Dear Gardener,
If your sense of gardening
is similar to ours, you are constantly on the lookout
for new and interesting material to add to your garden.
This is the way we first became interested in Chinese
tree peonies (mudan). We read of their praise in poetry,
saw representations in paintings and could recognize their
design in ceramics and carpets. The tree peony is everywhere
in Chinese art.
As we began to experiment
with growing these plants from China in the late 80's,
and saw their flowers bloom, we became convinced that
these abstractions in art missed the mark. The flowers
were far more spectacular than their representations.
And we found many of our friends agreed with us.
We invite you to our
annual Peony Festival.
Bloom time for tree peonies is usually mid-May to
early June; herbaceous peonies bloom late May to mid-June.
You will see about 200 varieties of tree peonies and 30
varieties of herbaceous peonies in glorious bloom, set
in our terraced, 4-acre display garden here in northwestern
Connecticut. Plants in root control bags are available
for purchase and may be picked up at the nursery.
The Peony Fairy invited
us to visit China during the 1999 and 2000 blooming seasons.
We we able to see growing conditions, discuss fertilization,
observe new varieties and examples of a range of colors
and flower shapes of the hundreds of cultivars grown there.
Click here to
view pictures from both our trips.
We test all peonies
in our garden/nursery before we offer them for sale. That
way you are insured of getting the best varieties, suited
for American gardens.
All our tree peonies
have 3-5 branches and are 4 years old, while our herbaceous
peonies are 4-5 eye roots. This attention to quality means
that you will have the best stock available, and the peonies
will establish sooner for your blooming pleasure. Order
now to get first choice of inventory. We will tag
your plants, nurture them this spring and summer and ship
them at the proper time this fall.
Our Guarantee: We replace
any plant that does not grow the first spring. Our success
rate is more than 99%, so we are sure you will be pleased.
Last spring, the New
York Botanical Garden, created a Chinese tree peony
exhibition. They purchased 250 older mudan from Cricket
Hill Garden/Peony Heaven and displayed them in a special
exhibition in the Enid Haupt Conservatory. More than 40,000
visitors came to view the National Flowers of China in
bloom. Our Peony Heaven plants are now part of the permanent
collection at the New York Botanical Garden.
From
Peony Heaven,
