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About Peonies

The peony is a flowering plant that is native to Asia, Europe, and North America. There is some disagreement about exactly how many species of peony there are—somewhere between 25 to 40—but generally speaking, they fall into two categories. Most are perennial plants that grow from 1 to 3 feet tall. This Chinese Peony (Paeonia lactiflora) grows from 2 to 3 feet high and 2 to 3 feet wide. It is known as the Prime Minister of Flowers.

Others are woody shrubs (sometimes incorrectly called tree peony) that grow from 1 to 11 feet tall as shown in the next two photos.

Peony flowers are fragrant, and colors range from purple and pink to red, white, or yellow. They tend to bloom in the late spring and early summer, though gardeners have found ways to force them to bloom in other seasons, too. The sheltering teepee made of reeds below helps to protect a fuyu-botan (winter peony) from the elements.

In Japan, the haru-botan (spring peony) blossom is very large; from 5 to 8 inches in diameter. It is called the King of Flowers.

Peonies are said to have been imported into Japan by the Chinese about the same time as Buddhism was introduced there. The two types of peony typical in Japan are the shakuyaku, a perennial, and the botan, a woody peony.

Peonies in Art

Peonies have been art subjects in Japan for many centuries. Though many of the paintings shown below have been around for a long time, the peony ikebana below is a bit fresher than that.

Peony paintings by classical Japanese artists aren't at all difficult to find. The following botan painting is one part of a tryptic of hanging scrolls by Kano Torin Yoshinobu of the Kano school. It was painted sometime between 1781 and 1820.

It is uncertain exactly when Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) did this ukiyo-e print. It was popular enough that it was recut at some point to increase production. This photo is probably from the original series.

Little is known about Takakura Zaiko other than he was active as an artist between 1854 to 1860.

Utamaro Hiroshige (1797 - 1858) executed this ukiyo-e print of peonies and a bird. The bird can be missed if you don't look carefully.

This final Japanese peony painting done in a 20th century nihonga style is by Gyoshū Hayami (1894-1935). (His birth name was Eiichi Maita.) He studied and advocated new painting styles, producing works that broke away from traditions. He introduced Western-style painting characteristics and continuously experimented.

Japanese artists weren't the only ones fascinated by peonies. The famous French Impressionist, Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841 - 1919) was known for lots of subjects. Peonies was a subject he returned to often. The paintings below are just two of them. This first one was painted in 1878.

This second painting was done by Renoir in 1880.