The peony is to China what the tulip is to Holland. It was an imperial favourite and is the national flower.
There are two different types of peony - the tree and the herbaceous variety, more familiar in British gardens, which grows from the ground. As they are about to come into their own, Corinne Julius proffers a paean to the Peony with the help of David Root, nursery manager at the specialist peony growers, Kelways in Somerset, and Rose Kerr, Chief Curator of the Far Eastern Collections at the V&A.
