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Overview 

Many of the Saunders, Gratwick, and Daphnis woody peony hybrids are rare in commerce, public gardens, and private collections.  Cultivars originated by these hybridizers hold much of the genetic material used to breed advanced generations of woody peonies and continue to be of importance for further work within the Lutea Hybrid Group.  Additionally, these plants are in high demand by collectors and gardeners.  A fair number of these cultivars may only be found in one or two reservoir gardens and are in danger of becoming extinct.  Thus, propagation and wider distribution are important for their continued survival.

Solaris Farms, with the assistance and cooperation of American Peony Society Members and rare plant reservoir gardens, has worked to locate and propagate as many of the rare woodies as possible.  Most often, donor gardens supply a scion or two to graft, grow, and later propagate further by Solaris Farms.  Typically, the scions provided for initial grafting are from older plants that are under duress from climate and or poor growing conditions, and require special care.  Fortunately, in all cases (to date), we have successfully grafted at least one plant to get the process started.  A few of the cultivars are now being propagated each year, allowing us to build stock and give back plants to their original reservoir gardens (if needed).  Some cultivars are difficult to graft due to poor scion production or require special timing to propagate successfully (examples: ‘Coronal’, ‘Countess’, ‘Festival’). Others are slow-growing or are sensitive to adverse climate conditions. Most, however, require additional growing time and are not difficult to grow or propagate.

There are many reasons for the rarity of these plants, and in most instances, these cultivars are rare due to poor initial distribution or not finding their way to a propagator.  A few may lack mass appeal and were not propagated due to a lack of commercial profitability (rarely the case).

With this in mind, Solaris Farms is looking forward to seeing these magnificent and rare plants become more widely grown.  Release of these plants is dependent upon the aforementioned propagation variables.  In all likelihood, only a couple of plants will be available initially, and hopefully more as we build stock – patience please!

See further information below about the plants we are propagating as part of the Woody Peony Preservation Project.

*If you grow a missing cultivar, please contact Nate Bremer through the Solaris Farms website to discuss the possibility of participation through the donation of scion material. Nate looks forward to hearing from you and appreciates assistance.

Special thanks go to:  Linwood Gardens, Winterthur Gardens, Arnold Arboretum, Hamilton College, Swarthmore College, Roy Klehm, Craig Aiken, Frances Millard, Leon Pesnell, Matthew Snyder and Lois Girton.