Peony hybrid heaven

I LIVE on top of the windswept Cotswolds and the Macmillan Way runs along the bottom of my garden. I can guarantee that at least two or three people will knock on my cottage door during June and ask me the name of the enormous lemon-yellow peony close to my front door. I’ve even had ladies attempting to paint my Paeonia ‘Bartzella’ because it’s such a showstopper.

Be warned, though, because ‘Bartzella’ is rather like a brash Henry James heroine. It’s in your face and out there, so it needs careful placing because the enormous crepe-paper flowers will definitely overpower a traditional English border.

‘Bartzella’ is an Itoh hybrid, also known