Paeonia delavayi
I want to spec a lovely tree paeony with gorgeous velvet red flowers with yellow centres, as shown in my book under the name 'Paeonia delavayi var. lutea'.
Trouble is, when I look online, that variety comes up as pure yellow. When I look for straight Paeonia delavayi, I get crimson with a black centre. Closer to what I want but still not quite right. Any ideas which variety I am after?
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lutea means yellow.
There are forms of P. delavayi where the stamens etc. in the centre are more yellow in colour than others. You would need to buy one in flower.
The pure yellow one is also known as Paeonia lutea var. ludlowii
Have a look at Kelways website.
I think you should look at Paeonia suffruticosa varieties...
you might like one of these... at a price...http://www.treepeony.co.uk/peony.html
Bingo! From Kelways -
lutea var. delavayi - A spreading shrub, ultimately reaching 150cm in height. Its deeply dissected leaves are tinted red. The flowers are approximately 7cm in diameter and vary in colour from plant to plant, usually deep blood red, but occasionally orange or even striped.
I must admit I thought P. lutea and P. delavayi were separate species, but there seems to be some disagreement or overlap. Seems the name of the plant is slightly variable, as are the flowers!
I grew both the red and yellow forms from seed. The yellow is by far the best plant, very tall and covered with large flowers in its season (at the moment it's dropping its leaves all over the place!). The red ones have disappointing small flowers and only grow to a couple of feet. So probably worth only buying in flower to make sure you get a good one.
I've got plenty of seeds of the yellow form, send me a PM if you want a few.
I agree the yellow being best, though my red one is 4 or 5 foot tall. Small flowers for 5 minutes.
All bit short flowering for much garden impact.
and my red one produces red babies very rarely, muddy yellow and blotchy orange more often
In the sticks near Peterborough
The yellow one is great, I once dug up some self-set seedlings from Pershore College (when I was a student - they were in the garden of our accommodation block!) They became beautiful large plants in my mum's garden. I don't think I ever saw them in flower but the foliage was excellent.
Orange/red colours would be better for the scheme I am working on though.
I've grown a couple of the yellow variety from seed. I planted the seeds in pots in 2012 - and only now have plants a couple of feet tall! You obviously have to be really patient if growing from seed. Good luck!
Thanks to Landgirl for those seeds - they germinated this winter and I now have 9 lovely seedlings
Another year on...!
Exciting isn't it.
In the sticks near Peterborough