Peony, Chinese Garden (Paeonia lactiflora), packet of 10 seeds

Family:  Peony (Paeoniaceae)

Hardy to Zones 4 to 8

(Chinese Peony, White Peony, Herbaceous Peony, Common Garden Peony, Bai-shao, Chi-shao)  Herbaceous perennial.  Native to China, Tibet and Japan.  Plant tolerates full sun to part shade and will appreciate more shade in warmer zones.  Growing to about 28 inches, the plant makes a bouquet of large, round, fragrant, cup-shaped blossoms that occur in the late spring.  Despite its common name of “white peony,” that refers to the flower color of the wild plant, the colors of peony cultivars will range from red to pink to white.  Traditional usage (TCM): menstrual irregularities, fibroid cysts, inflamed liver.  There is good demand among practitioners of TCM for domestically produced organic peony root.  White peony root (Bai-shou) is composed of the peeled, dried roots of the plant.  Red peony root (Chi-shou) is composed of the roots with the root bark still intact.  This plant likes full sun to part shade and well-drained garden soil. Sow seeds anytime in gallon pots, about an inch deep (the seeds are large). Sow about 10 seeds per pot.  Germination is usually in the first spring after overwintering, but will sometimes take 2 years.*  Patience.  Grow out in the gallon pot for a year before individuating and transplanting up to larger containers, then eventually out to the garden.  Space plants 2 feet apart.

10 seeds/pkt., open pollinated

**Seeds planted on 10/30/2019 germinated on 3/9/2021, a 494 day induction period.  Photo in gallery.  RAC