What is an Itoh Peony？

Itoh peony is a intergroup hybrid of peony and herbaceous Peony. In 1948, Japanese breeder Ito made a successful peony hybrid. He used the Japanese peony variety 'P. lactiflora ‘Kakoden’ as the female part and crossed the group with ‘Alice Harding’. Itoh first discovered the Intergroup hybridization breeder.Here we mainly introduces the morphological characteristics and value of the Ito hybrid peony.

How Do Itoh Peonies Look Like?

Most Ito peony combines the excellent characteristics of peony and herbaceous peony. Its branches are compact, full and strong; it grows vigorously and has lush foliage. The flowers are large and colorful, and the colors are mainly yellow, and there are red, purple, blue, purple, white, pink, orange and so on. In general, Ito hybrid peony has the following characteristics:

(1) Its growth habit is similar to the herbaceous peony, which is a perennial herb. Morphologically, its roots, stems and buds are similar to herbaceous peony, but the roots and stems are thicker than herbaceous peony, and the degree of lignification is higher than that of herbaceous peony.

(2) The leaves are near leathery, the Itoh peony leaves are dark green and bright,; the leaves turn yellow in autumn and the leaves fall late, which is nearly two months later than most domestic varieties, and the foliage is long; the leaf shape is close to the peony and herbaceous peony, the middle and lateral leaflets have deep or shallow gaps.

3) The color, shape and taste of the flower are like peony, and the flower head is erect; most varieties have good flowering, and some varieties have side branch flowering. The flowering pattern of Ito peony is mostly single-petal or rose-shaped. The flowering period is between the flowering period of peony and herbaceous peony, and the coat of pistil is red or yellow, and the stigma is also red or yellow, which has certain ornamental.

What Are the Values of Itoh Peonies?

Currently, the yellow herbaceous peony genus is the most popular in the world, especially the Itoh peony. Although it has not been widely planted yet, it is more and more popular because of its excellent characteristics, such as resistance to pests and diseases, cold resistance and color. Rich, long flowering, etc., more and more people love, the market potential is huge.

The market prospect of Ito peony in horticulture is very broad, and the commercial demand is very large. Some peony is tall and beautiful, and the leaf shape is suitable for garden planting or for the main plant. Some short, compact, flowering varieties suitable for use as flower mirror materials such as ‘Border Charm’, ‘Viking Full Moon’ and ‘Lafayette Escadrille’;

All Itoh hybrids peony are the best garden landscaping plants, which can be matched with peony and herbaceous peony, which are suitable for flower color, flowering and plant shape. They can be widely planted in botanical gardens, herb gardens, rock gardens, major parks, etc. The flowering period of the three groups was extended to about 2 months. We can imagine that the wide application of Itoh hybrids will greatly expand the application and prospects of peony and herbaceous peony.

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