Elsa Sass, the last flowering one we use for cutting here. This marks the end of our peony cut flower season. A good one, these are third year plants. Last year the stems were a little thin and short, but they’ve made up for that now, taller and some 90% of stems very sturdy.

Myrtle Gentry, which is, according to many growers, the most fragrant herbaceous peony. Late flowering, full double pale pink on stems sturdy enough. Alas, it doesn’t grow very well here and I’ve lost a few plants of it over the years, otherwise it would top my ‘favourite pink’ list. The fragrance of this one is simply fantastic.

A new good seedling flowering for the first time. Parentage uncertain.