Paeonia lactiflora Sarah Bernhardt

The Sarah Bernhardt hybrid peony is a very vigorous perennial with a bushy habit. Floriferous, this peony has charming flowering on branches that disappear in winter and reappear in spring. This flower, one of the most beautiful in the garden, blooms from May to June, producing beautiful and large very fragrant double flowers. These flowers are silvery pink with a salmon-coloured heart and a fine white border, opening up like pompoms and resembling lovely pink cabbages. They become lighter in the sun. The large crinkled petals are found on the outer edges of the flower, while the central ones are smaller but more numerous.

Its deciduous leaves are a generous bright green, divided and fleshy. At maturity, the Sarah Bernhardt Peony can reach a height of 80cm (32in) to 1m (3ft). It is an elegant flower in a vase and will also enhance your flowerbeds and borders. You can grow them in groups with other perennials, old roses, or even mix them with grasses. They can also decorate lawns as a solitary specimen. For flowering throughout spring and summer, associate them with perennials that bloom before or after them, such as phlox, chrysanthemums, and campanulas.

This Paeonia adds charm to the pathways of a vegetable garden, at the foot of fruit trees, just like in traditional vegetable plots. Herbaceous peonies remind us of the scents and beauty of our grandparents' gardens, where they were often present.

Our bouquet tip: Cut your peonies at sunrise when the buds start to colour.