11 Early-Blooming Peonies for Your Spring Garden

The dreamy peony is among the most decadent blooms in the garden. They flower once a season, from late spring to early summer, but the spectacle of their voluminous blooms and long-lived nature makes up for the short show. Charming peonies are full-flowered, often semi-double or double, with globes of large, ruffled petals.

There are early, mid, and late-season varieties that begin blooming in April and stagger through June. Choosing varieties with different bloom times prolongs the display with a succession of peonies in flower. Early-season selections welcome spring with a celebration of prolific petals and attractive foliage. When they finish flowering, they make a handsome leafy stand-in for small shrubs in the perennial arrangement.

‘Early Scout’

	botanical name Paeonia ‘Early Scout’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2’
	hardiness zones 3-8

One of the earliest herbaceous hybrids to bloom, ‘Early Scout’ announces spring with deep crimson single flowers (even single blooms have layers of petals when it comes to peonies). Prominent yellow stamens are accessible to bees, butterflies, and other pollinators as the petals unfurl.

‘Early Scout’ is an American Peony Society Gold Medal winner and a Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit recipient. It has ferny, finely dissected foliage with parentage in P. tenuifolia, a fernleaf species native to the Caucases. The leaves remain rich green and attractive through summer and into fall.

‘Early Scout’ has a bushy habit and good form. Small flowers are numerous atop sturdy stems and it remains a favorite from 1952.

P. obovata

	botanical name Paeonia obovata
	sun requirements Partial shade
	height 1-2’
	hardiness zones 5-8

This woodland species is one of the earliest-flowering peonies, and unlike herbaceous types, it grows in shady spots. P. obovata is native to temperate forest understories in eastern Asia, particularly Siberia and China. These woodland peonies have three-inch blossoms in pure white to rose-purple. Yellow centers punctuate the open blooms and attract pollinators. 

Foliage is attractive on the shrubby forms, and the blooms have a light, pleasing fragrance. After flowering, berries develop in capsules and open to black fruits on red stems in late summer.

The showy blooms brighten shaded borders and woodland edges, and form low hedges. With understated charm, the easy growers are low maintenance and a naturalistic delight among the genus.

‘Rosea Plena’

	botanical name Paeonia officinalis ‘Rosea Plena’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2-3’
	hardiness zones 3-8

‘Rosea Plena’ is exceptionally full with large, double flowers in deep rose pink. Stunning in gardens for centuries, the 1700s heirloom boasts Award of Garden Merit status for reliable performance and vigor in addition to bold blossoms.

Also called the ‘Memorial Day’ peony, the early bloomer appears in time for the holiday. Tissuey blooms measure five to six inches across and emerge up to two weeks earlier than others. The rosy blooms have a light fragrance to add to their sweetness.

‘Coral Sunset’

	botanical name Paeonia ‘Coral Sunset’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2-3’
	hardiness zones 3-8

‘Coral Sunset’ glows in warm apricot-orange on strong stems that don’t need staking. The semi-double flowers feature rose overtones with yellow stamens at the center. 

‘Coral Sunset’ is an America Peony Society Gold Medal selection, and flowers are among the first to bloom in spring. The 1965 cultivar is notable for its compact, bushy habit with sturdy branching. 

For another early apricot variety, look to ‘Coral Charm’ with delicious peach shades in light to dark. Numerous ruffled flowers cover the three-foot-tall plants for a significant garden presence. Large, bowl-shaped blossoms reach five to six inches across. The warm beauty is a Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit recipient.

P. japonica

	botanical name Paeonia obovata subsp. japonica
	sun requirements Partial shade
	height 1-1.5’
	hardiness zones 5-8

P. obovata subsp. japonica is another woodland peony with early blooms that brighten the deciduous understory or shady spots in the flowerbed. Native to Korea and Japan, it has papery white single blooms with prominent fuzzy yellow centers. The open stamens serve bees and butterflies with a profusion of flowers on mounded, shrubby foliage.

