About
Paeonia 'Chinese Dragon' is a clump-forming, deciduous perennial that reaches approximately 120 cm in height. Its lush, dark green leaves are subtly highlighted with pink hues. In spring, robust, upright stems produce single flowers that range from crimson red to purple, each featuring prominent yellow stamens.
About the genus
Paeonia includes herbaceous perennials and deciduous sub-shrubs characterized by their broad, lobed leaves and prominent, bowl-shaped blossoms that typically appear in early summer.
Growing conditions
- Sunlight
- Full sun, Partial shade
- Soil type
- Chalk, Clay, Loam, Sand
- Soil pH
- Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
- Soil moisture
- Moist but well-drained
- Aspect
- East-facing, South-facing, West-facing
- Exposure
- Sheltered
- UK hardiness
- H5
Plant details
- Plant type
- Shrubs
- Habit
- Bushy
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- Height
- 1-1.5 metres
- Spread
- 0.5-1 metres
- Time to full height
- 5-10 years
- Suggested uses
- City and courtyard gardens, Cottage and informal garden
- Toxicity
- Pets (dogs, cats): Skin irritant. For further information and contact numbers regarding pets, see the HTA guide to potentially harmful plants
Care notes
- Cultivation
- Will grow well in fertile, humus-rich, moist but well-drained soil in full sun or partial shade in a sheltered position. Plant in autumn, add fertiliser in spring to promote good growth and mulch avoiding the stem area. Irrigate regularly until the plant becomes established after which it should not require routine watering. See tree peony cultivation for more details.
- Pruning
- Prune dead stems to a healthy bud in late winter and cut flowered shoots just above the new growth in summer or autumn. Cut stems by a third in autumn to encourage vigor if the plant becomes leggy. See Pruning group 1 for more details.
- Propagation
- Propagate by grafting, from a semi-ripe cutting or layering
- Pest resistance
- May be susceptible to leaf and bud eelworm and soil-dwelling swift moth caterpillar
- Disease resistance
- May be susceptible to a virus, honey fungus, Verticillium wilt, peony leaf blotch and peony wilt