Paeonia lutea Alice Harding - Tree Peony

Paeonia 'Alice Harding' is an old French hybrid peony that is semi-shrub. It is a robust and accommodating hybrid, with a rather fast growth for a shrubby peony, featuring a late double flowering with a subtle lemony scent, and a light and pure yellow colour. Although not very tall, the shrub is vigorous and adorned with lush foliage in a beautiful apple green colour. Hardy and easy to grow in any good garden soil, it will live for many years without requiring much care, after careful planting. A mature shrubby peony needs no description, it is simply admired, either in isolation or in the foreground of a shrub border.

Peony 'Alice Harding' is one of the first yellow-flowered varieties. It carries the genes of Paeonia delavayi var. lutea, endemic to the undergrowth of southwest China, less demanding than other shrubby peonies but also slightly less hardy. Its other parent is P. lactiflora 'Kinko', a herbaceous and perennial peony variety obtained in Japan. These two peonies from the Far East are very cold-resistant. They belong to the buttercup family. 'Alice Harding' forms a slightly branching shrub, with slightly woody stems and a rounded habit, usually reaching 80 cm (32in) in all directions. The short and erect branches bear deciduous leaves, which appear in spring and fall in autumn. They are divided into long lanceolate leaflets, very smooth, strongly veined, reddish when buds burst open and quickly becoming light green on the upper side, bluish green underneath. The autumn colours are often very beautiful, before the leaves fall.

The flowers last for 3 weeks in May-June, it is one of the last shrubby peonies to bloom in the garden. A 3-year-old plant will bear a single flower, then more and more over time. A 20-year-old plant will have about fifty very large solitary buds, green and round from the end of winter at the tip of the new shoots. They then open into magnificent double to semi-double corollas measuring 12 to 14 cm (5 to 6in) in diameter, pendulous, hanging above the foliage. The multiple light lemon yellow petals, with a barely visible red base, surround a centre occupied by golden yellow stamens, hidden in all their frills but still visible at the end of flowering. Their very sweet fragrance, reminiscent of lilies, reveals citrus notes.

The shrub peony is not a plant for impatient gardeners. It takes its time, but the years of patience are rewarded with the fabulous spectacle created by this opulent shrub laden with enormous flowers in spring.  In the garden, peony 'Alice Harding' should preferably be planted a little higher to be able to admire its trailing flowers. Plant it, for example, in a raised bed against a wall, in front of a hedge, or in a large pot on the wall that borders the terrace. Always choose a location sheltered from the wind, airy, and bright. Its yellow flowers will be enhanced by those of other white, red (Paeonia tenuifolia), or orange peonies, as well as English roses in salmon tones (Grace, Lady of Shalott). This variety also pairs well with other perennials such as blue irises, bellflowers, or catmints.