The cups of these woodland peonies are fragrant and, with dark berries in late summer, resemble P. obovata. The easy-care species are an asset to the shade perennial collection with longevity and reliable performance.

Tree Peony

	botanical name Paeonia suffruticosa
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 3-8’
	hardiness zones 5-8

Tree peonies have woody stems that survive winter above ground (instead of dying back like herbaceous stems). They set buds on the persisting stems and usually bloom before herbaceous varieties. They have a taller shrub form and massive blooms for a full show of early color. 

The species holds numerous cultivars in colors from burgundy to blush to white. The straight species has pink to white flowers with purple at their base. They reach six to eight inches across and are fragrant. Leaves are deeply divided and create a handsome backdrop when not in flower. 

The floral display is short and lasts only about a week to ten days, but it’s astonishing just the same. Add early vertical interest with tree peonies and stagger the display with later-blooming herbaceous (common garden peonies) and Itoh cultivars. Itoh are specialized hybrids between tree and herbaceous species.

‘Nelda’s Joy’

	botanical name Paeonia ‘Nelda’s Joy’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2-3’
	hardiness zones 3-8

‘Nelda’s Joy’ delights in delicate, dense layers of soft shell pink. The semi to fully double flowers have salmon undertones at the base of the petals and transition to buff pink at the edges. One of the parents is ‘Salmon Joy,’ also an early season peony. The other is ‘Pink Vanguard,’ an early semi-double with ballet pink guard petals that encircle a packed interior.

‘Nelda’s Joy’ has a flower-within-a-flower form, unique among the earliest of the early-blooming peonies. Broad outer petals surround lightly serrated interior ones. 

The hefty cups top sturdy stems and rest just above the foliage. Leaves are deep blue-green, and growth is vigorous. ‘Nelda’s Joy’ multiplies readily for more blooms each season.

‘High Noon’

	botanical name Paeonia x lemoinei ‘High Noon’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 5’
	hardiness zones 4-8

‘High Noon’ is a tree peony with billowy lemon yellow petals and a flared scarlet interior around the gold center. Semi-double blooms grace upright stems with sunny largess. 

‘High Noon’ is an Award of Garden Merit recipient for its landscape performance and ornament. With good luck, you may see a repeat bloom later in the season.

‘Red Charm’

	botanical name Paeonia ‘Red Charm’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2-3’
	hardiness zones 3-8

This classic charmer from 1944 is an herbaceous hybrid (officinalis x lactiflora). A bombshell in red, the large, double blooms pack the petals on strong, rigid stems. Early and tall, the bunched ruffles are showstopping against deep foliage.

‘Red Charm’ is an award-winner, including the American Peony Society Gold Medal. Dramatic, fragrant, and heat-tolerant, the robust beauties are exceptional in the landscape and fresh florals.

‘Golden Glow’

	botanical name Paeonia ‘Golden Glow’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2-3’
	hardiness zones 3-8

‘Golden Glow’ is another of the first to flower with cupped petals in luminous scarlet with orange tint. This 1935 hybrid is an early single with round buds and long, stiff stems.

The officinalis x chinensis hybrid is unscented with light green, narrow foliage. Prominent gold stamens are a beacon for beneficial insects. This is another Gold Medal winner with a profusion of smaller blooms.

‘First Arrival’

	botanical name Paeonia lactiflora ‘First Arrival’
	sun requirements Full sun to partial shade
	height 2-3’
	hardiness zones 4-9

Itoh peonies are intersectional hybrids that bring the longest bloom time of all the peonies. With color flares and overlays, the multitones delight on single or semi-double petals. Cold hardy and with hybrid vigor, Itoh have sturdy stems, good disease resistance, fine foliage, and hefty flowers. Itoh cultivars flower later in the season than our other early varieties, but with their merits, one of the earliest in the group makes the list.

‘First Arrival’ is an early-blooming peony in the group. It welcomes late spring in pretty pinks. Tissuey petals with lilac overtones and deep magenta centers have ruffled edges for a crape paper likeness.