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Few plants can surpass Peonies for their sumptuous beauty . From late May till the end of June, a selection of different cultivars brings glamour to our gardens - and as I see their bursting buds in the garden I’m inspired to write this column. There’s an almost limitless number of peony varieties.

Herbaceous peonies are a great choice for many of our borders. Colours range from the sparkling silvery yellow single flowers of Paeonia ‘Claire de Lune, the only successful cross of lactiflora x mlokosewitschi to the captivatingly fulsome deep red double blooms of ‘Henry Bockstoce’. A taller tree peony, like P.



delavayi with small dark maroon flowers, or its yellow version lutea, gives structure to a larger bed. A third group, intersectional cultivars, was developed in Japan in the 1940s combining the benefits of the other two groups. As Scotland’s leading peony expert, Billy Carruthers of Binny Plants tells me, these intersectional cultivars are becoming increasingly popular.

Billy finds it hard to choose a favourite intersectional but singles out Paeonia ‘Scarlet Heaven’. This superb peony has huge, slightly scented single crimson flowers. A vigorous grower, it also has excellent autumn colour.

And ‘Julia Rose’ stands out as well. Its single to semi double deep pink flowers fade to soft gold and finally cream. READ MORE Open gate policy: Your chance to see Scotland’s best private gardens You could even eat these perfect early summer flowers Binny’s nurser.

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