Paeonia lactiflora Madame Emile Debatène

The Herbaceous Peony Madame Emile Debatène is a variety of lush and particularly floriferous Paeonia lactiflora, producing several flowers per stem. This variety, which is quite late, bears large, double and globular flowers in spring, slightly scented, in two shades of pink. Blooming widely, they display a pompom-like centre where silver-pink petals are tightly packed, standing out in the middle of a corolla of larger petals in intense pink. The number and weight of the flowers often require staking of the tall stems. Provide this very beautiful variety with a fertile, always fresh, loose, and deep soil that matches its generosity.

Chinese herbaceous peonies mainly come from Paeonia lactiflora, a perennial herbaceous plant native to central and eastern Asia (from eastern Tibet and northern China to eastern Siberia), where it naturally grows in woods and meadows. This plant belongs to the Ranunculaceae or Paeoniaceae family.

The Madame Emile Debatène variety is a French horticultural creation dating back to 1927. The plant forms an herbaceous and bushy clump from spring onwards, which can reach 90 cm (35in) or more, in all directions. Its large flowers, 15-16 cm (6in) in diameter, appear in late May or early June, depending on the climate, lasting for about two weeks. In this variety, each stem carries a fully double terminal flower and several flowers emerging from secondary, semi-double buds. The large dark pink buds open into a wide corolla with wide concave outer petals, while the inner petals, actually stamens transformed into petals, are paler, narrower, and sparser. The growth of this variety is vigorous, and its lush foliage often turns bronze in autumn. The young, purple, and shiny foliage unfurls into large, very dark green leaves, deeply cut. They are carried on a petiole that divides into 3, with lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate segments. The leaflets are entire or sometimes lobed. They disappear in winter, while the buds that will develop in spring persist at ground level. This very perennial plant grows from a large fleshy root that does not appreciate being moved. Note that this Madame Emile Debatène variety resists diseases well.

Peonies are among those plants that form the foundations of a garden. In the past every garden, from the humblest to the most elaborate, proudly displayed clumps covered in flowers that made their way into the house, keeping company in bouquets with lilacs and blue bellflowers. Generous and opulent, the Chinese peony Madame Emile Debatène can be planted in a bed or alongside a path, associated with timeless perennials such as columbines, bellflowers, hollyhocks, carnations, lady's mantle, or perennial delphiniums. It can also be grown in the vegetable garden to supply cut flowers for the house. Only pot cultivation is not recommended, as its needs will not be met. Over time, the peony becomes majestic and blooms more abundantly, producing up to 60 flowers. It can live in the same spot for 50 long years.