Itoh Hybrid, tree peony type, semi-double. Parentage — Paeonia lactiflora, cultivar x P. (Lutea Hybrid) Alice Harding. First bloomed 1973. Itoh Hybrid, semi-double tree peony type flowers on herbaceous stems. Yellow petals with red highlights, 20-50 petals, prominent center of sheathed carpels and large size flowers. Very hardy, flowers produced regularly and uniformly year after year from below ground overwintering buds. Stems to 27″, upright to arching, presents the flowers well out of the foliage, makes a broad low bush. Large, dark green leaves last well into autumn, making an excellent landscape subject. One to three flowers per stem, sidebuds on long stems suitable for cutting, little benefit in disbudding. Long flowering, with the mid to late season lactifloras, up to 21A weeks. Fragrant. Very little pollen. Certificate of Merit Award, 1984. Patent applied for. Seedling # 205.
Award of Landscape Merit (ALM) description: ‘Garden Treasure’ (Hollingsworth, 1984) Itoh Group, Mid- to late-season. Medium height (27? stems), but very wide at maturity (four feet) — Big, often multi-petaled, golden yellow, semi-double blooms with soft red flares emanating from its center. Yellow stamens surround prominent ghost green carpels with pale sheaths and soft pink stigmata. Primary buds, presented on long stiff stems, and lateral side buds pop open intermittently, one at a time. For mature specimens, this can mean an extended season of upwards to two and a half weeks of continual bloom, with a profusion of flowers at its peak. Stems are upright to oblique, with blooms facing upward and outward, a vestige from, but a marked improvement over the pollen parent ‘Alice Harding’. Dark green leaflets are fairly large, sharply cut and semi-glossy. Foliage is durable and can remain viable well into autumn. Blooms have a deeper coloration in some years than in others and with a more orangey aspect upon first opening. Older plants are more likely to bloom fuller with more petals. Excellent health and vigor, excellent increase rate by division. Always attracts attention from garden visitors. 1996 Gold Medalist.