Tree Peonies
Dolores DeFina Hope Tree Peony Collection
March–May
In early May, a shady plateau above the Rose Garden becomes one of the Garden’s grandest spectacles with the flowering of the more than 100 mature specimens in the Dolores DeFina Hope Tree Peony Collection. Tree peonies, close relatives of the popular garden peony, are actually low shrubs with stout stems and softball-sized flowers. The cultivars in this collection hail from China and feature enchanting names like ‘Lotus That Shines in the Sun’ and ‘Dragon Coiled in the Mist Grasping a Purple Pearl’. They are a not-to-be-missed highlight just before the Rose Garden springs to life.
Real-time bloom tracking
Additional Information
Tree Peonies
Tree peonies are small shrubs with persistent woody branches that bloom from late April into early May. Most tree peonies are Chinese hybrids known as Paeonia × suffriticosa, of which there are hundreds of colorful cultivars, including Paeonia ‘He Hua Ying Ri’ which translates to “lotus that shines in the sun” and Paeonia ‘Chuan Tao Hua’ which translates to “Sichuan peach blossom.” The Hope Tree Peony Collection also features wild-type peonies such as Paeonia rockii and Paeonia ostii.
Itoh Peonies
Intersectional peonies, also known as Itoh hybrids, result from a cross between a tree peony and an herbaceous peony. These peonies produce tree peony-like flowers and leaves on plants that behave like herbaceous peonies, dying down to the ground in winter and reemerging each spring. They bloom later than tree peonies, from mid- to late-May.
Bloom Calendar
Bloom status graph by date
Bloom status graph legend
- Tree Peonies
- Itoh Peonies
