One of the greatest joys in all of gardening is the blooming of the Tree Peonies ! Mid-May seems to be peak season for these ephemeral scene-stealers, so don’t plan on any travel or you will miss them! Now that I have lots of space, I have indulged. I ordered several from Song Sparrow Nursery in the U.S. ( they ship to Canada) and am astonished by their beauty. Tree peonies can be inexpensive or expensive. So can wine, cheese or vacuum cleaners! There is a reason. The rarer ones are bound to cost more ($100.00 or so), but are soooo worth it. They are all grafted , and there is only so much material to propagate from. Rare means rare. The colours of these hybrids defy description. Here’s some blooms I enjoyed this week out at our farm….. the beauty shown below is called ‘Ezra Pound’
A favourite variety of mine is the lovely ‘Nike’. I had a hunch that this would be my favourite, and planted it in a place of honour. This paid off, as it is bigger and has more flowers than any of the others. It s an incredible soft orange/salmon and has a lovely fragrance. I see it as I arrive and as I leave home. 
What a colour !! ‘Nike’ is from Song Sparrow Nursery in the U.S. 
‘Black Pirate’ is very dark red, even darker in real life. Its flowers hang and nod because they are huge and heavy with petals.
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I brought this yellow tree peony with us when we moved to the country. It is about 15 years old, and is looking a bit woody/tree -like. Be sure not to prune tree peonies. They are supposed to form a small shrub of woody branches. Pruning hard will only cut off all your flower buds !! This variety loves the light, dappled shade under some high fir trees.
‘Tria’ is a lovely lemon yellow variety with a lovely fragrance. It likes lots of sun to bloom.
This big double yellow is called ‘Artemis’ and has lots of huge blooms on a small bush.