Perennial peony flowers are widespread. Gardeners and summer residents willingly plant them on their personal plots, as these plants are relatively unpretentious, but at the same time they are amazingly beautiful, and they smell very pleasant. It is not difficult to join the number of their lovers – just buy seedlings, plant them and follow the instructions, and most likely you will succeed.
Interesting facts about peonies
- Earlier, botanists considered that these flowers are related to buttercups, but later studies have shown that this is not the case.
- The name of peonies goes back to the legendary doctor Pean, who, according to Greek mythology, healed not only people, but also the gods.
- Some types of peonies are valued not only for their lush foliage and beautiful flowers, but also for their decorative fruits (interesting facts about flowers).
- In China, peonies are believed to bring happiness and good luck.
- A single peony bush can bloom up to a hundred flowers. This draws a record compared to other colors.
- It is not known for certain when this plant was first cultivated by man. We can only say that this happened more than 2000 years ago.
- In the modern world, there are about 4500 varieties of peonies bred by botanists and gardeners.
- Cut peonies do not wither for 2-3 weeks, if they change their water in time.
- In the US state of Indiana, this flower is the official symbol.
- Some varieties of peonies are used to make medicines.
- The diameter of the largest peony flowers can reach 25 centimeters. This is the size of a large plate.
- In Japanese, the word for peonies literally means «medicine from China» (interesting facts about China).
- Most types of peonies are able to live up to 80-90 years, or even more. Of course, if you take care of them properly.
- These flowers come in a variety of colors, except for blue and blue.
- The famous traveler Marco Polo, who first saw peonies during his stay in China, in his notes he called them beautiful roses with huge flowers, the size of a head of cabbage (interesting facts about Marco Polo).
- It is believed that Asia is the birthplace of these flowers, but some evidence indicates that they appeared around at the same time in North America. In theory, their seeds could be carried by migratory birds.
- It was not until the 19th century that peonies began to be widely used as an ornamental plant in Europe. Before that, they were grown mainly for the preparation of medicines.
- Since the 80s of the last century, a large-scale peony festival has been held once a year in the Chinese city of Luoyang, which is attended by about 20 million people each time. This is three times the population of Luoyang itself.