The peony plant belongs to the lone genus, Paeonia, of the family Paeoniaceae. Despite their lack of close relatives, peonies occupy a wide geographical range. Wikipedia says in that regard that "They are native to Asia, southern Europe and western North America." Native species number in the several dozens, but the popularity of the genus has lead to the development of a number of hybrids. There are early-blooming varieties (woody tree peonies), but most of the cultivated varieties (herbaceous) seen in U.S. gardens and arboretums bloom from late May through early June (or earlier if the weather is warmer, as it most definitely was in March 2012).

Peonies are often classified by flower type (descriptive of petal number and arrangement). Wikipedia lists the following types. Refer to their article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paeonies) for examples of each type: (1) Single, (2) Japanese, (3) Anemone, (4) Semi-double, (5) Double, and (6) Bomb-Double. For a good illustrated discussion of the various types, see here: http://www.peonies.org/flower_types.html . I have no proficiency in discriminating among these types, and typically I won't attempt to ascribe a type to any of the flowers I photograph unless that information is available on a plant tag, or online for varieties that are named on plant tags.

I've left pre-2012 photos of peonies in their original 'Garden Flowers' gallery and collected them to this gallery. Beginning with 2012 peony photos will be uploaded here, and a selection of them will be collected to the 'Garden Flowers' gallery.