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Paeonia tenuifolia
Fern leaf peony is a hardy, hairless perennial with finely divided, thread-like leaves and single deep crimson, cup-shaped flowers held above the foliage. It thrives in full sun, cold winters and hot, dry summers, and it is easy to grow in temperate gardens.
Paeonia tenuifolia is a herbaceous species of peony that is called the steppe peony or the fern leaf peony. It is native to the Caucasus Mountains, with large fields found in Vashlivani National Park in Georgia and the Black Sea coast of Ukraine, spreading westward into Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia and eastward to northwestern Kazakhstan. It was described by Linnaeus in 1759. The leaves are finely divided into almost thread-like segments and grow close together on the stems. This peony can reach 30–60 cm (12–24 in) in height. The scented red flowers have numerous yellow stamens in the centre.
This hardy species is an attractive plant for the garden which is easy to grow and hardy in temperate zones. Still, as an inhabitant of the steppes of southern Russia and Kazakhstan, it is adapted to growing in the full sun and experiencing cold winters, and dry, hot summers, and it is susceptible to moult development on its leaves during prolonged wet spells. It has been in cultivation in Germany since 1594, and was introduced to England in 1765 and America in 1806. There are several cultivars and hybrids known to be in cultivation:
Paeonia tenuifolia 'Rosea' has pink flowers
P. tenuifolia flowers earlier than other peonies, and dies down early too. This is probably because it grows in steppes, with dry and hot summers. The seeds of this species germinate above the soil in full light, which is exceptional among peonies.
Algerian Peony · Anomalous Peony · Paeonia arietina · Paeonia broteri · Brown's peony · California peony · Paeonia cambessedesii · Clusius' Peony · Paeonia coriacea · Paeonia corsica · Paeonia daurica subsp. macrophylla · Paeonia daurica subsp. mlokosewitschii
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Paeonia tenuifolia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
