The Peony Garden is undergoing a multi-year renovation project to transform the garden into an internationally recognized reference collection that will serve as a conservation model for other historic cultivar collections and a destination for peony lovers. This collection will illustrate the natural and social history of the peony from its wild species, native to Europe and Asia, to the historic cultivars seen here.

Generous gifts from our donors -- with special thanks to the Porter Family Foundation and Philip and Kathy Power -- and a grant from the Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust made this phase of the Peony Project possible.

Project Goals

· Cultivar Verification and Identification

Cultivar Verification and Identification

All of the peony cultivars in the Peony Garden will be verified in upcoming years. While many of the peonies are believed to be correctly identified, there are some plants of questionable identity and approximately forty mystery plants. Verifying the identities of these plants will provide us with a complete and correct catalog of the collection. This will present growers, enthusiasts, and the public with a reference collection of historic peony cultivars.

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· Collection Restoration

Collection Restoration

Many of the peonies that were originally planted in the Peony Garden were removed or lost. Some were replaced with more modern varieties while other spaces were left empty. In upcoming years, these empty spaces will be filled with missing peonies from the original design and additional peonies of historical significance.

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· Collection Expansion

Collection Expansion

When the Peony Garden was designed in 1922, there was a plan to include a tree peony collection on the adjacent hillside, Laurel Ridge. While there is a small collection of tree peonies residing there, a future goal of the Peony Garden Initiative is to expand this collection to include important and historically significant tree peonies from China.

Read more about the China Connection

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· A Dispersed Collection

A Dispersed Collection

Part of the Arb and Garden’s historic conservation mission is to back up the Peony Collection off- site. Many of the peonies in the Peony Garden are rare or no longer in the trade. Not only will this enrich other peony gardens around North America, but it will ensure the survival of these unique cultivars.

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· Peony Finder

Peony Finder

One of the final phases of the Peony Garden Initiative is to create “Peony Finder”. This online database will allow web visitors to browse peony cultivars, past and present, to help determine which peonies to include in their own garden plantings. It will also feature an identification tool that will allow web visitors to enter peony characteristics of an unknown variety and search to find its identity. The Arb and Gardens will be working with the American Peony Society registrar to create this online database. Information gathering will begin spring 2010. Peony Finder is proposed to be up and running by 2015.

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NAPCC and Establishing a National Reference Collection

In June 2009, the Peony Garden became the founding garden in the Peony Consortium through the North American Plant Collections Consortium (NAPCC). We propose to create a network of peony gardens across the continent that will represent and conserve the genus Paeonia.

To learn more about the NAPCC visit their website at:
http://publicgardens.org/web/2006/06/napcc_home.aspx

Expert Assistance

To assist with the Peony Garden Initiative, the Arb and Gardens created the Peony Advisory Council, which is comprised of international peony experts and enthusiasts. With the Council’s help over the last year several unknown cultivars were identified, including the rare ‘Silvia Saunders’, and the Arb and Garden’s staff learned a great deal about peony culture and disease.

Disease Management

During their first visit to the property in spring 2009, the Peony Advisory Council discovered Lemoine’s disease infecting just over 10% of the peonies. Lemoine’s disease is a prominent but under researched disease suspected to be caused by a virus. This disease severely reduces foliar growth, stunts the roots so they form galls, and prevents the peony from flowering. There is no known cure. The disease is spread through peony sap. This happens when shovels or pruners used on a diseased plant are subsequently used on a healthy plant, thus infecting it. Luckily, we can control the spread of the disease by sterilizing our tools between plants when we prune or dig.

In fall 2009, over 70 diseased peonies were removed to a quarantine facility. Two cover crops, winter wheat and annual rye, were planted in the empty spaces to improve soil quality and structure throughout the fall and winter season. This spring, the cover crops were mowed down and tilled under to act as a green manure, adding organic matter to the soil. All these steps are part of a disease management program to improve the garden soil and prevent future disease problems.

Click here to learn about historic annuals in the Peony Garden

Some historic annuals of the early twentieth century have been planted in the empty spaces along the main path to add beauty reminiscent of the era of the peonies to the garden and act as a cover crop until new, healthy peonies can be replanted.