Marchioness

The Saunders Nursery catalogues describe the flowers of ‘Marchioness’ as “soft yellow tea rose” meaning they are “tinted and suffused pink”. As you can see from the photos, the amount of pink seems to vary from one flower to the next but all are pleasing. The dark flares and numerous stamens are very dramatic in the center of the light yellow pink blend.

Silvia wrote “year in, year out, another beauty and we always have GCR’s (Grace Root’s) fine plant to astonish us.” She also mentioned it is very similar to ‘Countess’ which is much more difficult to find.  Both John Wister and William Gratwick liked this plant. 

The flowers do tend to hang down and can be hidden by the foliage.

Cultivar: Marchioness
Year: 1942
Seedling No: 12739 L-D X tree peony mix (Moutan)
Group: Tea Rose
Flower: Color: yellow and pink blend, very dark red flares
Form: single, 2 rows, about 12 petals
Blooms: Week 6
Carpels: 6, green
Stigmas: yellow, suffused pink or even orange (unusual)
Sheath: dark red, but have also seen lighter color (2022)
Stamens: filaments, very dark red throughout
Plant: Habit: rounded bush
Foliage color: medium green
Foliage form: average width
Height: 24″ on 13 year plant
Recommendation: Recommended
Availability: Few nurseries specializing in woody peonies