Paeonia 'Julia Rose'

Paeonia 'Julia Rose': Cherry Red That Melts to Salmon and Gold

'Julia Rose' opens cherry red, mellows to salmon-orange and finishes in creamy yellow, like a mood ring with petals. Every plant shows every colour at once. HOW ARE YOU FEELING TODAY? ALL OF IT.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Paeonia Itoh Group (intersectional hybrid)
• Common Name: Itoh Peony, Intersectional Peony
• Height: 65–80 cm (26–31 in)
• Spread: 75–90 cm (30–35 in)
• Flowers: Large single to semi-double blooms that open cherry red and fade to salmon-orange and creamy yellow
• Bloom Time: Late spring to early summer (May to June)
• Foliage: Deeply cut green leaves like a tree peony, on a broad, bushy mound
• Features: No staking needed

Where to Plant: Give it a sunny spot in the middle of a border where its wide mound has room, or let it stand alone as a feature plant. The leaves stay attractive long after the flowers finish, so it holds its place all season.

Companion Plants: Plant Itoh 'Julia Rose' in a sunny or part-shade bed with pink bee balm, white lilies and apricot daylilies. Monarda Sugar Buzz® 'Pink Frosting' adds pastel pink bee balm at 35 to 40 cm in July and August. Hemerocallis 'Awesome Blossom' brings rose to apricot daylilies at 60 cm from July to September. Lilium 'Casa Blanca' adds fragrant white lilies at 90 to 120 cm in July and August. Miscanthus 'Huron Sunrise' rises behind at 150 to 180 cm with red-tinged plumes.

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. Like other Itoh peonies, the stems die back in cold winters. Cut them down to a few centimetres above the soil in late fall. It takes a few seasons to reach full flowering, then keeps adding more blooms each year. Don't move it once it's settled.

History: 'Julia Rose' was bred by Roger Anderson in Wisconsin, one of the best-known American breeders of Itoh peonies, and introduced around 1991. Itoh peonies take their name from Japanese breeder Toichi Itoh, who made the first successful cross between a garden peony and a tree peony.

Final Thoughts: No staking, deer resistant, and the bees love the open flowers. Plant one and let it change its mind all season. INDECISIVE NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD.