Gordon E. Simonson was named for the hybridizer’s gardening friend, who was 104 in 2010 when this peony was registered!

Gordon E. Simonson is a lovely, vibrant cultivar. The color is technically considered to be pink but - to my eye - has a heavy lavender hue. The flowers are large and I’ve seen them described as some of the most perfectly formed Itoh flowers on the market.

Gordon E. Simonson is reported to have a very long blooming season - opening early in the itoh bloom period and blooming reliably through to the end. Our stock is still young and only blooms at the tail end of the season. We have loved this as Gordon E. Simonson offers bright color just as the rest of our fields are winding down. Perhaps as our stock matures, we’ll get this lovely color splash even longer.

This is not a commonly offered peony and - unfortunately - I neglected to take many pictures this past season. To see an additional image, you may reference the APS registry here.

For us, flowers have always been semi-double however the APS registry indicates the plant does produce doubles as well.