Paeonia 'Felix Crousse'
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Paeonia 'Felix Crousse': Old-School Crimson, Zero Apologies
'Felix Crousse' wears a wide collar of guard petals around a crimson bomb of a bloom, like a velvet ruff at a costume party. Bold, raspberry red and impossible to ignore. DRESSED TO IMPRESS. FLOWERS ONLY.
Plant Characteristics:
- Botanical Name: Paeonia lactiflora 'Felix Crousse'
- Common Name: Garden Peony
- Height: 70â85 cm (28â33 in)
- Spread: 90 cm (3 ft)
- Flowers: Fully double, bomb-shaped blooms in crimson to raspberry red, with a wide collar of guard petals
- Bloom Time: Early summer (June)
- Foliage: Glossy, dark green, divided leaves on a bushy clump
- Features: Long-lived
Where to Plant: Use it as a bold accent in a sunny border, in a row along a driveway, or in the cutting garden. It blooms a little later than many peonies, so it helps stretch the season. Give it a permanent spot, since it's long-lived.
Companion Plants: Give crimson 'Felix Crousse' a sunny or part-shade bed with white hellebores, violet spikes and apricot daylilies. Helleborus HGCÂź Frosty opens creamy white flowers at 20 to 30 cm from March to May. Veronica 'Royal Rembrandt' adds violet-purple spikes at 46 to 51 cm in July and August. Hemerocallis 'Awesome Blossom' brings rose to apricot daylilies at 60 cm from July to September. Calamagrostis 'Eldorado' rises behind at 120 to 150 cm with gold-striped blades.
Plant Care: Plant in full sun to part sun, in rich, well-drained soil. Set the eyes on the crown no more than 5 cm (2 in) below the soil surface. Planting too deep is the classic reason a peony won't bloom. Water well through the first season. The full, heavy flowers can flop after rain, so set a peony ring over the clump in early spring. Deadhead spent blooms. Cut the stems to the ground in fall and remove the old foliage. It doesn't need dividing and resents being moved.
History: 'Felix Crousse' was introduced in France in 1881 by the peony breeder Crousse and has also been sold as 'Victor Hugo'. Peony writers have ranked it among the best reds for well over a century.
Final Thoughts: Long-lived and low maintenance, with deer that keep their distance. Plant it wherever red is needed. NOBODY ELSE CAN PULL OFF THAT COLLAR.