What is this plant please? And is it possible to take a cutting from it

[Cutandpaste]

My neighbour has this lovely shrub in her garden. It has yellow flowers in the spring.

She has offered me a cutting from it but I have no idea how to do this and whether it would even be successful. Any advice please?

I think it's a tree paeony

I've if ID'd it correctly RHS website suggests cuttings may not work well.

www.rhs.org.uk/plants/popular/peony/tree/growing-guide

Yes, that's the one! Such a shame it's not easy to take cuttings, it's so pretty. Here's a picture of the flowers I found on the internet.

Thank you!

Maybe ask your neighbour for some of those seed pods and give them a go, I didn't read the advice in detail re when to collect and how to do it, but might be fun to try?

I have a tree Peony that was grown from a seed, at least six years ago. They are slow growing, it is about 4ft high and has flowered this year for the first time with 6 flowers.
It’s probably quicker to buy one, but not so much fun and they’re expensive.

If you ask your neighbour to look at the ground around it, it will probably have produced some seedlings- ours did, have potted up seven this year- but it will be a while til they flower!

My three year old tree peony flowered for the first time this year. Just the one flower! Apparently they don’t like being moved, which is a shame as mine is right at the front of the border. Got to be worth a go with the seeds from the seed pod?

Could you try layering or air layering.
www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=405
The reason I suggest it is because I accidentally did this with my tree peony when one of the branches was trampled into the ground during a move and it sprouted a load of offshoots. It’s a bit of a faff though and you can buy a small one in the garden centre for about £8.

I’ve successfully moved one of these in the autumn. Dug a big rootball and it even flowered the next year! Worth a go.

Just googling sowing from seed - one website says it can take the seeds two years to germinate! I'll give the seeds a go, there is already one seed pod on the plant, might try to get a few going, seems fairly straightforward, if not a little slow.

I grew an acer from a plug that is a foot tall 8 years later so happy to be in for the long haul. It reminds me a little bit of the Victorian gardeners who planted vistas that would mature long after they had died

I know 'zombie threads' are generally frowned on in MN, but there should be an exception for Gardening - it'd be nice to have an update a few years hence if you're successful.

So I had a good root around the base of the plant today and sadly no offshoots. Lots of pods though so I will try to grow from seed in the late summer.

Expect an update in 2025!

Boo! @Cutandpaste that's rubbish! On the off chance you're in York..... you can have one of mine!

Mine only flowers for a week or so.

@notmarywhitehouse That’s extraordinarily kind of you - I may well be in York over the summer and will let you know. Currently 200 miles away Thank you so much xxx

I’ll try the seeds as well. With the acer, the plug arrived just as we moved into a new flat and DD1 was a month old. Somehow it survived being a little neglected those first few months. I have such an emotional attachment to it, it reminds me of moving here, DD being born, sleepless nights, no money (hence buying plants as plugs from newspaper offers!). So it sort of doesn’t matter it’s taking FOREVER to grow.

DD is now 8 and she loves gardening and nature. I like to think that when she gets her first garden she will take the acer with her

@Cutandpaste you'd be most welcome, defo drop me a line!

Gardening is very emotion-inducing, I have plants that I've had for years that started as cuttings in my parents' garden - plant sharing is fabulous and it's lovely to hear that your daughter might be A Future Gardener. 😊

It's true that you always remember who gave you a plant. I'm currently looking at some yellow irises in my pond that an elderly neighbour ( now long since dead) gave me 30 years ago.

I agree that you always remember who have you a plant. I have my uncle’s white phlox, my mum’s 10pence acer from Morrisons, my friend’s rose, an oleander which was a gift from another friend, some sculpture from ILs ... the list goes on. I love it.

My mum’s neighbour has recently bought some land and made a driveway to her house on it. One whole side of the drive is established shrubs from different friends who found that they’d grown too large. She calls it her friendship wall.

@Hortz @WellTidy yes! Lovely stores, plants like yours are to be treasured! 'A friendship wall'.... what could be better?!

Cuttings aren't supposed to work for tree paeonies but mil has one she took as a cutting from her parents' garden and it took, it's huge now 25 years later.

Try the cutting, hope for seedlings, but OP there are some stunning tree peonies for sale at reasonable prices. Do have a look, the pleasure you get from their brief and beautiful flowering is immense.

longwayoff I completely agree, but it's a long running debate DH and I have - he likes evergreens as there's always something there. I'd rather have stunning flowers for a short time than a whole year of 'boring'!

Oh that's a shame. My daughter is overcoming similar by stealth, just a little more planting each year. Meanwhile, took these photos at Houghton Lodge and Hillier Gardens last week, peak peony season. Ahhh, lovely.

A lot of evergreens are so boring though (at least to me). I love spring flowers and autumn colour so my garden is full of plants, trees and shrubs that give plenty of both. Bit rubbish for screening the neighbours though

My tree peonies flower about once every 3-4 years as we’re up north and a cold spring seems to kill off the flowers. Still worth it for that 3rd year though, I have pink and purple ones and the flowers are spectacular!