I have a passion for the yellow-flowered forms of common plants. Yellow roses, like Graham Thomas and Golden Unicorn, entrance me so thoroughly that I am willing to wage an unending battle with black spot to enjoy their charms. I covet yellow violets and the illusive yellow geranium. Not long ago I acquired a yellow-flowering magnolia, and I am thinking seriously about seeking out Trillium luteum, the yellow trillium.
Yellow can be as obvious as a chromium-hued celandine poppy, or as subtle as the pale buttery Moonlight nasturtium. Plants with soft yellow flowers are the most appealing to me because they blend so amicably in the garden.
Last week the UPS man arrived with my latest yellow-flowered acquisition, the gorgeous and nearly unpronounceable Paeonia mlokosewitschii, sometimes known as the “golden peony” and affectionately nicknamed “Molly the Witch” by its admirers.
Most garden peonies are hybrids or cultivars of Paeonia lactiflora, an herbaceous species that dies back to the ground every fall and re-emerges to bloom every spring. I have several, including Festiva Maxima, a lovely, many-petaled old favorite that is pink in the bud, then opens and ages to creamy white with a small shock of red in the middle of each blossom. Molly the Witch is a completely different species, but it shares some traits with its better known relations.
The most important of these traits is the flowers. Molly’s flowers bear a resemblance to those of some of the poppy-like, single-petaled garden peonies, though at four to five inches in diameter, they are a little smaller. While other peonies stretch out their petals and open their flowers wide, Molly’s petals remain in a cupped position. A central boss of golden stamens contrasts with the pale yellow petals. Some Paeonia mlokosewitschii flowers have a pinkish cast, while others are clear yellow.
Most garden peonies have deeply dissected green foliage. Molly, by contrast, has oval-shaped leaves that emerge in the spring with a reddish cast, later deepening to an interesting blue-green shade. The plants grow to be about two to three feet tall, and bloom earlier in the spring than the lactiflora varieties. The seed pods, which are bright red inside, add interest in late summer as they open to reveal shiny blue seeds.
Molly the Witch flourishes in full sun or light shade, and, like many other garden peonies, requires some winter chill to set buds. Some sources say that the plants are hardy in USDA Zones five through nine, which means that they can survive winter temperatures of at least ten degrees below zero Fahrenheit, but can still set buds in places where winter temperatures never go below twenty-five degrees Fahrenheit.
Paeonia mlokosewitschii is native to the Caucasus Mountains, and grows in sunny woodland clearings in a handful of countries in the region, including the former Russian republic of Georgia. The species was named by Aleksandr Alexsandrovich Lomakin, a Russian botanist active in the late nineteenth century. “Mlokosewitschii”, is probably derived from the name of the town or area where the plant was discovered.
Many writers and gardeners have praised Molly the Witch for its beauty, and almost all of them have lamented its rarity in American gardens. The latter may be due to the fact that the plants take a long time to grow to flowering size, so mature specimens are relatively expensive. My small plant cost about twenty-five dollars plus shipping. It will not bloom this year, though I hope for at least one blossom next spring. Most peonies require patience, and Molly the Witch is no exception. If the plant flourishes, it will live to a great age, producing more blooms each year.
Paeonia mlokosewitschii is the exact opposite of the kind of readily available, eminently disposable plant that you see in every garden center. Its winsome loveliness isn’t for every one, but if it is for you, contact: Heronswood Nursery,
7530 NE 288th Street, Kingston, WA 98346
, Phone (360) 297-4172, www.heronswood.com. Free catalog.