Chinese Tree Peonies

Chinese tree peonies, also known as Paeonia suffruticosa to botanists, are among the most elegant, vibrantly colored flowers you will ever come across. In fact, tree peonies are so prized that the Chinese call them their National Flower. For over 1,300 years, tree peonies have been growing in China on hillsides, coloring the landscape with their extraordinary color and infusing the air with the most invigorating scents. The flowers can reach 12 inches in diameter and five inches in depth, and their fragrance ranges from mild to strong.

One of the most appealing aspects of growing Chinese tree peonies in your garden, aside from their colorful beauty, is their heady fragrance. If you were to stroll through our peony garden at Cricket Hill Gardens in Thomaston, what your nose would detect would be scents of lemon, spice, woods, and even sweet, rose-like aromas. We would argue that the fragrance from a peony is unparalleled, and certainly no other flower comes close . . . even the rose.

Chinese tree peonies grow in USDA Zones 4 through 9 in the United States, which is essentially from southern Minnesota to California. There is a misconception that tree peonies need a deep freeze in order to bloom well in the spring. The truth is that they merely need to go into a dormant period in order to reach their full potential. If there is no frost where you live, in November it is important that you trim off the leaves, not the woody branches, as this will put the plant into a resting stage.

Experience the Glory of Chinese Tree Peonies
If you live in Connecticut, we invite you to come visit our garden during our Peony Festival in May to experience the beauty and elegance of Chinese tree peonies. We can help you choose a plant to take home and grow in your own garden, if you become enraptured by this lovely flower. For those far away, we do ship our plants in dormancy. This period is early spring, in March, and then for a longer period in the fall from September into November.