Paeonia lactiflora Diana Parks

Paeonia lactiflora Diana Parks is a hybrid herbaceous Peony with generous, bright and fragrant flowering that attracts the attention. It is an early flowering variety that produces a large number of very double flowers, of a bright carmine red, composed of rounded petals on the outside and laciniate on the inside, without stamens.  The intensity and brightness of this stunning flowering will make a big impact in a bouquet or in the garden.

Chinese herbaceous peonies mainly come 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 completely disappears in winter.

The Chinese Peony Diana Parks was obtained by William S. Bockstoce in Pennsylvania (United States) in 1942. It is the result of hybridisation between Paeonia officinalis and P. lactiflora. From spring onwards the plant forms a herbaceous, bushy and compact clump, reaching 90 cm (35in) in all directions. Its large double flowers, 14 to 16 cm (6in) in diameter, appear rather early, around the end of May depending on the climate, lasting for about three weeks. They grow at the end of the stems but also from some secondary buds. They emerge as a scarlet red bud and then open into a dense and balanced large pompom of carmine red, without stamens. The vegetation of this variety is good and it has remarkable longevity. The young foliage, purple and shiny, unfolds into large dark green, deeply cut 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 persist at ground level and will develop again in spring. This long-lived perennial plant grows from a large fleshy root that does not appreciate being moved.

Chinese peonies are among those plants that constitute the foundation of the garden. The Diana Parks peony can be planted 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.