Finding Brown’s Peony a Sweet Attraction

I first encountered Brown’s peony (Paeonia brownii) with its verdant, lavender-tinged leaves and elegantly nodding maroon flowers growing among bitterbrush and bunchgrass on the eastern flank of the Oregon Cascades. My first thought was “What is a plant like you doing in a place like this? ” It would be natural to visualize this native wild peony as a centerpiece in a formal Chinese garden complete with a Koi pond. Perhaps my vision was not that misplaced, considering that most peonies are of Eurasian descent. Asians have venerated the cousins of this peony throughout recorded history for their symbolism, floral beauty, and healing power. Today the floral beauty of cultivated peonies is universally celebrated in gardens and the arts. Breeders carefully control pollination and propagation to produce a wide variety of floral types. Although our native peony is less showy, it is as hardy and long-lived as its wild relatives of the Eurasian steppe. Many of the Eurasian peony species are threatened in the wild by habita