Peony Registry

Seedling No. NB5. Parentage: Seidl #58 x Seidl #16. Advanced generation lutea hybrid. First bloomed 2008, first propagated 2012. Soft lavender-pink SEMI-DOUBLE flowers, 6 inches (15 cm) in size, 1 or 2 per stem. Petals have a cream base overlaid with lavender-pink. Some years more of the cream may show in response to varying climate conditions. Petals are rather uniform in size and shape, lightly ruffled and frilled, with maroon flares to ¼ of their length. One to 3 carpels, green, sparsely hairy, with coral colored stigmas of normal anatomy. Pollen-bearing stamens with filaments dark lavender-purple. The sheath is well-developed, also lavender-purple. Fertile both ways, but pollen is more productive. Good amount of bloom each year. Plants grow to 4 feet (122 cm) with similar spread in Wisconsin. Good ground shoot production and also readily takes to grafting. Flowers are carried facing outward on stiff stems and are reminiscent of a ship’s sails, thus suggesting the name. Vela is a constellation in the southern sky and is Latin for the sails of a ship.