The Peony Question Everyone Asks (With No Easy Answer)
What Peony is this?
I love chatting about peonies with people so it comes up quite a bit that folks want to know which variety of peony they have? The usually pull up a picture on their phone, or post it on social media (I also see this again and again on some peony Facebook groups I belong to.) and ask for help identifying the peony.
Here’s an email I got just this past week.
As a Master Gardener I get asked about identifying older peonies . Is there a way or a source to do that?
-Janene
This is one of the most common questions we hear—and unfortunately, there isn’t a simple answer. Here’s what I told Janene:
There are thousands of peony varieties in existence, and to make things even more challenging, many peonies sold decades ago were never officially named. That means some plants growing today may not be a documented or registered variety at all.
Many well-known varieties are included in the American Peony Society’s Bloom-Date Project lists, and noting the bloom week can help narrow things down. However, certain bloom weeks—especially week five—include a large number of varieties, particularly pink ones, which still makes identification difficult.
If you believe you’ve narrowed down a possible name, you can look it up in the American Peony Society (APS) Peony Registry to compare details such as plant height, fragrance, bloom form, and color.
Even with all of this information, accurately identifying a peony variety can be a tough task—and sometimes nearly impossible.
Another option is to turn to peony-focused Facebook groups, where fellow enthusiasts can offer educated guesses. Some commonly suggested varieties include Alexander Fleming, Sarah Bernhardt, Monsieur Jules Elie, Festiva Maxima, and Karl Rosenfield. While these are usually just best guesses, it can sometimes help just to know a few possibilities.
I myself have three or four varieties from my great-grandmother that are not identified. We just call them Grandma Annie’s peonies. Regardless of no name, they are my favorite anyway.
