Paeonia 'Primevère'
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Paeonia 'Primevère': White and Butter-Yellow, Sunny Side Up
'Primevère' looks like somebody set a lemon tart on a white lace doily and walked away. Creamy outer petals, a canary-yellow cushion in the middle and a perfume that makes people lean in way too close. THE DESSERT TABLE IS NOW OPEN.
Plant Characteristics:
- Botanical Name: Paeonia lactiflora 'Primevère'
- Common Name: Garden Peony
- Height: 90 cm (3 ft)
- Spread: 90 cm (3 ft)
- Flowers: Anemone form; creamy white guard petals around a cushion of canary-yellow petaloids that fade to cream; fragrant
- Bloom Time: Late spring to early summer (May to June)
- Foliage: Deep green and divided, on an upright, tidy clump
- Features: Fragrant, long-lived, good cut flower
Where to Plant: Its soft white and yellow work in nearly any colour scheme, so plant it in a white or moonlight garden, a cottage border, or anywhere yellow and blue meet. It's a lovely, sweet-scented cut flower, so give it a spot where you can cut stems at the soft-bud stage.
Companion Plants: Give 'Primevère' a sunny or part-shade bed with scarlet geum, rusty red daylilies and rosy-purple spikes. Geum 'Blazing Sunset' adds double scarlet flowers at 55 to 60 cm from May to July. Veronica 'Very Van Gogh' brings rosy-purple spikes at 46 to 51 cm in July and August. Hemerocallis 'Red Rum' adds rusty red daylilies at 35 to 40 cm in July and August. Miscanthus 'Silberfeder' rises behind at 180 to 225 cm with silvery plumes.
Plant Care: Give it full sun and rich, well-drained soil. Set the eyes no deeper than 5 cm (2 in) below the surface. Planting too deep is the usual reason a peony won't flower. Keep it watered through the first season. Established plants are tough and handle dry spells. A peony ring helps keep the flowers upright after heavy rain. Cut foliage to the ground in fall and remove it. Avoid moving the clump. If you need to divide, September is the time.
History: 'Primevère' was introduced by the famous Lemoine nursery of Nancy, France, in 1907, and the name is French for primrose, a nod to the pale yellow centre. French breeders like Lemoine shaped many of the garden peonies still grown today.
Final Thoughts: Peonies outlive mortgages, marriages and most patio furniture. Plant this one now and let your grandkids fight over the divisions. IT'S IN THE WILL.