Common names: Golden Peony; Caucasian Peony (but there is also a Paeonia caucasica which is quite different). Some folks use a cutesy nickname "anglicizing" the Polish botanist after which it is named, but I find that trite and avoid it so you won't read it here. Commonly abbreviated as "mloko". Although at first sight the botanical name is imposing and difficult, it's no more difficult with a few minutes of practice than Saskatchewan or Mississippi.

P. mlokosewitschii is a nice, relatively low-growing herbaceous peony, hardy to USDA Zone 4 and probably colder by some indications, and over several years has shown that it is suitable for the wetter east coast climate as well. At this point we don't have any first hand knowledge of its suitability to the warmer west coast, although one of our members is growing it quite near to Vancouver. It's been an easy and Low Maintenance plant for me, responding well to neglect. Sturdy stems of upright habit; height: 1.5 to 2 feet (50-70 cm), reportedly sometimes to 3 feet (100 cm) in cultivation. It has a slowly creeping rootstock.

Native and endemic to the Republic of Georgia, which is between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. The western literature has up to now recorded it as occuring only in the Lagodekhi Valley, which I locate towards the eastern end of the Caucasus mountain range. However, the noted Czech botanist Josef J Halda's seed catalogue shows collections in several locations outside the valley: in the NE of the Caucasus mountain range (near Kolkhida) and a couple of locations closer to the southern borders of Georgia (near Borzhomi, and in the Kartli region). I've recently seen reference to seed collections from Armenia and northern Iran. (historically Armenia comprises NE Turkey, NW Iran and S Georgia)

Its natural habitat is in bright openings in hornbeam/oak forest in the classical case; Halda's collections range from open mixed forest to dry pine forest and montane pastures, at elevations from 1400 m to 1850 m (4500 to 6000 feet) depending on the location, but this should not be interpreted to mean they do not grow higher or lower on the mountains.

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How to Grow:

Light required: Sun or light shade to bright or open shade; P. mlokosewitschii is more shade tolerant than the garden peonies of P. lactiflora extraction, and it does nicely for me in a site where it gets only about 2 or 3 hours of direct sun around noon with filtered sunlight the rest of the day, although it would probably flower better with more direct sun than I give it.

Soil: Does well for me in a good sandy loam* amended with leaf compost and bark chunks of random sizes, providing reliable moisture and good drainage especially in winter; it is actually in a raised bed constructed for Azaleas, somewhat different from the soil mix I would use for the normal garden peonies**. I use a mulch of coarse bark about 2 inches (5 cm) deep year-round on this bed. In drier climates than the east coast it may be less sensitive to drainage issues and may be okay in the same soil which works well for garden peonies. Grows and flowers adequately in a moderately fertile soil, but would probably benefit from a top-dressing of compost each fall if I remembered. It has few pests and is seldom bothered by disease. P. mlokosewitschii was untouched by botrytis which affected several of my garden cultivars and hybrids during the cool wet summer of 2000.

I have heard reports that this species can be problematic in some areas of Canada when treated like a garden peony, but to some extent this may be the result of starting with smaller root pieces. But with adequate drainage in wetter areas, extra irrigation in dry conditions, and some shade in areas with hot summers it should be growable throughout most of the populated regions of the country. Members in Zone 3 and 4 Quebec, with usually good winter snow cover, report success over a few years with seedlings in well-drained soil but no other particular attention in open fields. In a Thunder Bay garden it does well in the partial shade of a woodland garden in unamended woodland clay. A member in Zone 3 Saskatchewan has had difficulty establishing a plant from a small root in the recent drought years, but found semi-shade was tolerated. But we just saw a report that this is one of the most wet tolerant species which may be a new clue for successful cultivation in the prairies. I know it must be more widely grown but this is all the feedback I have to date.

