There are no tree peony species native to Japan: but sometime in the eighth century, the Chinese Moutan found its way into the country, where it became known to the Japanese as the Botan, and over the centuries, developed its own Japanese character. In his book ‘The Moutan or Tree Peony’ Michael Howarth-Booth – never farContinue reading “More tree peonies – Japan, some species and a few yellows.”
Tag Archives: Paeonia
Tree peonies – the ‘Moutan’ of myth
“One snowy winter day, Empress Wu Zetian , the first woman sovereign in China’s history, ordered all the plants to bud and blossom. But the peony, too proud to flatter the Empress, remained bare. The empress flew into a rage and had all the peonies in the Tang capital Changan ‘banished’ to Luoyang.” This isContinue reading “Tree peonies – the ‘Moutan’ of myth”
White House Farm Garden and Arboretum 