Paeonia 'Blaze' - Peony

Get ready for your garden to ignite with the 'Blaze' Peony! This classic and robust herbaceous peony brightens the season with its bright red flowers and golden centre, appearing before many other peonies. With its wavy petals and sturdy habit, 'Blaze' will bring a touch of dynamism to your flower beds for decades to come.

Characteristics

• Foliage : The foliage is dark green, dense, and attractive, forming an excellent backdrop for other flowers from spring until frost.
• Bloom : Produces single to semi-double flowers, a striking bright red with slightly wavy or lobed petals. Each flower, nearly 13 cm (5 inches) across, forms a bowl around a prominent centre of bright golden stamens. Blooming is very early for a peony, appearing in mid to late spring. The flowers are lightly fragrant.
• Light : Prefers full sun but tolerates partial shade (morning sun exposure, afternoon shade). Good light is essential for abundant flowering.
• Habit : Its habit is upright and clumping, with a solid and compact form that generally does not require staking.
• Growth : Growth is slow. Mature plants reach a height of about 80 to 90 cm (32 to 36 inches) and a similar spread, forming a nice clump over time.
• Humidity : Requires average soil moisture. It prefers soil that remains uniformly moist but well-drained.
• Soil : Thrives in fertile and well-drained soil. It tolerates a variety of soil types, including clay and sandy soils, if amended with compost. Soil pH can be acidic, neutral, or alkaline.
• Temperature : Extremely hardy, it is adapted to our climate. It withstands cold winters very well.
• Watering : Requires average watering. Once well-established, it is more drought-tolerant, but regular watering during the summer is beneficial for blooming.

Uses

• Types of Use : Excellent as a background plant for spring bulbs, in perennial or shrub borders. Ideal as a cut flower for arrangements. Its bushy appearance and vibrant colours make it an excellent addition to cottage or formal style gardens.
• Decorative Advantages : Its striking red flowers attract attention and add spectacular colour to the garden early in the peony season. The contrast with the golden centre is striking. Its dark foliage highlights other plants. Attracts bees. Deer and rabbit resistant.

Care

• Fertilization : Fertilizing once or twice a year, in spring and summer, with a fertilizer for flowering plants is recommended for optimal development.
• Pruning : Remove spent flowers after blooming for aesthetic reasons and to conserve the plant's energy. Cut back foliage in the fall after it has been killed by frost. Herbaceous stems die back in the fall.
• Planting :
  • Distance : Plant divisions with the "eyes" (buds) facing upwards, spacing them about 75 to 90 cm (30 to 36 inches) apart.
  • Depth : Planting depth is crucial for herbaceous peonies. The eye should be buried no more than 2.5 to 5 cm (1 to 2 inches) below the soil surface. Planting too deep is the most common cause of no blooming.