Sarah Bernhardt Peony

Paeonia lactiflora 'Sarah Bernhardt'

flower

Sarah Bernhardt, introduced in 1906, is the most popular garden peony ever grown and the classic florist peony. It bears enormous, fully double, bomb-shaped blooms in soft apple-blossom pink, often 6 to 8 in. across, with a sweet rose-like fragrance, in late spring to early summer. The plant forms a substantial 3 ft mound of handsome dark-green foliage that looks good all season, and once established it is astonishingly long-lived - peonies routinely outlive the gardeners who plant them, blooming for 50 years or more with almost no care. It needs a cold winter to flower well, making it a quintessential plant of temperate gardens.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Walker's Low Catmint — Its airy blue mound conceals the peony's bare lower stems and blooms at a complementary time
• May Night Salvia — Violet spikes pair beautifully with the pink globes and flower in the same late-spring window
• David Garden Phlox — Takes over the show in summer after the peony finishes, sharing the rich, sunny border

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts — tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Botrytis blight →

  A gray-mold fungus that blackens buds and stems in wet springs - give airflow, avoid overhead watering, remove affected parts, and cut foliage to the ground each fall to remove overwintering spores

• Powdery mildew →

  White coating on late-season leaves - space for air circulation and clean up debris; it is mostly cosmetic

• Ants →

  Not a pest - ants visit peony buds for their sweet nectar and do no harm; simply shake them off cut stems before bringing blooms indoors

🌸 Blooms & cutting

For the vase, cut peonies in the cool morning at the soft-marshmallow-bud stage, when the bud shows color and feels like a marshmallow but has not opened - cut too tight and they may not open, too late and they shatter quickly. Leave at least two or three leaves on each stem so the plant can recharge, and never remove more than a third of the stems. Shake or rinse off any ants before bringing blooms inside. Buds cut firm can even be stored a week or two in the refrigerator and opened as needed. In the garden, deadhead spent blooms but keep the foliage all season.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

The fully double Sarah Bernhardt offers little to pollinators, since its profusion of petals replaces the pollen-bearing structures bees seek (single-flowered peonies are far better for bees). Ants are drawn to the sugary nectar on the buds but neither help nor harm the plant. Its value is ornamental: a fragrant, spectacular, decades-long source of late-spring blooms and one of the finest of all cut flowers.

⚠️ Toxicity & safety

Peony is toxic to dogs, cats, and horses - the compound paeonol is most concentrated in the bark and roots, and eating it can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and reduced appetite, more so with larger amounts. It is not considered seriously poisonous to people (peony petals are even used in some teas and dishes), but keep pets from chewing the roots and stems.