Itoh Peony 'Strawberry Crème Brûlée'

Apricot to cream with watermelon and rose pink blushes. The semi to double flowers fade gracefully with age, bringing you a lasting and ever changing display. A mid season variety with good healthy and lush foliage. Blooms stretch up to 17cm across with up to six on a stem.

Registered by Donald Smith USA 2003.

Itoh Peonies have all the luxuries without the heavy lifting. They are easier to care and boast exceptional disease resistance, their flowers last longer and open over an increased period. Their stems are more robust so are less likely to need staking, holding multiple XL blooms on each. Itoh Peonies are more forbearing of heat and humidity, so a good choice to trial if you don’t get frost. The blooms have a soft perfume and there is a wide range of colours to choose from. The leaves are like the Tree Peony and they die back over winter like the Herbaceous Peonies. They are just as long lived too, with the right care can last a century or more.

Itoh Peonies are an intersectional cross of Tree Peonies, Paeonia lutea and Herbaceous Peonies, P. lactiflora – for this reason they are also known as Intersectional Peonies. Toichi Itoh of Japan was the first breeder to successfully combine the two, in 1948, and they are named in his honour. Sadly the crosses took so long he never saw them flower, but he did pave the way for future generations to enjoy them and his plants are still growing strong. Their complicated cross can take 15-20 years from breeding to bring them to market, so they remain rare and valued treasures.

Bear in mind, you will have to be patient to enjoy the flowers of Peonies as they need a little time to establish their roots – they have big blooms to fuel. But the wait will be justified for many years to come as they are extremely long lived. It can take two to three years, depending on conditions to get a good display. They might not look like they are doing much above the ground, but under the soil they are working hard. Mature plants can have a rootball that weighs almost 30kg and stretches up to 90cm across – this takes time to develop.

Peonies are heavy feeders, so you need to fertilise them regularly (Anzac Day and Cup Day are easy ways to remember when). They like lime, and lot’s of it, so be sure to indulge them. Plant your Peonies just beneath the surface with around 2cm of soil covering them. If they are too deep, they won’t flower well for you.

Peonies need cold winters (3-7C nights at least for around six weeks) for best flowers. As a general rule, if apples can grow so can Peonies.

If your climate doesn’t get that cold, but you still want to try your luck, Tree Peonies need a bit less cold so you could give them a try. But if you still can’t resist their charms, to give them the best chance in warmer climates you should seek out a cool spot, with shelter from the hot afternoon sun. Ideally you should mulch well (but not too close to the tuber it needs to remain shallow). They need a winter rest, so if they aren’t naturally going dormant, you can force them into it by cutting them back hard in early winter. Freeze an ice cream tub of water and put it on their roots overnight in July to give them a bit of a chill – don’t let this allow them to become waterlogged though. All these things will give you the best chance.