Have you ever seen the first shoots of Molly the Witch (Paeonia mlokosewitschii) poking through the soil, almost obscene, like glossy carmine lipsticks? They’re well through now in cool woodland gardens and turning plummier, covered in pale bloom, until eventually in April those great pale yellow bowls of flower will open to the sun. They are one of the earliest peonies of the season, far removed from the massive double border peonies of high summer, and they’re fabulous.
But then peonies come in many different forms, all of them rather wonderful, and if you’ve never been aware of their differences and the opportunities they offer, it’s worth sorting them out.
Paeonia veitchii has bright purple-red blooms
FREDRICH STRAUSS/GAP PHOTOS
There are just a few of these and Molly the Witch, so named
