They say patience is the art of hoping, and even if we aren’t very disciplined in the former, we here at Annie’s are experts at the latter. Such is the case with our very FIRST seed grown crop of this unspeakably gorgeous creature!
Drumroll please … Paeonia cambessedesii!
Our adventure began in 1998, when Paeonia cambessedesii was only a twinkle in Annie’s eye. She was on the hunt for a Peony we could grow here in our mild Mediterranean climate – one that needed no Winter chill. To her delight, she found what she was looking for in an English seed catalog and promptly sent off for a small packet of seed.
You are getting very sleeeeepy …
From that first handful of seed, we were able to grow perhaps three or four plants just for fun, one of which resided in a container at propagator Anni Jensen’s home in Richmond, the others in containers here at the nursery. It took five more years before those plants set seed and when they did, we didn’t let a single seed roll away.
Paeonia cambessedesii wearing its seed-collecting support hose. (We see you little seed nestled in the foliage. You can’t hide from us.)
Our pioneering plants thrived in regular, well-drained soil with average to low water and didn’t mind an occasional top-dressing of compost. They went dormant in Summer and faithfully returned – bigger and better – each January.
A flame red bud emerges in February.
Each February, as our seed-mothers in the nursery came into their full and bloomiferous glory, anyone who wandered close enough to see their mesmerizing deep rose blooms and smell their hypnotic cinnamon-allspice fragrance wanted this plant. Ahem, NEEDED this plant. In fact, if we had a dollar for every time we chirped “Put it on a WISH LIST,” we could probably afford to fly to the Balearic Islands to see this endangered beauty in the wild for ourselves.
And so, patient and intrepid gardening friends – if you too are an expert in the art of hoping, the moment we’ve all been waiting for is upon us! We have finally made enough of these heart-rattling beauties to share. We hope you pick one up fast – because they are sure to sell out, and who knows? It may be another three years before the next crop is ready.
UPDATE: Even though we made a record number of these plants for sale, we are now sold out! If you didn’t get one and desperately NEEEEED one, ahem, put it on a WISH LIST and we’ll send you an email when the next crop is ready – hopefully in February 2014!
blog.anniesannuals.com 
Thank you for this interesting blog entry and fabulous photos. I’ve placed my order (it’s 2:44 am in California) and hope I’ve snagged at least one. Have been interested in this peony for a long time but don’t think I’ve ever heard about its fragrance. Good work!
I want one! Seriously, I do intend to try one in S. GA.
Love the peony, huge fan. I have half a dozen in my garden. I am now off to research Paeonia cambessedesii to see if I can get it to grow in Zone 8.