Peony Do Tell - Peony Bulbs

About Do Tell Peony Bulbs

Paeonia lactiflora ‘Do Tell’
Breeder: Edward Auten | Introduced: 1946 | Type: Herbaceous Japanese-Form Peony | Hardiness: Zones 2–8

🩷 Soft orchid-pink petals surrounding a wild, feathery center of raspberry, rose, cream and pink—Do Tell is unlike almost any other peony in the garden.

Do Tell is an award-winning heirloom peony with a flower that demands a closer look.

A broad bowl of soft shell-to-orchid-pink guard petals surrounds an extraordinary center of narrow, feathery petaloids in shades of deep rose, raspberry pink, cream and occasionally wine red.

And here's part of the fun: the center can vary slightly from year to year and even flower to flower.

No two displays feel exactly the same.

🌸 Flower & Garden Details

Flower Color: Soft orchid pink with rose, raspberry, cream and occasional red tones
Flower Form: Japanese
Fragrance: Light, pleasant fragrance
Bloom Season: Midseason
Foliage: Deep, dark green
Habit: Strong, rounded and mostly self-supporting
Size: Approximately 30–36 inches tall × 30–36 inches wide
Light: Full sun to light afternoon shade
Hardiness: USDA Zones 2–8
Cut Flower: Excellent
Best Uses: Cutting gardens, perennial borders, cottage gardens, mass plantings and collector gardens
Awards: American Peony Society Gold Medal, 2004 • Award of Landscape Merit, 2009

🩷 A Peony That Doesn't Look Like Everyone Else

Do Tell was introduced in 1946 by American peony breeder Edward Auten.

Auten himself was struck by the flower's extraordinary contrast, describing its combination of pale outer petals and dramatically darker center as among the strongest color contrasts he had seen.

Unlike a traditional double peony filled completely with broad petals, Do Tell has a Japanese flower form.

Large outer guard petals create a beautiful pink bowl around a center packed with narrow, transformed stamens called staminodes.

The effect is almost like a peony wearing a feathery raspberry-pink crown.

🏅 An Award-Winning Garden Peony

Do Tell isn't famous simply because it's unusual.

It's also a genuinely excellent garden plant.

The American Peony Society awarded Do Tell its prestigious Gold Medal in 2004, followed by the Award of Landscape Merit in 2009 for its outstanding performance in the landscape.

Plants develop into attractive, rounded clumps with dark-green foliage, and the flowers are generally held well above the plant without the flopping associated with some enormous double peonies.

That makes Do Tell beautiful before, during and after bloom.

💛 Why Grace Rose Farm Loves It

Every cutting garden needs a flower that makes people ask, “What IS that?”

Do Tell is that peony.

The soft pink outer petals are beautiful on their own—but then you reach the center.

Raspberry.

Cream.

Rose.

Pink.

A little wine red.

All mixed together into a feathery center that looks almost hand-painted.

And because the flower is lighter than a densely packed double peony, the stems generally stand beautifully in the garden.

It's romantic without being predictable.

Do Tell is a peony for people who already thought they knew what a peony looked like.

🌿 Planting & Care

Plant peony roots in full sun and fertile, well-drained soil. A little afternoon shade can be beneficial in hotter climates.

Position the root so the eyes sit only about 1–2 inches below the finished soil surface. Avoid planting too deeply, which can reduce or prevent flowering.

Space plants approximately 3 feet apart and water deeply after planting. Peonies dislike waterlogged soil, particularly during winter dormancy, so good drainage is essential.

Once established, Do Tell develops into a strong, long-lived perennial that can remain in the same garden for decades.