Peony is a famous specialty flower in China, with many kinds of flowers, beautiful flowers, big colors and dazzling, and is known as "the national color and fragrance" and "the king of flowers". Was named the runner-up of China's top ten famous flowers. People in China have long regarded peony as a symbol of happiness, beauty and prosperity. Good color, posture, fragrance and rhyme, easy to cultivate and easy to bloom. Liu Yuxi in the Tang Dynasty said in a poem: "The peony demon in front of the court is unqualified, and the pool is heartless. Only the peony is the real beauty, which attracted countless people to appreciate at the flowering stage and alarmed the whole Chang 'an City. "

Peony is native to the northwest of China. Peony is cold-resistant and widely distributed. Open field cultivation can reach Harbin and Shangzhi counties in Heilongjiang Province in the north and Lanzhou, Xining and Urumqi in the west. South to Guangdong and southeast coastal provinces. It is reported that peony was successfully cultivated in the open field in Shangzhi County, Heilongjiang Province from 65438 to 0983. In Dongchang County, Guangdong Province, there is a peony that was moved from Luoyang during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. 200 years later, 1986 is still in full bloom. In addition, peonies over 100 years old have been found from time to time in all parts of China.

Peony can be cultivated all over the country, but it is suitable for cultivation in provinces and cities in the Yellow River Basin and Jiangtui Basin. Today, Luoyang, Henan and Heze, Shandong are still the main production bases, seed breeding bases and tourist centers of peony in China. The peony planted in Heze is all planted in the field, with an existing cultivation area of more than 5,000 mu, more than 2.6 million plants and more than 400 varieties. Most of these varieties are new varieties cultivated after liberation, and there are also ancient famous varieties, such as Yao Huang and Wei Zi. Heze Peony is mainly planted in Zhaolou, Li Ji, Yingzhou Peony Garden in He Lou, Baihua Garden in Hongmiao and Jinji Garden in Wanglizhuang in the northeast of the city.

Luoyang is a peony flower city. Peony is planted everywhere in parks, gardens, institutions, factories, schools and roads. But it is mainly planted in Wangcheng Park, Peony Garden and Botanical Garden. There are more than 600,000 peony plants and more than 300 varieties in the city. In Luoyang and Heze, peony flowers are now the city flowers, and peony flowers are held every April 15-25. At that time, Chinese and foreign tourists will go to watch, reaching10-250,000 person-times, which is unprecedented. In Beijing, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Nanjing, Jiangsu, Xi 'an, Lanzhou and other places, there are also peony gardens, peony pavilions, peony pavilions, fairy peonies and other landscapes, and various peonies are widely planted. In addition, there are also a large number of cultivated peonies in Tongling, Fanchang, Anhui, Shaoyang, Guangyuan, Zhongjiang, Lichuan, Jianshi, Hubei, etc., but the varieties are single, mainly for medicinal cultivation.

Habit:

About the habit of peony, there is a saying that it likes cold and fears heat, likes dryness and hates dampness, and it is comfortable to plant high in the open sun, which basically summarizes the characteristics of peony.

Generally speaking, peony likes warm and cool climate, cold resistance and damp heat. However, according to the cultivation and distribution of peony in China, the distribution area has crossed three climatic zones: Beijing, Heze and Luoyang, the main producing areas, have warm temperate climate, with high temperature and rainy summer and cold and dry winter, with an altitude of 50-350 meters, an annual average temperature of 8- 14℃ and an annual average precipitation of 500-800 mm, and Xi 'an, Yan 'an and Lanzhou, the other producing areas on the Shaanxi-Gansu Loess Plateau. Some cultivation areas, such as Shanghai and Hangzhou in the Yangtze River Delta and Chengdu and Pengxian in the Sichuan Basin, belong to the tropical climate of Central Asia. Of course, Shanghai and other southern regions need to take some special measures to make the peony native to the north grow normally. These conditions show that peony has a wide range of ecological adaptability in the long-term cultivation process, and has formed or is gradually forming a variety group adapted to the above various climatic conditions.

Peony is cold-resistant and drought-resistant, can withstand the absolute low temperature of -29.6℃ (near the picking stage), and can grow normally in the place where the annual average relative humidity is about 45%. Peony likes light and is more resistant to shade. If you shade a little (especially in the hot and humid areas in the south of the Yangtze River), avoid direct sunlight at noon or in the west, which is beneficial to its growth and flowering, and also helps to make the colors delicate and prolong the viewing time.

Peony is a deciduous shrub. Generally, the stem height is1-2m, and the height can reach 3m. Very skillful. Leaves are broad, alternate, with 2-3 pinnate compound leaves and long stems. Terminal leaflets, ovoid to obovoid, 3-5-lobed apex, entire base, lateral leaflets oval, green surface, white powder, smooth and glabrous or pubescent. Flowers are solitary, bisexual, terminal, with a diameter of 10-30 cm, many stamens, 5 carpels, and the base is completely wrapped by the disk. Sepals 5, persistent, green. Petals were originally 5-6. After culture, one or all stamens become petals and double flowers. The few petals are called leafy, and the many petals are called Chiba.

Flowers are yellow, white, red, pink, purple and green. Yingying fruit is formed after flowering, densely pubescent and dehiscent when mature. Contains 5- 15 large seeds, irregular, round, brown or black. 1000-grain weight is 250-300g, and the germination rate is 60-90%. The flowering period is usually in April-May. Luoyang and Shanghai are in the middle and late April, Heze is in the late April, Beijing is in the middle and late April, and Lanzhou is in the middle and late May.

Variety:

There are about 30 species of Paeonia plants in the world, including about 5-6 species of small shrubs, all of which are native to China.