Thierry Rat
Country:
France, Occitane, Castelsarrasin, Moissac (close to Toulouse)
Short biography:
Born in 1949, Thierry Rat started hybridizing herbaceous peonies in 1989. His very first herbaceous hybrid seedling bloomed in 1992, and was named after his daughter Estrellia. In the early 2000s, he tried his first intersectional crosses. In over 30 years of hybridizing, he introduced several herbaceous peonies, some woody peonies and a good dozen intersectionals, the ownership of which was sold to North American firms (see box 1).
At first, Mr. Rat’s herbaceous hybrids were mostly sold directly to garden centres which explains why many of them can still be found in the gardens of collectors, but alas, not in many nurseries. Woody peonies and intersectionals were also sold in the past by one French nursery ‘La Pivoine Bleue’ which was owned by Robert Pardo. Since Mr. Pardo passed away, the nursery is no longer active. Nowadays. Mr. Rat only hybridizes intersectionals with a focus on obtaining more double seedlings through the use of more fully double tree peonies. Since then, the ownership of these plants was sold to several American firms, and the registration of these cultivars with the APS is considered the owners’ responsibility.
Within Europe, several of Mr. Rat’s plants can be seen at the Chateau de Sourches and the nursery Les Jardins de mon Moulin, both in France. Most, however, grow in the gardens of many collectors.
More information:
A synopsis of most of his plants can be found in this overview, compiled by Janna Carita (pdf)
There is, as far as we are aware, nothing else to be found online.
Peony hybridizers series
We had a short telephone conversation with Mr. Rat. He politely declined to answer the hybridizing questions, so we only present the little we know here. We have to thank many people for their help with this:
- Janna Carita for her earlier research which is included
- Marina Balassis for the many photographs
- Myra Froc for the info and photographs of the intersectionals she and her husband Gene Froc grow in their gardens. Her help in editing the text is also much appreciated.
The exact parentage is not always straightforward and the notation is not standard in the case of some second generation hybrids in which three or more parents are included, making it unclear what is what.
Patent information for the intersectionals was searched for in the US and EU plant databases of the respective government agencies. If they were/are registered, this was done not with their trade name, but with a code, making it somewhat difficult to assign these codes to the correct cultivars (it is legally allowed to sell the same ones under different trade names, unfortunately). The low number of patents however does make it probable we have them attributed to the correct ones.
The short biography is based on both our telephone conversation and the biography in Bénédicte de Foucaud’s book about peonies “Pivoines de Sourches, Tome III : Les péonistes français”.
Box 1: The story of ownership of his intersectionals
Five intersectionals have been patented in the US by Planteck, a Canadian firm specialized in tissue culture. Planteck however was dissolved in 2017 (source: Régistraire des entreprises, Québec). It is unclear whether the property rights for the Planteck peony patents have been transferred. The patents are granted to somewhat incomprehensible cultivar names consisting of some letters and numbers. When looking at the parentage in the patents, a few commercialised varieties can be linked to them:
- Belle Toulousaine is RTPIV789-06 see pp26908 and PP26908 text
- Duchesse de Lorraine is RTPIV790-01 see pp26907 and PP26907 text
- Caroline Constabel is RTPIV791-38 see pp26909 and PP26909 text
- Soleil d’Ambre is (probably) RTPIV791-09 see pp29338 and PP29338 text
Later, new patents for peony plants by mr Rat have been granted to Early Morning LLC, Greendale, IN, USA. This is a wholesale nursery of which little to nearly no information can be found. According to Walmart.com: “Early Morning is the exclusive provider of the Garden’s Alive! family of floriculture and horticulture products on Walmart.com.” It is unclear whether mr Rat’s plants are sold through this label or otherwise and when.
The following varieties are patented by Early Morning (if we find trade names, we will add them later):
- RTPIV 849-04 (P. lactiflora Red Giant x P. lutea hybrid Boreas) Download: PP33910 text and color image
- RTPIV 789-03 (P. lactiflora Miss America x P. lutea hybrid Chinese Dragon) Download: PP32147 text and color image
- RTPIV 849-01 (P. lactiflora Red Giant x P. lutea hybrid Boreas) Download: PP33909 text and color image
Within the EU, plant patents were also applied for, and in some cases granted, but these have by now all been terminated or withdrawn, thus the plants can be freely commercialised by any nursery there.
Intersectionals
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- Belle Toulousaine
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- Belle Toulousaine
Belle Toulousaine (Rat).
Image: M. Froc
Parentage: P. lactiflora Miss America x P. lutea hybrid Chinese Dragon.
