Paeonia Suffruticosa: A Tale of Golden Elegance

Paeonia suffruticosa is one of the four renowned varieties of peonies. This flower initially blooms in a goose-yellow color, turning golden yellow at full bloom.

The blossoms stand higher than the leaves, blooming uniformly with a full and radiant shape that dazzles the eye and emits a pleasant fragrance. Some flowers even reach a diameter of over a foot, earning it the ancient title of “King of Flowers”.

I. Basic Introduction

Paeonia suffruticosa is a deciduous shrub, featuring a straight stem, fine and hard branches, and short, thick offshoots.

It has normally bi-ternate compound leaves, with wide-oval top leaves that are green on the surface, hairless, pale green on the back, sometimes with white powder, and sparsely short soft hairs or nearly no hairs along the veins.

Each flower grows singly at the branch top, with five different-sized bracts, ovoid in shape; five different-sized, green, wide-oval sepals; and a crown-shaped flower, sometimes appearing as a golden ring.

The flower buds are round and pointed, often cracking at the end; the flowers are pale yellow; the stamens are white at the top, the anthers are oblong; the floral disk is leathery, cup-shaped, and purplish-red; and the pistils are five, densely covered with soft hairs.

The fruit is oblong, densely covered with yellow-brown stiff hairs. The flowering period is in May and the fruiting period is in June.

This mid-sized variety grows strong and blooms at a high rate with a uniform shape and fullness, thus it has been titled “King of Flowers” by ancient people.

II. Common Varieties

This traditional variety first appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty. It has a straight stem, fine and hard branches, round and pointed buds, a medium circular leaf, and the flowers bloom after the leaves.

This flower is radiant, standing tall and graceful, which earned it the ancient title of “King of Flowers”.

III. Characteristics

The Yao Huang peony is a deciduous shrub. It can grow up to 2 meters tall in an upright manner. The branches are fine and hard, with long annual branches and long internodes. The buds are round and pointed.

The leaves are usually bi-ternate compound leaves, occasionally with three leaflets near the branch top; medium round leaves, top leaves being wide-oval, 7-8 cm long, 5.5-7 cm wide, 3-lobed to the middle, lobes undivided or 2-3 shallowly lobed, surface green, hairless, back pale green, sometimes with white powder, thinly short soft hairs or nearly hairless along the veins; total leaf stalk about 13 cm long, relatively thin, slanting; the side leaves are ovate, 4.5-6.5 cm long, 2.5-4 cm wide, with few notches, blunt ends, top leaves drooping, leaf surface yellow-green, nearly stalkless; leaf stalks are 5-11 cm long, and both the leaf stalks and rachis are hairless.

The flowers grow singly at the branch top, 10-17 cm in diameter; the flower stalk is 4-6 cm long; the bracts are five, long-oval, different sizes; the sepals are five, green, wide-oval, different sizes; the flowers are crown-shaped, sometimes appearing as a golden ring.

The flower buds are round and pointed, often cracking at the end; the flowers are pale yellow (8-D); flower diameter 16 cm x 10 cm.

The outer petals are 3-4 rows, rather hard, with purple spots at the base; the inner petals fold tightly, often with residual anthers at the petal ends; the pistils are degenerate or petalized.

The stamens are 1-1.7 cm long, the filaments are purplish-red, pink, the upper part is white, about 1.3 cm long, the anthers are oblong, 4 mm long; the floral disk is leathery, cup-shaped, purplish-red, the top has several sharp teeth or lobes, completely covering the pistils, cracking when the pistils mature; the pistils are five, rarely more, densely covered with soft hairs.

The fruit is oblong, densely covered with yellow-brown stiff hairs. The flower stalk is long and straight, the flower heads straight up. The flowering period is in May and the fruiting period is in June.

IV. Cultivation Method

Planting: The soil should be loose, fertile, and slightly alkaline. Trim any broken or diseased roots from the peony seedlings to be planted, then immerse them in insecticide and fungicide.

Place them in a pre-prepared pot or hole, ensuring the roots are spread out. Fill the pot or hole halfway with soil, then gently lift and shake the seedlings before tamping down the soil. Make sure the root stem is slightly below the surface of the pot or ground.

