Purchased this peony from G.H. Wild & Sons in 2011 (on sale for $15).

It is supposed to be a RARE pale yellow single, 28 inches tall and a very early bloomer.

It opens with a slight pink tint, fades to pure white, 42 inches tall and blooms in midseason. All of my "early" peonies bloomed a couple of weeks ago.

I brought this to the attention of G.H. Wild last year and sent them photos. They responded that it looked like 'Claire de Lune.' Since this is a 1954 White - Wild & Son introduction, you would think they would get this right.

Opinions please.

@Dave, can you please move this thread to the Peony forum per Frank's request?

I don't think it is Claire de Lune. It is definitely a mislabeled. Can I ask what is the little bush in front of your peony bush? Is it a Deutzia?

Hi Frank, my Claire de Lune is a really pale yellow, kinda washed out looking. I saw one at the APS convention 2 years ago and it did have a pale pink fading to a really pale yellow. In my opinion yours is much prettier than Claire!

kousa said:I don't think it is Claire de Lune. It is definitely a mislabeled. Can I ask what is the little bush in front of your peony bush? Is it a Deutzia?

it is Deutzia gracilis 'Nikko'

Thanks, Frank. I think the Claire De Lune flower would be larger. At least when it first opens, it should be yellow. There maybe light pink tinted flares at the base of the petals. THe bush is low growing like 24"-28". Your bush looks rather tall to be a Claire De Lune. In one of the post on Gardenweb, a poster noted that making the soil more alkaline may help bringing out more yellow in light yellow peonies. Maybe you can try that.

I got my Claire de Lune from GW also; it is at least the right color. It took 5 years to put out the first bloom and it was a small (around 4" across) washed out yellow. 3 springs later it has 2 blooms, a main and a side bloom. Main bloom is around 6", side around 4.
Claire might be rare because it increases very slowly. Other than being a collector I can't say there's a single reason to acquire Claire de Lune (IF mine truly is Claire). There are too many beautiful yellows out there, readily available, to bother with this one. Buy a Sunny Girl instead! Or if you want a single, grab a yellow Silver Dawn.