Family:  Peony (Paeoniaceae)

Hardy to Zones 3 to 8

(Western Peony, Native Peony, Brown’s Peony)   Native to the western United States, growing at elevations up to 9,800 feet.    Herbaceous perennial flowering maroon to a height of 12 to 18 inches.  Traditional usage (TNAM): roots made into a tea for treating cough, pneumonia, gastrointestinal and kidney maladies.  Laxative, antiiinflammatory, antispasmodic, immunotonic. The plants thrive best in colder zones in fast-draining soils that dry out in the summer.  Flowering April to June, summer dormant. Found in habitat associating with pine, sagebrush, ceanothus, manzanita, balsamorrhiza and lomatium.  In cultivation, does well in the full-sun rockery or in the part shade of pines.  Soak the seeds for up to 3 days, changing water daily, before planting 1/2- to 1- inch deep in gritty soil.  Sow in outdoor conditions in the summer to fall.  These are 2-phase germinators, making a root during cold phase and aerial parts during warm phase.  Germination is usually in the first spring after overwintering, but will sometimes take 2 years. Alternatively,  give 4 weeks moist warm, 4 months moist refrigeration, then move to warm conditions.   Grow out in a gallon pot of gritty soil for a year before transplanting to garden.  Space plants 1 to 2 feet apart.

5 seeds/pkt, Open Pollinated, Untreated, NO GMO’s