Happy Days

This is one of my oldest Saunders peonies, dating from before I seriously started collecting.  The flower color blend is unique. Flowers tend to hang down and be somewhat hidden in the foliage, making it difficult to photograph them.  In the photo on the right you can clearly see that the stamens are sterile staminodes, producing no pollen, so it hasn’t been of use to hybridizers. Still I think it is a worthy garden subject.