'Duchesse de Nemours' Peony

Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit

Paeonia 'Duchesse de Nemours' is a hardy deciduous perennial offering late spring to early summer interest. An old standard, highly popular for over 150 years, the plant sets dreamy fully double blooms with cupped white guard petals and dense, frilly light-yellow centers. Borne singly on long, erect, red-tinged stems, the large—up to almost 8 inches—very fragrant blooms attract butterflies and make excellent cuts for romantic floral bouquets.

Typical of Paeonia lactiflora, commonly known as common garden peony or Chinese peony, 'Duchesse de Nemours' is a clump-forming herbaceous plant. It has a fast growth rate and a rounded, shrubby habit of glossy green foliage divided into oval to lance-shaped leaflets. This peony makes a beautiful specimen but is shown to best effect when grouped or massed in mixed beds and borders. It's a lovely back drop for spring bulbs and a good companion plant for hydrangea, philadelphus, campanula, echinacea, and phlox.

Easy to grow and low maintenance, Paeonia 'Duchesse de Nemours' prefers full sun to part shade and rich, fertile, medium moisture, well-drained soil but tolerates clay soil. It appreciates some afternoon shade, especially in hot summer climates, and should be sheltered from strong winds and watered regularly, more often in extreme heat. Deer and rabbit resistant.