Coming in From the Cold

In Los Angeles, the urge to pluck a peony runs deep. We may have roses year-round, our pick of palms and quirky succulents, but we crave Paeonia officinalis, she of the fat blooms and drunken fragrance who likes a winter chill we can’t provide.

A native of Asia and North America, she was born, according to Roman legend, when the god Pluto rewarded his doctor, Paeon, for a cure by changing him into a flower. Subsequently, the Romans carried peonies to England, where monks used them medicinally during the Middle Ages. In the 1600s, they made a splash in the United States, clinching an honored place in Colonial gardens and later traveling west in covered wagons. They’re known for long life (a single plant can last a century or more) and willing growth if given sun, food and lots to drink. What they’re not known for is thriving locally. Until recently.

‘Monsieur Jules Elie,’ a French selection that dates from 1888, has proved quite happy at Hortus, a nursery in Pasadena. A sweetly scented, medium-pink double, this peony is “the classic--the kind everybody wants, packed and luscious,” say Gary Jones, owner of Hortus. “And during the three years we’ve tried it here, it has held its own in our heat and mild winters.”

The jury is still out on another cultivar, the white ‘Fairy’s Petticoat,’ which is only in its second year at Hortus. But what the two types share--an essential for success here--is that they’re early bloomers and require less prolonged chill to set buds.

Admittedly, gardeners along the coast may never coax these plants to grow. But Suzanne Wiskerson, who bought a ‘Monsieur Jules Elie’ two years ago, has seen it thrive in her La Canada plot, where winters can be frosty. For extra bloom insurance, she employs an old trick, heaping ice cubes around the roots each fall to mimic the climate Jules prefers. As the year progresses, she even takes to mixing plant food in her freezer trays. Which shows the lengths people will go to to pamper Paeonia.

For Wiskerson, the effort has paid off with a beguiling slew of spring blooms that delight her as no flower ever has. “I’m a California native,” she explains. “All my life, I have lusted after peonies.”

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A Peony for Your Thoughts In 17th century England, the peony was considered capable of curing leprosy, calming storms and releasing victims from evil spells. Children wore peony-seed necklaces as protection against witches.