Paeonia lactiflora Boule de Neige

The Chinese Peony Boule de Neige (Paeonia x lactiflora) is an ancient variety of herbaceous Peony acclaimed for the quality of its flowering. It is a robust, highly ornamental perennial that integrates beautifully into the garden. It produces a large number of big double flowers, with pure white petals enclosing a heart where white petals nuanced with red and golden yellow stamens blend together. Robust and faithful, peonies sometimes take a little time to establish themselves, but they grow year after year and can live for more than 50 years. Whether in a bouquet or in the garden, peony flowers are elegant and captivating, enhanced by a gentle and light fragrance.  

Chinese herbaceous peonies are mainly derived from Paeonia lactiflora, a perennial herbaceous plant native to central and eastern Asia (from eastern Tibet, northern China, to eastern Siberia), where it naturally grows in woods and meadows. This plant belongs to the Ranunculaceae or Paeoniaceae family. Herbaceous Peonies, perennial by virtue of their roots, form a clump of foliage that disappears completely in winter.

The Chinese Peony 'Boule de Neige' was obtained by Jacques Calot (France) in the 1960s. From spring onwards the plant forms an herbaceous, compact and bushy clump, reaching 90 cm (35in) in all directions. Its large, very double flowers, 16 to 18 cm (6 to 7in) in diameter, appear rather in mid-season in June, depending on the climate, lasting for about three weeks. They bloom at the end of the stems, but also from a few secondary buds. They emerge as a large creamy white bud slightly marked with red, then open up into double and globular corollas, composed of pure white petals, enclosing a heart where white petals nuanced with red and golden yellow stamens blend together. The growth of this variety is good and it has remarkable longevity. The young foliage, purple and shiny, unfolds into large, dark green, highly dissected leaves. They are borne on a petiole that divides into 3, with lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate segments. The leaflets are entire or sometimes lobed. The vegetation disappears in winter, while the buds that will develop in spring persist at ground level. This long-lived perennial plant grows from a large fleshy root that does not appreciate being moved.

Chinese Peonies are among those plants that form the foundations of a garden. The Boule de Neige peony thrives in borders or alongside pathways, combined with timeless and unpretentious perennials such as Irises, Columbines, bellflowers, perennial geraniums, carnations or Christmas roses. It can also be grown in the vegetable garden to supply cut flowers for the house. Pot cultivation is not recommended, as its needs will not be met. Over time peonies becomes majestic and bloom ever more abundantly, producing up to 60 flowers. By combining different varieties with staggered flowering, it is possible to have blooms for 6 weeks from spring to early summer.