Paeonia lactiflora Karl Rosenfield

The flower of the Karl Rosenfield Peony is a pure and brilliant raspberry red, double and fragrant. This quite old Chinese peony is a floriferous plant, as wonderful in bouquets as it is easy to grow in the garden. This variety blooms in May-June, in the middle or at the end of the peony season, above dark green foliage. Robust and faithful, herbaceous peonies sometimes take a little time to establish themselves, but they grow year after year and can live for more than 50 years, outliving the one who planted them.

Chinese herbaceous peonies mainly come from Paeonia lactiflora, a perennial herbaceous plant native to central and eastern Asia (from eastern Tibet and northern China to eastern Siberia), where it naturally grows in woods and meadows. This plant belongs to the Ranunculaceae or Paeoniaceae family.

The Karl Rosenfield variety was introduced in 1908 by Rosenfield. The plant forms a bushy herbaceous clump from spring onwards, reaching 85 cm (34in) in all directions. Its 13 cm (5in) diameter flowers, double, appear in May-June, earlier or later depending on the climate, and last for about two weeks. They are born as a large garnet bud, then open up into a skillfully disordered pompom. Their colour is a very bright crimson red with a slight blue component. The outer petals are large and undulate while the central petals are smaller, tousled and fringed. The raspberry red colour is accentuated by the petals' very shiny texture. The vegetation of this variety is medium. The young purple and shiny foliage unfolds into large, very finely cut dark green leaves. They are carried on a petiole that divides into 3, with lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate segments. The leaflets are entire or sometimes lobed. They disappear in winter, while the buds that will develop in spring persist at ground level. This very perennial plant grows from a large fleshy root that does not appreciate being moved.

Peonies are among those plants that form the foundations of a garden. In the past every garden, from the most modest to the most elaborate, proudly displayed clumps of peonies covered with flowers that made their way into the house, keeping purple lilacs and blue campanulas company in bouquets. Opulent and generous, the Chinese Rosenfield peony will settle in a flowerbed or alongside a path, combined with timeless and unpretentious perennials such as columbines, campanulas, hollyhocks, carnations, or Christmas roses. It can also be grown in the vegetable garden to supply cut flowers for the house. Only pot cultivation is not recommended, as its needs will not be met. Over time the peony becomes majestic and blooms more and more abundantly, producing up to 60 flowers.