Only after the peony fades does the shaoyao open. It stands a little shorter than the peony, its flowers a little smaller, yet it blooms with more composure: clumps standing before the steps, pinks and whites side by side—spring’s final flourish.

The Flower Minister of May

After the peony is done, the shaoyao takes over: stems soft and tall, flowers held at the tips of slender stalks, nodding when the wind passes. Its colors run wider than the peony’s—pink, white, purple, and mixed tones—and double-petaled forms can unfurl layer upon layer.

The ancients called it the flower minister—the minister among flowers. King and minister paired, one leading and one following, precisely the order in which these two blooms succeed each other.

— Song Dynasty · Jiang Kui, “Slow Song of Yangzhou” —

By the bridge, the red blooms—

year after year, for whom do they open?

A Branch Given in the Book of Songs

In the Book of Songs there is a line about presenting a shaoyao as a gift; when the ancients parted, they offered shaoyao to carry affection. In those days it was not merely for viewing but for giving.

This flower entered Chinese custom earlier than many imagine. Only when a flower is written into poetry does it truly take root.

Roots for Medicine, Blooms for the Table

The root enters medicine and, processed differently, becomes white peony root or red peony root—one tonifying, one purging, their uses distinct. Ornamental gardens take its flowers; herb plots dig its roots. One plant, two destinations.

Its stalks are long and its form true, making it fine cut-flower material; cut and kept in water it lasts for days, and it is one of the commonest domestic flowers in markets through spring and early summer.

• How to know it: Perennial herb; soft clustered stems; twice-ternate compound leaves; large solitary flowers in many colors, blooming May–June; root used in medicine.
• Season: Blooms May–June, flowering about two weeks; around the Autumn Equinox is the best time for division and planting.
• Caution: Avoid spring planting and waterlogging; stake double-petaled cultivars to prevent lodging.

The Old Saying That Spring Planting Never Blooms

A flower proverb says: plant shaoyao at the Spring Equinox and it will never bloom. The reason is that it makes roots in autumn and sprouts in spring; disturb it in spring and it shoots up before its roots have anchored—so naturally it struggles to flower. That is why the proper planting time is likewise around the Autumn Equinox.

Its stems are soft, and heavy double blooms fall easily; at planting, set stakes beside it or ring the plant with slender bamboo. However lovely the flowers, they must first be able to stand.

◆ ◆ ◆

Keywords: shaoyao · flower minister · cut flowers · white peony root