Peony 'Coral Charm'
Paeonia 'Coral Charm' ·
Semi-double flowers open deep coral and fade through peach to ivory, so that a plant in full flower shows every shade between.
- Size
- 3 ft tall, 3 ft wide
- Zones
- 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Mid May to early June
- Pets
- Toxic (mild)
- Job in a bed
- Specimen
A bed built around peony 'Coral Charm'
The planner designed this bed around peony 'Coral Charm' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why peony 'Coral Charm' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Peony 'Coral Charm' × 1, orange
- 2 Roman chamomile × 19, white
- 3 Coral bells 'Firefly' × 7, red
- 4 Garden phlox 'Jeana' × 3, pink
- 5 Gray's sedge × 3, green
- 6 Orange New Zealand sedge × 3, bronze leaves
- 7 Star of Persia × 2, purple
- 8 Spring starflower × 10, blue
Why this plant
- The only bold leaves here. The rest are fine and medium. A change of leaf keeps plants distinct when nothing is in flower.
- The only open bowls. The others are daisies, airy sprays, dense clusters and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only orange.
Why here
- Anchors a back corner. At 3 ft it is one of the taller plants here, and the tallest close the ends of the bed, where they stand in front of nothing.
- A step in the back row. Next to Gray's sedge (2½ ft): no two neighbours there are the same height, so the back steps up and down like a skyline.
- One plant, alone. A feature plant is seen as an object, and needs clear ground around it.
Why now
- In flower for four weeks. From mid May to early June.
- Fills a gap. For two of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 4 of the 5 groups (80%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The flowering is at its height from late May, with 4 kinds out together. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 54% of the visual weight and the right half 46%.
The planner's own design check: 13 Excellent, 4 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where peony 'Coral Charm' goes in a border
At 3 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium tall (2½ to 3 ft).
Its job: specimen. A feature plant with a shape of its own. It stands alone with room around it, and repeats only at a distance.
A colour found in no other perennial of early summer. It is an early hybrid with strong stems. The changing colour is the pleasure of it.
- Coral and peach for late spring
- Cutting
- A specimen in a mixed border
What to plant with peony 'Coral Charm'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Blue false indigo: blue against orange, opposite each other on the colour wheel, in flower together for three weeks; medium leaves against its bold ones; spires rising out of its mound.
- Catmint 'Walker's Low': in flower together for four weeks, from mid May; fine leaves against its bold ones; spires rising out of its mound.
- Siberian iris: blue against orange, opposite each other on the colour wheel, if you choose those colours, in flower together for two weeks; fine leaves against its bold ones.
Questions about peony 'Coral Charm'
Does peony 'Coral Charm' need sun or shade?
Peony 'Coral Charm' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, rich in organic matter, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does peony 'Coral Charm' grow in?
USDA zones 3 to 8. It is hardy to zone 3, which means it survives winter nights down to about −30 °F (−34 °C).
Above zone 8 it struggles: the zones measure winter cold, but a plant's top zone usually means the summers are too hot or the winters too mild for it to rest.
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does peony 'Coral Charm' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers mid May to early June. As a spring flower it moves about a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer, later where it is colder.
| Zone 3 | Late May to mid June |
|---|---|
| Zone 4 | Late May to mid June |
| Zone 5 | Mid May to early June |
| Zone 6 | Early May to early June |
| Zone 7 | Early May to late May |
| Zone 8 | Late April to late May |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should peony 'Coral Charm' be planted?
2½ ft (80 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 3 ft (90 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 3 ft (90 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many peony 'Coral Charm' plants do I need?
At 2½ ft apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 2 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 4 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 5 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as one, with clear ground around it: a feature plant is seen as an object, and a group of them is a thicket.
In the bed above, the planner used one in one group.
Is peony 'Coral Charm' poisonous to dogs and cats?
Yes: mild toxicity to dogs, cats and horses. Can cause vomiting and diarrhoea in pets if eaten.
What flowers after peony 'Coral Charm'?
Peony 'Coral Charm' is over by early June. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Butterfly weed: from late June to early August, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Daylily: from late June to early August, 2½ ft tall.
- Yarrow: from mid June to late August, 24 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
What does peony 'Coral Charm' look like in winter?
Peony 'Coral Charm' dies down to the ground and there is nothing to see until spring. The old stems can be cut in autumn, or left until spring as shelter for overwintering insects.
More Paeonia
- Fernleaf peony Paeonia tenuifolia
- Itoh peony 'Bartzella' Paeonia 'Bartzella'
- Peony Paeonia lactiflora
- Peony 'Bowl of Beauty' Paeonia lactiflora 'Bowl of Beauty'
- Peony 'Festiva Maxima' Paeonia lactiflora 'Festiva Maxima'
- Peony 'Karl Rosenfield' Paeonia lactiflora 'Karl Rosenfield'
- Peony 'Sarah Bernhardt' Paeonia lactiflora 'Sarah Bernhardt'
- Tree peony Paeonia suffruticosa
In these guides
Zone guides: Zone 3 · Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 3 ft (90 cm) tall, 3 ft (90 cm) wide
- Plant
- 2½ ft (80 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium tall (2½ to 3 ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Mid May to early June; open bowls; orange, pink
- Leaves
- Bold texture, herbaceous; dark green
- Shape
- Rounded, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 3 to 8
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Rich, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
Not yet checked against an outside reference: its figures rest on general horticultural knowledge. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.