Peony Itoh Bartzella

Description

What a cracker this lovely peony is, and a one off too. It's an Intersectional Peony, a hybrid between traditional perennial varieties and the tougher tree peony, combining beauty, colour and robustness in one, also known as an Itoh Peony after Dr. Toichi Itoh.
Created in 1986, Paeonia Itoh 'Bartzella' produces beautiful lemon-yellow flowers with frilly, ruffled centres and unique magenta streaks at the petal base. This created quite a stir at the time, with an individual root selling for over $1000.00!
Fortuantely now much more affordable, Bartzella quickly forms a neat mound of deep-green foliage that acts as the perfect backdrop for its giant flowers, this superb peony with flower its socks off in April and May, and even into June. What's more, the blooms carry a wonderful lemon-citrus scent which is a joy on those sunny spring days!
Long lived and easy to grow, this fully hardy peony is especially vigorous with sturdy flower stems that don't require staking – making them exquisite cut flowers. Being a perennial, each autumn Bartzella retreats underground, only to emerge bigger and more floriferous next year. Perfect in mixed borders in sun or light shade, it's not a plant that enjoys the confines of a pot for too long – if you must grow them in a container, use a large one and after a few years unpot the plant and relocate to a bed or border.
Plants will produce dozens of flowers when happy and because they grow wide rather than high, they are an excellent choice for a border hedge, with a wave of flowers which add to the overall planting scheme. Consider growing them in several groupings of three or more at intervals along the length of a flower border for an early wave of romantic colour tones.
Supplied as a bare root plant ready for potting up and growing on or planting straight out when the soil has warmed.