Big D's Best Peonies for Different Gardens
Not Sure Which Peony is Right For You?
I'm frequently asked which are my favourite peonies of all the many hundred that we grow.
I'm also asked to suggest the most suitable peonies for a beginner, an exposed garden, a shady border, or a selection of peonies to give the longest possible period of interest. Even Mr Titchmarsh himself, called me over for a chat at Chelsea this year to discuss his peonies!
Here is a selection of my recommendations.
Dave Root's Most Favourite Peonies
This is my current
top 10 peonies. Chosen for various reasons, but all of them are sensational and garden worthy.
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Bowl of Beauty
Really reliable and rewarding, a
feel-good
peony. -
Buckeye Belle
Stunning colour, robust habit, great personality.
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Claire de Lune
Unique colour, long lasting blooms.
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Coral Sunset
Huge flowers that perform a spectacular colour transformation.
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Kansas
Marvellous colour, you can spot this one a mile off. Really spectacular and robust.
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Krinkled White
Beautiful foliage, topped by the butterfly wing like flowers.
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Late Windflower
Sublime elegance, beautiful white blooms with feathery foliage.
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Peter Brand
Such a rich colour, dark foliage and a rich spicy scent.
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Shirley Temple
Blowsy and over the top, but incredibly robust and sturdy weather resistent blooms.
Beginner's Top 10 Peonies
This is selection, of easily grown, reliable and rewarding peonies, that are perfect for a first foray into these wonderful garden plants.
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Bowl of Beauty
So easy to grow and very free flowering
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Buckeye Belle
Robust, long lasting flowers. Used in many chelsea gardens, so must be good!
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Coral Charm
Amazing colouring transforming peony, yet easily grown and free flowering
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Dr Alexander Fleming
Wonderful blooms for cutting, yet not too tall growing
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Inspecteur Lavergne
Lovely deep colour, blooms freely as a young plant
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Kansas
Free flowering, easy to grow, large blooms for cutting
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Mother's Choice
Incredibly beautiful flowers, with a robust weather resistant habit
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Reine Hortense
Apple blossom pink, gorgeous, sturdy habit
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Shirley Temple
Impressive in every way, big fragrant flowers, beautiful shades of blush pink and white
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White Wings
Sophisticated elegance, white single flowers, compliments anything
Peonies to Extend the Flowering Season
This selection chooses those peonies which flower particularly early, or particulary late, which are ideal for extending the season of peony flowering. By carefully choosing, it is easy to have peonies in flower from the middle of April until the end of June, especially if your selection includes some of the glamorous and sophisticated Tree Peonies, and the exciting Intersectional Hybrids.
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Claire de Lune
Deep yellow flowers and one of the first to bloom
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Dinner Plate
Huge double pink, and a very late flowering cultivar
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Duchesse de Nemours
A historic early double scented white
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General MacMahon
Rich deep colour, and one of the latest
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Karl Rosenfeld
Late blooming and long lasting
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Late Windflower
Funnily its very early flowering!
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Mons Jules Elie
One of the last pinks to flower
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Mr G F Hemerik
Perhaps the latest Japanese style peony to flower, worth waiting for
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Officinalis Rubra Plena
The classic cottage garden peony, one of the earliest of all to flower
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Peregrina Fire King
Wonderful bright green foliage, with searing irridescent single blooms, often in April
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Sarah Bernhardt
The classic Diva, one of the last to flower, and best staked....but oh the scent!
Peonies for an Exposed Garden
This is a selection of great garden peonies which are either shorter growing, or have particularly robust habits and stems that would not normally need staking, even in an exposed garden. I am making no promises if you live on the top of the Pennines, or beside the sea!, but these are generally the best
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Angel Cheeks
Large blooms but short in height
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Buckeye Belle
Really robust habit, and spectacular flowers
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Duchesse de Nemours
Short flowering, and the classic white peony
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Honey Gold
Quite tall, but very robust. A stunning flower great for cutting
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Jan van Leeuwen
Simple white flowers, and a really robust constitution, and so beautiful
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Krinkled White
Shorter flowering, the delightful flowers withstand the rain so well
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Marie Lemoine
Shorter, lemon white with lovely scent
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Noemi Demay
A little gem with gorgeous pale pink flowers
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Nymphe
Delightfully pink! Robust shorter habit
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Shirley Temple
Ticks all the boxes!, big blowsy flowers, yet such a robust and sturdy habit
The Peony Connoisseurs Selection
Some of the most awesome and spectacular of all the classic peonies. Some are quite tall and will need staking, and others may take a few years to show their largest flowers, but these are plants to treasure.
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Bowl of Cream
Exceptional quality of flower
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Crimson Velvet
Very tall straight habit, with the most majestic of exotic flowers
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Edith Cavell
Of great historic value, yet innocently beautiful
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Globe of Light
A great pomp and circumstance peony of marevellous constitution
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Instituteur Dorait
One of the tallest, yet very strong, remarkable flowers of a rare tint
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James Kelway
Unique shape, form, habit, can be a bit of a handful to manage, but wow!
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Jeanne D'Arc
One of the the most dreamy wonderful classic peonies ever
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Le Cynge
A classic french white, of stunning habit and form
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Monsieur Martin Cahuzac
Dark and enticing with a rich scent
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Moonrise
A new breed of hybrids of the most beautiful yellow