In spring, everything lives. There is a dazzling and gorgeous flower. If it opens, you will notice it. That is the peony known as "national beauty and natural fragrance".
Peony is a perennial deciduous shrub belonging to Paeoniaceae and Paeonia. Her flowers are gorgeous in color, fragrant with jade beads, elegant and magnificent. She is known as the "king of flowers".
China is the birthplace of peony all over the world.
Peony has been loved by people since ancient times. There are countless poems written by scholars and writers to peony. The most famous is Liu Yuxi's sentence: "only peony is really national, and it moves the capital in the season of flowers."
The peony demon in front of the court is not qualified,
There is little love in the pool.
Only peony is really national,
The flower season moves the capital.
——Liu Yuxi
After reading the world of thousands of spring, peony is the king of flowers—— Wang Guowei's "imperial brush peony"
Flowers bloom and fall for 20 days, and people in a city are crazy - Bai Juyi
According to Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica in the Ming Dynasty, "peony is called" Peony "(meaning asexual reproduction), and its flower red is called" Dan ".
Peony can be divided into hundreds of varieties mainly according to the color of flowers.
Different designs and colors all over the country include red, purple, purple, pink, white, blue, green, yellow, black and multicolor. It can also be divided into single petal type, lotus type, crown type, Louzi type, Hydrangea type, etc.
There are about 300 varieties, as well as more than 100 varieties from Japan, the United States and France.
Those things about peony cultivation in history
The cultivation of peony as an ornamental plant began in the northern and Southern Dynasties 1500 years ago.
In the Sui Dynasty, peonies were used in the royal gardens and the gardens of dignitaries and dignitaries at that time,
During the Tang Dynasty, the society was stable and the economy was prosperous. Both Chang'an, the capital of Tang Dynasty, and Luoyang began to plant peonies in large quantities. There are also florists who specialize in planting peonies.
Overseas peony horticultural varieties were originally from China.
As early as ad 724-749, Chinese peony was introduced into Japan. It is said that it was brought by Kong Hai monks.
From 1330 to 1850, France bred a large number of introduced Chinese peonies and cultivated many horticultural varieties.
In 1656, the Dutch and East India companies introduced Chinese Peony into the Netherlands, and in 1789, Britain introduced Chinese peony, which spread to Europe, with more than 100 horticultural varieties.
The United States introduced Chinese peony varieties and wild species from China from 1820 to 1830, and later cultivated a peony variety with black flowers.
"Flower king" and "flower phase"
Peony and peony are called "two wonders in flowers". Peony is respected as the king of flowers, while peony is respected as the appearance of flowers.
Peony and Paeonia lactiflora, which belong to Paeoniaceae, are indeed very similar, enough to make people "point deer as horse".
So how to distinguish peony and peony?
Distinguish from branches or stems: peony is a shrub with wooden stems, while peony is a perennial herb with leathery roots
From the flowering period: Peony usually blooms in the middle and late April, while peony blooms in the first and middle of May. Peony blooms about half a month earlier than peony.
Is the national flower a peony?
It's not peony. Although it has been proposed, folk and even national institutions have selected and approved the proposal of "peony is the national flower". However, China has never set any kind of ornamental plants as the legal national flower, that is, there is no national flower in China at present.
However, China's marriage certificate is printed with peony!
Recommended places for viewing
China's two famous peony towns are Heze, Shandong Province and Luoyang, Henan Province.
-China Peony Garden (grade 5a)-
Heze was called Caozhou in ancient times. Caozhou peony garden was developed on the basis of more than a dozen peony gardens of different styles and sizes since the Ming and Qing Dynasties, such as Zhao's garden and Sangli garden in the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty, Mao garden founded in the Ming Dynasty, tiechenzhai garden, dachunjia garden and junmen garden at that time.
Covering an area of 80 hectares, it is the largest peony garden with the largest variety and area in the world, with more than 480 new and old varieties, 3 categories, 6 types and 8 colors.
It is designated as Heze International Peony Fair from April 22 to 28 every year.
-Luoyang national Peony Garden (grade 4a)-
Luoyang national peony garden is the former site of Xiyuan garden in Sui Dynasty and Shendu garden in Tang Dynasty. It is the earliest peony planting area in China.
From April 11 to May 5 every year, it is "Luoyang Peony Culture Festival, China".
The Millennium Phoenix forest in the garden is the relics of Dong's West Garden in the Song Dynasty and Li's garden in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. One of the "Millennium peony king" is the relics of the West Garden in the Sui Dynasty and is the "living fossil" of Luoyang peony.
Black peony planting place is a must see scenic spot.
Key points of peony maintenance
Planting: the soil shall be loose, fertile, neutral and slightly alkaline.
Watering: watering once after planting. Peonies should be watered as appropriate in the growing season.
Fertilization: after one year of planting, fertilization can be carried out in autumn, mainly with rotten organic fertilizer. It can be combined with soil loosening, spreading and hole application. Chemical fertilizer shall be used in spring and summer, and pre flower fertilizer and post flower fertilizer shall be applied in combination with watering. Pot loading can be combined with watering to apply liquid fertilizer.
Pruning: multiple rows of flat stubble in the year of planting. After germination in spring, leave about 5 branches, erase the rest, and concentrate nutrition to make the flowers colorful in the next year.
Change pot: when the pot containing peony grows for three or four years, it needs to be changed into a large pot or ramet with new fertile soil in autumn.
Spraying: spray stone sulfur mixture before germination in early spring, and use the mixture of insecticidal and bactericide in summer, once every 2 weeks according to the condition. Combined with fertilization, chemical fertilizer and growth blending agent should be added.
Viewing: the natural flowering period of a single tree peony is about 10-15 days. When flower arrangement is needed, the wound should be cut or burned in water. The water for flower arrangement should be added with preservative or a little sugar to prolong the flowering time of flower arrangement.
Are they peonies, too?
Among the common plants, there are two kinds called peonies, namely lotus peony and peony Chlorophytum. Are they also peonies?
In fact, these two are not peonies. They are different in classification and appearance!
▲ peony Chlorophytum, also known as dew grass, belongs to the apricot family. It has small red flowers and soft and falling branches.
▲ lotus peony is named because its flowers are like small lotus bags in a row. It is a plant of the poppy family.
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