It's time to celebrate the Gorgeous Doubles! Beautiful in bouquets and vases, the double peonies have been adored for a long long time. They also have come a long way in term of color, stem strength, and form. Though they often require support, some newer varieties have sufficient stem strength to hold up the heavy double flowers quite well.
Here is APS description of doubles:
"Full Double
In the ultimate expression of this form, all stamens and carpels are transformed into petals. Nevertheless stamens are allowed, provided they are obscure, can scarcely be seen or not at all, without manually separating petals. Peony cultivars of this class are almost always of two-stage (flower-in-flower) anatomy, presumably accounting for genesis of the term "Double" in traditional peony dialogue. The two-stage anatomy accounts for the greater amount of petals seen in Full Doubles. When pollen-bearing stamens occur in these flowers they will be found in a thin ring at the margin of the lower flower and in a small tuft embedded at center."
Some outstanding doubles from my garden this year:
My only double itoh is Duchess De Lorraine
My earliest blooming double is Blonde Vision
My next early blooming double is Carnation Bouquet (with excellent stem strength) and Lemon Chiffon if it blooms double. This past spring, LC bloomed mostly semidouble.
Maestro put in a great performance.
Diana Parks finally looked good in its 6th year.
Gardenia was really pretty this spring.
A great late pink double is Walter Faxon
