Scarlet Tanager

P. officinalis Rubra Plena. Species: P. officinalis. History: Origin very ancient, doubtful. DESCRIPTION IN BRIEF: Bomb, amarante red, very early, good. DESCRIPTION IN DETAIL: Bomb type, the typical old double red of our grandmothers’ gardens. They usually have carpels which are woolly, but well concealed, foliaceous bracts directly under the flower, no stamens or anthers. Color amarante red 4(168), even throughout. Size medium to large. Odor neutral to unpleasant. Foliage glabrous above, pilose beneath, margins entire and green — typical officinalis foliage.

Carsten Burkhardt: "The precise classification of herbaceous peonies in this group is problematic, as many cultivars identified as Paeonia officinalis in the 20th century are actually descendants of Paeonia peregrina. Until the 1930s, all peregrina types were also referred to as Paeonia officinalis. I doubt that a large part of this group has anything to do with Paeonia officinalis at all—starting with the well-known common garden peony 'Officinalis Rubra Plena,' which is either a cultivar of Paeonia peregrina or (more likely) a hybrid of Paeonia peregrina and another wild species, perhaps Paeonia officinalis."

Very dark red Jap. Good upright grower, vigorous, late, 34 inches. An improvement on Fuyajo. Seedling # JE-3.

Award of Landscape Merit (ALM) description: 'Charm' (Franklin, 1931) Lactiflora Group, Late mid-season, 38? — A lustrous and satiny, dark red Japanese form bloom with a center of the same red petaloids, etched yellow. Stiff and relatively straight stems angle outward gracefully to form a very large, harmoniously mounded, fountain of blooms. An eight-year-old plant matures to 40 or so stems that emerge from a relatively compact area. Although individual blooms are at their peak for a shorter duration than those of other lactifloras, plenty of side buds help 'Charm' maintain its striking presence in the landscape. One of the later Japanese form peonies to bloom.

Seedling TF-8. Parentage: (P. tenuifolia 'Plena' x P. tenuifolia 'Rosea')F2. First bloomed 2012, first propagated 2013. Fully double BOMB form. Baby pink flowers are borne 1 to a stem, 3¼ inches (8 cm) in size, up facing to slightly out facing. Two to three carpels on average which are glabrous to slightly tomentose, green and topped with whitish stigmas, the latter sometimes deformed. Disc poorly developed. No pollen, but as a pod parent normally fertile but not with other pink P. tenuifolia, so far. Not fragrant. Blooming time very early, together with or slightly ahead of P. tenuifolia 'Plena'. Finely cut foliage, pale green on emergence, is typical of the species. Average height to 15 inches (38 cm); support not needed. Named after originator's mother who was not the tallest person but the best mother one can imagine.