Tree Paeony

[Ray]

Some time ago I bought some tube stock of the Tree paeony lutea ludlowii amongst them was one that had different leaves,so I planted it in my own garden and this is what I got,so does anybody know if it has a name. thanks Ray

[annew]

Wow, it's lovely!

[annew]

By the way, I can see by the state of your hands that you ARE a proper gardener! 

[Paul T]

Ray,

I can probably tell you where you got your tube stock from, at least I think I can guess who (but I will not mention publicly).  If so, it isn't necessarily surprising that there were mistakes in there.  I'll check back through my pictures as that flower and leaf combination is ringing bells.  I am not sure that the flower is going to stay that small though, if that is it's first flowering.  I am also assuming that these were not seedlings?

[Ray]

Hi Paul,this Paeony has been flowering for a few years and the flowers are not getting bigger.I have grown some on from seeds but sold them off berore they flowered,but and keeping some now to see if they grow true to seed maybe by the end of the year I will know.bye Ray

[Paul T]

Ray,

Does that mean the picture you have shown is of a seedling?  If so, it is a lutea hybrid and there won't be a name for it.  It could only have a name if it is a species, or is a direct propagation from a named cultivar.  There are exceptions to this rule where you have stabilised seedling strains, but that wouldn't apply in this case.

Whatever it is it is a very nice flower, with great leaves.  If it is a smaller flower then it is throwing back more towards the species.

[Ray]

Hi Paul,as far as i know this tree is a seedling,i dont think the tube stock co grew them by division. If the seedlings that grow from this tree have the same flower as the parent what does that mean.bye Ray

[Maggi Young]

Hi Paul,as far as i know this tree is a seedling,i dont think the tube stock co grew them by division. If the seedlings that grow from this tree have the same flower as the parent what does that mean.bye Ray

Then that means you could be on to a winner with a stable plant of that colour!

[Paul T]

Ray,

As Maggi says, it may mean that you have some sort of stability of seed line, but you still shouldn't be putting a name on it the same as the parent.  Alternatively, if the seedlings are the same as the parent it may mean that you have a species parent, which obviously should throw identical seedlings to itself (or it wouldn't be a species!!).  Even then, discrepencies appear when pollen from another paeony ends up creating hybrids.  I would just be enjoying your plant (I know I would) and not needing a name for it.  Is it one of the stoloniferous ones (i.e putting up offsets at a short distance from the main plant?  Some of them do that quite freely (my 'Kinshe', which I think may actually be 'Souvenir de Maxim Cornu' (spelling?) has produced a few offsets about itself this way) and are a good way of propagating and sharing.  I rather like the smaller flowers on yours.... I think that many of the species Paeonia have a lot more charm than the big (and ugly in some cases) hybrids.  That said, I adore some of the big hybrids as well and have a small collection myself.

[Lesley Cox]

If it's a seedling in a batch of P lutea ludlowii, I'd suggest it could be a hybrid with P. delavayi. They do cross readily and give lovely bronzy/orangey shades, some nicely fragrant, as is P delavayi.

[Regelian]

I agree totally with Lesley, as I have quite a few hybrids of P. delavayi that look similar.  I collected my seed in the Flora Köln from under the P. delavayi and there are various other 'species' in the area, including P. potanini and P. lutea (ludlowii).  Yours is a particularly fine form, though.  I find the Moutan Paeonia species to be particularly fecund, even with doubled cultivars and quite a few seedlings are popping up inder my P. High Noon.  Seed having fallen from a delavayi x ludlowii seedling.

Here is a seedling from my original P. delavayi group.