'BLACK WHIRLWIND' 黑旋风 Tree Peony (Paeonia x suffruticosa 'hei xuan feng/black whirlwind')

New for 2024! Imported directly from the tree peony capital of China where TREE PEONIES ARE the KING OF ALL FLOWERS. 'Black Whirlwind' has a very large, bluish-scarlet, single to half-double flower with a black flare. Petals extend more or less horizontally and have a light pleating, basal blotches of purplish-black, and are somewhat lobed. The center is a beautifully dense cluster of golden-yellow anthers topping visually significant red filaments, and pink and creamy-yellow stigma. The shrub has an upright growth habit with many woody branches. Suckers freely to form a dense shrub if allowed. Flowers are lightly fragrant. Stems are strong enough to resist wind and to hold flowers well above the leaves. Height to 3 feet. (Chen Dezhong/Cheng Fangyun, China, 1994). USDA Zones 4-8 would be very successful zones for this peony. It can tolerate somewhat warmer areas than most other peonies. Where they are grown in Shandong, China is similar to the American interior mid-Atlantic and mid-wes