I thought hard about buying the Itoh Peony ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ last year as it was a bit pricey. The photographs that accompanied the peony were so lovely that I eventually caved in to temptation and bought it.
It was a fairly small tuber, and its home was to be a wooden planter in a sunny spot. It grew well, the leaves were lovely and then buds appeared. I was so excited to see buds growing in the first year of planting! I watched it daily until that first bud unfurled. Well, I’ve got to tell you – I was so disappointed. The young flowers were a fairly rich magenta, and there was no sign of the lovely corals and creams on the marketing images.
As the flower matured, I began to see changes to its colour and although that first flower remained different to the marketing photos, it was gradually starting to display the colours I’d hoped for.
As the days passed, the colours were beginning to alter.
The final colour tones before the flower faded were beautiful, almost watercolour.
Perhaps that’s why it’s been named ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ What do you think?
I’m sure there will be a flower at some point in time that looks exactly like the one in the marketing photo, with outer petals of light cream, flushed-pink at the edges and rich coral inside. Meantime, it’s a waiting game to see how plants throughout the garden have coped with the winter weather and whether, apparently against all odds, reappear in full glory during spring, summer & autumn.
Notes From My Garden 
I’m glad it ended well – I was a bit concerned for a moment. Sometimes it takes a plant a while to get it right (the first dahlia flower or two of the year are usually a bit of a disappointment until it cracks). That flower looks lovely though, and if it has lots of flowers, all at various stages of it’s magical mystery tour, then wow!
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I had some really weird dahlia flowers last summer/autumn. Flowers on the same plant but totally different from the others. I dare say they’ll pop up here or on twitter at some point. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, hope it’s not too cold where you are! 🙂
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It’s wonderful watching flowers develop throughout their lifetime and I think this is rather lovely from start to finish, but yes, there have been flowers that haven’t looked anything like what I expected. Magical Mystery Tour is a great name!
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I thought its name was rather peculiar, but I believe I understand the thinking behind it now.
Have a good weekend Jude, (or what’s left of it).
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I’m not surprised that you gave in to temptation Catherine 😂 It must have been so exciting to watch the progress of the flower which looks so attractive in all it’s various hues. What an apt name. Is it scented?
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It does have a perfume Anna, though it was so many months that I honestly can’t remember anything about it! I think if it had been strong, I would remember, but I’ll now have to wait for a few months to find out! 🙂
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I love the series of photos show the subtle changes to the flower. I think it’s really beautiful and very aptly named! What a bonus that it has a scent too!
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Thank you 🙂 I hope it performs well this summer!
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