Watering: After planting, water thoroughly once. Avoid waterlogging as peonies dislike it. Water sparingly during the growing season.

In arid northern regions, water before and after flowering, and when the ground freezes. For potted peonies, remove spent flowers after blooming and bury the pot underground for easier management.

Fertilizing: One year after planting, apply fertilizer in the fall, mainly using mature organic fertilizer. Fertilizer can be spread, sprinkled, or buried. In spring and summer, use more chemical fertilizer, combined with watering before and after flowering. For potted peonies, water with liquid fertilizer.

Pruning: In the planting year, cut the plants back. After spring sprouting, keep about five branches and remove the rest to concentrate nutrients and ensure vibrant flowers the following year.

In autumn and winter, prune dry flower stems and weak, flowerless branches during garden cleanup. For potted peonies, trim to your desired shape.

Cultivating: During the growing season, weed and watch for pests and diseases. In autumn and winter, till the soil around peonies that are two years or older.

Repotting: After three or four years, repot peonies in the fall into a larger pot with fresh fertilized soil, or divide and replant them.

Pest control: Spray with lime sulfur before buds appear in early spring. In summer, use a mix of insecticide and fungicide every two weeks, depending on disease conditions. Combine with fertilizer application, adding chemical fertilizer and growth regulators as needed.

Forcing: To have flowers for holidays or celebrations, increase the temperature of peonies about 50 days in advance, keeping it between 10-25C, averaging around 15C daily.

Keep plants moist early on, ensure good ventilation and light once buds appear, and control temperature according to flowering time. Regularly feed plants through the leaves and ensure adequate water supply to have flowers in winter and spring.

Viewing: A single peony plant blooms for about 10-15 days, which shortens as the temperature rises. A temperature of 3-8C can maintain the blooms for over a month.

For field planting, consider setting up temporary shelters to shield from wind and light, extending the viewing period. For potted peonies, move them to a spot out of direct sunlight, in a temperature of 5-10C, with good ventilation and light.

Water appropriately based on the plant’s appearance and soil moisture, avoid getting water on the flowers for the longest blooming period.

When cutting flowers, cut the stem underwater or burn it to prevent damage. Add preservative or a little sugar to the water to prolong the blooming period of cut flowers.

V. Modes of Propagation

Division

The specific method of propagation by division is as follows: dig up a flourishing peony plant, separating it at the junction of the root system.

The number of divisions depends on the size of the original plant; larger plants can be divided into more sections, smaller ones into fewer. Typically, every 3-4 branches form a division with a complete root system.

Mix a small amount of sulfur powder with mud, and apply it evenly on the roots’ wounds before replanting. The best time for division propagation is from the autumnal equinox to the first frost of the year.

At this time, the air and soil temperature are relatively high, and the peony is in a semi-dormant state, but there is still a considerably long period of nutritional growth.

Division cultivation does not severely affect root growth, and new roots and a small number of shoots can still grow after division planting. If division planting is too late, root growth in that year will be weak, or new roots may not develop.

The next spring, the plants will be weaker, and the roots will be less drought-resistant, leading to an increased chance of death. If division is too early, the high air and soil temperatures can lead to rapid growth, which can cause premature sprouting.

The parent plant for peony division should ideally be a robust cluster. As much of the root tuber as possible should be retained on the mother plant used for division propagation.

All roots on new shoots should also be kept, as they can produce more new shoots after growing for 5 years. Such divisions are more likely to survive after planting and grow more vigorously. The more roots are retained, the more vigorous the growth.

Cutting

Propagation by cutting is a method of producing new plants by taking advantage of the fact that peony branches easily grow adventitious roots, and is one of the asexual propagation methods.

The method is to cut the branches used for cutting first, separate them from the mother plant, then insert them into the soil or other substrates to take root, becoming new plants.

The branches used for peony cutting propagation should be the current year’s soil bud branches growing from the peony root, or branches with full stem and top buds free of pests and diseases, selected when the peony is pruned and shaped, and are 10-18 centimeters long.

The roots of peonies are fleshy, prefer dryness, avoid dampness, and are drought-resistant. Therefore, the seedbed should be chosen in a well-ventilated and sunlit location, and it should be raised for seedling cultivation.

When planting cuttings, water each bed after planting, and water thoroughly each time.