Like many gardeners in mild-winter climates, we’ve struggled to grow peonies over the years. But with the Itoh (or intersectional hybrid) peonies, we’ve finally found big-bloomed success. I planted this baby a whopping seven years ago when I started tending to our patch of paradise in Menlo Park, and she’s been going strong ever since. A cross between tree and herbaceous forms, the thick-stemmed plants don’t require the deep chill that most other varieties do, blooming vigorously in spring and turning beautiful colors in fall. We get over fifty blooms in just a few short weeks.
