How the most expensive peony was born: the long history of a masterpiece
Unfortunately, not everything we want to buy is affordable.
The category of “unavailable pleasures” also includes the peony variety “Pastel Elegance”, which is the most expensive in the world.
This is an interspecific hybrid with a unique coloring. It is pastel, pink-peach with golden stamens. The flower "Pastel Elegance" is double with rounded large outer petals that surround the central ruffled petals.
The height of the plant is 75 cm, and the diameter of the flower can reach up to 22 cm.
We have to thank American breeder Bill Seild for this beauty, who worked on creating a variety with wide pink petals and a beautiful shape.
At this stage, he managed to obtain about 200 varieties, but all were not right - and only after that did he guess to cross two hybrids of herbaceous peonies - "Salmon Dream" and "Lemon Chiffon".
The breeder transferred pollen from one peony to another, resulting in seeds being formed, which subsequently grew into 4 seedlings.
They blossomed after 7 years, and one of the blossoms turned out to be a real masterpiece.
'Pastel Elegance' was created in 1982 and registered in 1989. It is a fourth generation hybrid, meaning it took at least 30 years to create from the first hybridization of wild peonies.
Nowadays, Pastel Elegance can only be found in collectors' shops.
Earlier we talked about the blackest tulip .