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Foliage: is superb, to my mind. A bit open in density; soft blue-green, not glossy, paler than in the garden peonies; and of coarse texture. The leaves have 3 to 7 leaflets (on my plant) each with a rounded tip and not otherwise divided or lobed. Their emerging foliage is much more purple than red, changing to blue-green from the middle of the leafs so that by the time the foliage is almost fully deployed there is still a purple rim around the blue-green central part of the leaf, although the purple edging is gone before the flower buds start to colour up. Stems and petioles remain purple throughout the growing season. Growth commences quite early in spring. The foliage maintains a great appearance right up to the first frost but hasn't shown any noteable fall colour here. The degree of purple in the new leaves, and of blue in the mature foliage, would seem to be variable between plants, judging from the Halda seed list.

Newly unfurled foliage of P. mlokosewitchii

P. mlokosewitschii just before blooming

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Flowers: are about 3 to 5 inches (8-12 cm) in diameter, single, with 5 to 10 petals in a shade of yellow, with a cluster of yellow anthers around the centre of yellowey-green carpels (ovaries). Semi-cupped and of a satiny visual texture and sheen. Quite lovely in their simplicity and upward-facing habit. They do have a fragrance, but it is muted and not particularily pleasant to my nose. This species does not form sidebuds. It is one of the earliest to bloom, being just behind P. veitchii here, and in my garden is a bit more than 2 weeks ahead of the majority of the garden peonies. During 2000, my first mlokosewitschii blossomed on 4 June. After flowering, the developing carpels are not particularily noteable, being a mat green colour not much different from the foliage. But when the seeds ripen they open and are then a different story. The inside lining is a shiny satin red/pink, there are often aborted seeds of bright velvety scarlet, and the viable seeds are shiny blue-grey; definitely ornamental if allowed to stay on the plant.

Flower bud of P. mlokosewitchii

P. mlokosewitschii flower

Ripe seeds of P. mlokosewitschii

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Forms and subspecies: Halda reports a dwarf form, although sometimes this is more a factor of location than genetics. Time will tell.

The form of mlokosewitschii usually seen in photos in books has butter- to lemon-yellow flowers at the tips of unbranched stems. In fact the flower colour can range from soft or creamy yellow through to almost the colour of buttercups; in gardens the plants cross-pollinate easily with other species of peonies and may result in pink or even apricot flowers (very nice!) on the hybrids (which are sometimes incorrectly or mistakenly sold as P. mlokosewitschii).

Availability of roots is variable from year to year from any given source; they are somewhat scarce and priced accordingly. It is a relatively easy species to start from seed however, but keeping in mind that seed from garden origins may be hybridized as noted above.

P. mlokosewitschii has been used in hybridizing and has resulted in a few fine hybrid cultivars such as the mloko/ lactiflora 'Claire du Lune' and the mloko/ macrophylla/ lactiflora/ peregrina 'May Music'.

'May Music'

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Garden uses: the flowers are popular with bees of all types. Plants are of a size suitable for Rock Gardens of appropriate scale as well as more traditional perennial border plantings, where they can serve well in front of the taller and later-blooming garden peonies. Their tolerance to some shade makes them suitable to interplant among larger shrubs or in woodland clearings. They'd make a fine low herbaceous hedge, and would go nicely in a wildflower meadow. Plant them anywhere that a good reliable foliage effect is wanted. The flowers are suitable for cut flower arrangements, although not as much so as the garden peonies, but the season is earlier and the colour is unique.

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Similar species: The tetraploid species P. steveniana is derived in pre-history from a natural mutation of mlokosewitschii, which is a diploid. British botanist Will McLewin writes that steveniana is a superior plant, but it is rare in cultivation so I can find no other comparisons at this point; I have some seedlings of it coming along for a first-hand opinion some day.

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As a footnote, Mr. Halda has written a book about the Genus Paeonia, which is currently being prepared for publication in English, expected and anxiously awaited in spring 2004.

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* Loam: in horticulture, a specific soil composition consisting of roughly equal parts of sand, silt and clay; organic content is not relevant to this definition.

** Garden Peonies: I use this to mean collectively the named cultivars of P. lactiflora and its hybrids.

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Leo Smit
Mt. Uniacke, Nova Scotia
Chair
Species Group of the Canadian Peony Society

Species photos by Leo Smit. 'May Music' photo by Lindsay D'Aoust