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In Europe:
As in the eastern world, peonies were originally cultivated in Europe for their medicinal value. It was not until much later in history that peonies began to be grown in Europe solely for their ornamental qualities.
Initially European gardens included only herbaceous species. It was not until 1789 that the first tree peony came to Europe. Sir Joseph Banks of Kew gardens, having heard of these peonies from earlier travelers to the orient, had commissioned a doctor with the British East India Company to purchase and bring back a tree peony to England. The plant was brought to England by Dr. Duncan and subsequently planted at Kew Gardens.
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 Obtaining subsequent plants from China proved difficult and it was not until the 1860's that tree peonies became generally available from European nurseries.
Chinese tree peonies were popular until the late 1800's by which time Europeans had discovered Japanese tree peonies. The lighter, more upright blooming habit of the Japanese tree peonies was generally preferred to the heavy double blooms of the Chinese peonies.
Still today many of the tree peonies available in Europe are imported from Japan or China.
In the late 1800's, early 1900's, European plant breeders used the plants from China and Japan to establish their own breeding programs. It is interesting to note however that many Chinese and Japanese tree peonies became known by European names and are often thought of as European introductions.
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 A major breakthrough in the breeding of tree peonies occurred when the French peony breeders Victor and Émile Lemoine succeeded in crossing P x suffruticosa and P. lutea to create the first yellow hybrid tree peony.
This peony was named Alice Harding and was later used by Toichi Itoh in his work to create the intersectional cross between tree and herbaceous peonies.
The popularity of peonies in Europe declined in the earlier parts of this century, particularly in England. Today however, peonies are undergoing a resurgence of popularity throughout Europe. |
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