Probably patented in the USA as RTPIV789-06, granted in 2016.
Reportedly exceptionally well growing in warmer climates.
Myra Froc: “Thierry Rat crossed the seed parent lactiflora Miss America with the pollen parent, lutea hybrid Chinese Dragon during May of 2006. The resulting new hybridization was selected in a research nursery in Castel Sarrasin, France, during May of 2011. It was introduced in Canada by Planteck International Inc in 2016 as Belle Toulousaine, named after Thierry Rat’s home area in France. We were fortunate enough to be able to purchase it from a supplier as a small micropropagated potted plant which took four years to bloom. Blossoms are a dark fuschia pink, with purple shading on 70 to 75 petals. Average blossom diameter 8″. Large, very full bloom form. […] Almost 1 metre in height.”
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- Soleil d’Ambre
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- Soleil d’Ambre
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- Soleil d’Ambre
Soleil d’Ambre. Image: M. Balassis
Named for one of his granddaughters
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- Caroline Constabel
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- Caroline Constabel
Caroline Constabel (Rat).
Image: Marsha McLean
Parentage: Miss America x Golden Era.
Probably patented in the USA as RTPIV791-38, granted in 2016.
Named in honor of the researcher behind Planteck’s micropropagation program.
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- Pastel Lilas
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- Pastel Lilas
Pastel Lilas. Image: M. Balassis
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- Duchesse de Lorraine
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- Duchesse de Lorraine
Duchesse de Lorraine (Rat). Image: M. Froc
Parentage: Miss America x Golden Isles.
Probably patented in the USA as RTPIV790-01, granted in 2016.
Myra Froc: “This five year old plant is very late in our gardens this year. A HUGE light yellow Itoh/intersectional hybrid, easily 8 inches across, with 120 petals, the largest yellow Itoh I’ve seen and more double than Sonoma Halo or Sonoma Yedo. Very strong spicy fragrance. Parentage: Lactiflora Miss America × tree peony Golden Isles. It was micropropagated and then selected from amongst its siblings in a research nursery in Castel Sarrasin, France during May of 2011. “
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- Pink Curiosity
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- Pink Curiosity
Pink Curiosity. Image: M. Balassis
Herbaceous
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- Belle Occitane
Belle Occitane (Rat, 2006). P. lactiflora.
Image: M. Balassis
Parentage: Gene Wild x Shirley Temple
Pure white, strong fragrance, strong stems
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- Pink Farandole
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- Pink Farandole
Pink Farandole. Image: M. Balassis.
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- Chevalier de Beaugalant
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- Chevalier de Beaugalant
Chevalier de Beaugalant. Image: M. Balassis
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- Black Giant
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- Black Giant
Black Giant. Image: M. Balassis
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- Opaline
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- Opaline
Opaline. Image: M. Balassis
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- Little Armand
Little Armand. Image: M. Balassis
P. peregrina hybrid
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- Little Doris
Little Doris. Image: M. Balassis
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- Bel Andeol
Bel Andeol. Image: M. Balassis
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- Profusion Pourpre
Profusion Pourpre. Image: M. Balassis
Semi-double, dark pink, 120 cm, late blooming.
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- Rose Margaux
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- Rose Margaux
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- Rose Margaux
Rose Margaux. Image: M. Balassis
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- Purple Giant
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- Purple Giant
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- Purple Giant
Purple Giant. Image: M. Balassis
Parentage: Pink Chalice x Alexander Steffen
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- Occitane
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- Occitane
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- Occitane
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- Occitane
Occitane. Image: M. Balassis
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- Estrellia
Estrellia. Image: M. Balassis
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- White Champagne
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- White Champagne
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- White Champagne
White Champagne. Image: M. Balassis.
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- Rose Coral Sensation
Rose Coral Sensation. Image: M. Balassis
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- Prélude
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- Prélude
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- Prélude
Prélude. Image: M. Balassis
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- Neige
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- Neige
Neige. Image: M. Balassis
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- Little Carolyn
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- Little Carolyn
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- Little Carolyn
Little Carolyn. Image: M. Balassis
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- Gaston Foebus
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- Gaston Foebus
Gaston Foebus. Image: M. Balassis
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- Alienor d’Aquitane
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- Alienor d’Aquitane
Alienor d’Aquitane. Image: M. Balassis
Updates:
Jan 23rd: Added box 1 trying to bring some order into the chaos of the patented intersectionals
E-mail of this person is known to the author. If you want to contact this hybridizer, we can forward your message.
