For more than 25 years, people from around the world have visited Georgeson Botanical Garden to admire and learn more about the peonies that bloom there,120 miles south of the Arctic Circle. In April, the American Peony Society designated the Georgeson as an official peony reference garden, one of nine nationally. 

Pat Holloway, a University of Alaska Fairbanks professor emeritus of horticulture, and Lacey Higham, the Georgeson’s directing manager, applied for the designation. 

“We’re so excited to share the beauty and diversity of peonies with everyone who visits,” Higham said. “We envision the garden as not just a display, but also as an educational resource for those who want to learn more about these magnificent flowers.”

The Georgeson Botanical Garden is part of the Fairbanks Experiment Farm on the UAF Troth Yeddha’ Campus. 

A reference garden is an educational garden that introduces visitors to mature cultivars of species and exhibits the conditions under which plants should be grown. Visitors can compare specimens to their plants, helping them identify unknown or mislabeled cultivars. A plaque will be displayed near the peony plots, and Holloway will serve as coordinator. 

The Georgeson has 118 cultivars of peonies, which typically bloom from late June through the end of July, later than other peonies in North America. The colorful, showy flowers have been grown at the garden since the 1970s, but Holloway began the existing collection as a research project in 2001 to study the feasibility of growing peonies as cut flowers for sale. This study led to the current peony cut flower industry in Alaska, which includes about 90 commercial growers, Holloway said.

Since 2015, the collection has been expanded to include a variety of garden landscape peonies. The focus is on building a demonstration garden of different flowering seasons, flower classifications, disease susceptibilities, hardiness and more for Alaska home and commercial landscapes, Higham said. Today’s collection is a public display garden that supports home and commercial landscapers and promotes Alaska’s statewide peony cut flower industry.

The American Peony Society was established in 1903 to promote cultivated peonies and formalize the naming standards of peonies. 

  arctic circle, gardens, georgeson, peonies