1963). The first tree peony to be grown in Europe was obtained by Dr. Alexander Duncan on behalf of Sir Joseph Banks, the first Director of the Royal Gardens at Kew (later the Royal Botanic Gardens). The plant arrived in 1789 and was followed by further specimens in 1794 and 1797. The original plant thrived at Kew and was reported as being 8 ft. high and 10 ft. across (2.5 × 3 m). Sadly it was destroyed in 1842 during the construction of a new building.

One of the most interesting specimens to be imported arrived in 1802 on board a ship called Hope. This had semi-double white flowers with deep purple flares at the base of the petals and a deep purple sheath. The plant was named Paeonia papaveracea and for many years it was believed to be the ancestral peony. The plant was painted by Clara Maria Pope in 1821 and is still one of the most beautiful paintings of any peony.

The arrival of the plants caused great excitement in Britain but further tree peonies proved hard to obtain. The main problem the British faced was that they were restricted to Macao and were not allowed to travel into the interior of China. Macao was too hot for tree peonies to grow and the plants were imported from the cooler parts of the country. The tree peonies started to arrive in the spring, but by this time the traders from the British East India Company had returned home (Sabine, 1826).

In 1806 the British East India Company obtained four paintings of tree peonies, painted in Canton by Chinese artists. With the help of John Reeves, the Royal Horticultural Society obtained copies of these and a later painting of a double yellow tree peony. Joseph Sabine, the Secretary of the Royal Horticultural Society, did not believe that the yellow tree peony existed and said "the existence of a Yellow Moutan, is altogether disbelieved by those best capable of forming a judgment [sic] on the subject." (Sabine, 1826). Sabine says the plant was called 'Wong Moutan Fa', and it has been suggested that the illustration is actually of Yao's Yellow ('Yao Huang'), which has creamy yellow flowers and certainly existed at that time. Among the other paintings in the "Reeves Collection" is a portrait of a tree peony with orange flowers. This would appear to have been a figment of the artist's imagination, but it is always possible that such a peony did exist and has since been lost.

In 1834 the Royal Horticultural Society commissioned Robert Fortune, the famous plant hunter, to collect plants from China. Fortune's contract makes fascinating reading:

It is needless to particularise at much length the plants for which you must enquire.

It is however desirable to draw your attention to —

The Peaches of Pekin, cultivated in the Emperor's garden and weighing 2 lbs.

The Plants that yield tea of different qualities.

The circumstances under which the Enkianthi grow at Hong Kong, where they are found wild in the mountain.

The Double Yellow Roses of which two sorts are said to occur in Chinese gardens exclusive of the Banksian.

The Plant which furnishes rice paper.

Peonies with blue flowers, the existence of which is, however, doubtful. [Wilson, 1943]

Fortune made a total of four trips and in 1846 returned with twenty-five different tree peonies. These were planted in the Society's garden at Chiswick, London, where they started to flower in 1847. One of the plants was thought to have wisteria blue flowers, but when it bloomed for the first time they were lilac. The tree peonies were propagated by British and European nurserymen and soon became highly fashionable. E. H. Krelage, a Dutch nursery, was offering 190 cultivars in 1867 and by the late 1890s the French nursery Louis Paillet was listing 337. The final collection from China was made in 1890.

Chinese tree peonies were widely grown in Europe during the nineteenth century and several nurseries raised their own seedlings, many of which had very double flowers. However, when Japanese tree peonies started to become available in the latter part of the nineteenth century, the Chinese cultivars started to fall from favour. A number of the old varieties continued to be grown, particularly in France, and a few, such as 'Reine Elizabeth' are still available.

Renaissance

China was a closed society for much of the twentieth century and during this time little information reached the West about tree peonies. A colossal number of tree peonies were lost during the Cultural Revolution because they were seen by the Communist regime to represent the bourgeoisie. However, many were also preserved by Chinese claiming they were keeping them for medicinal purposes.

David Furman, of Cricket Hill Garden in Connecticut, first discovered Chinese tree peonies through reading Chinese literature and poetry. In 1964 he saw a series of Chinese stamps illustrated with paintings of tree peonies and then an article in a Chinese magazine called China Reconstructs, which showed pictures of tree peonies growing in a commune in China. He wrote to the magazine and asked where the peonies grew, but his letters to the nurseries remained unanswered. In the late 1980s David's wife, Kasha, read an article written by an official from the Parks Department in Luoyang, and wrote to enquire whether it would be possible to purchase some plants, with the intention of buying ten, but the nursery wrote back saying they would have to take 200. The Furmans sent the money, not knowing whether they would ever see the extremely expensive plants. They also bought a few tree peonies from a trading company in Shanghai, but they proved to be inferior and some never bloomed. Louis Smirnow had imported a few tree peonies from China a few years before, but in several cases the nurseries accepted the payment, but failed to ship the plants.

The first shipment consisted of five cultivars, which arrived during a snowstorm in December 1989 and David and Kasha had to remove the snow from the ground in order to plant them. The plants proved to be extraordinarily hardy and the majority survived to grow in the spring, spurring the Furmans to find better suppliers and investigate which were the best plants to purchase. Since then they have made purchases every year, gradually increasing their range of tree peonies. In 1993 they established Cricket Hill Garden and have spent the past twelve years assessing and increasing the range of cultivars. During this time they have established good working relationships with several Chinese sources and gradually improved the quality of the plants. They have managed to check cultivars are true to name and have also found which tree peonies are most suitable for American gardens.

The Furman's nursery is the only display garden in the U.S.A. that shows the complete range of Chinese tree peonies currently available.