pictures and descriptions by Denis Wilson, Robertson, New South Wales, Australia

view the blog: http://peonyden.blogspot.com/




Paeonia 'Kokko-no-tsukasa'

Destiny

The Tree Peonies in my garden have also been starting to open. This was the first flower to open, this season, on 22 September 2007. This is the classic Australian Tree Peony "Destiny". It is clearly a descendent of the famous Chinese Tree Peony "Rockii". If grown in isolation, "Destiny" comes true to type, from seed, but it has some subtle differences from the true species.

I love this plant, even though it does not last all that well, especially not in hot winds. This flower is a late bloom, on a plant which has mostly finished flowering. Even so, this lovely flower is in good condition, and was about 7 inches (approx 16 cm) wide.

Firstly we have the famous Australian variety of Tree Peony "Destiny". This is a cropped image of the "eye" of this lovely flower. It shows the lovely deep magenta-red "carpel" (the female part of the flower) and the red stamens and the golden stamens. This variety has deep red "flares" (markings) on the petals, which reveal its ancestry as coming from the famous species Paeonia rockii.

Fushakkin?

Good Lady

This is the lovely "Good Lady" - a hybrid Tree Peony bred in Melbourne by Dr Bernard Chow, a famous Tree Peony breeder. This is the flower seen in the very early morning light, as soon as it had opened. After one day of exposure to light, the flower was already showing a considerable colour shift to a lovely soft lilac pink. It is always amazing the tone shifts which this flower achieves. And it will change more in the next few days, as you will see. It has another strong characteristic, and that is the plant is a good strong grower, with lovely healthy foliage. I love this plant. Not only is it "different", it is just a truly charming flower






Carsten Burkhardt's Web Project Paeonia - The Peony Database

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