Description: It's always a challenge to communicate the scale of flowers via photos and words, but rest assured when I tell you that the 9-inch flowers on John's Dream are whoppers! At first it may seem that you have seen something similar before, but on further inspection these flowers have a very unique form that is between the conventionally defined single and Japanese form. This is why I have enjoyed growing this  plant so much - it is distinct and different, and the size of the flowers really make them showstoppers. It also helps that the origins of this plant trace back to the founder of the Canadian Peony Society, John Simkins, who was a remarkable individual. Extremely limited distribution has occured of this piece of Canadian peony history.

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The registry entry perhaps says it best: One flower per stem, 9 inches in size (23cm). The flower is bowl shaped, but a bowl with a wide rim having the 3½ inch (9 cm) boss of stamens and staminodes nestled inside the centre cup. Soft yellow petals are huge, 4 inches (20cm) at their widest point as well as being 4 inches long, the flower made up of 9 – 10 petals. Petals rounded and gently ruffled. Very large buds, 2½ inches (6 cm) in height. Carpels pale yellow-green, 3 in number, smooth. Stigmas pale yellow-green with pink along the inside edge, morphologically normal. Staminodal disc prominent, complete, white with greenish cast and hint of pink on some of the tips. No fragrance. Presumed tetraploid. Fertile both ways and has produced seedlings showing doubling. Upright growth to 36 inches (92 cm). Excellent strong plant habit, remaining healthy and green even in drought conditions late into autumn after most other varieties have gone dormant. Blooms with ‘Roy Pehrson’s Best Yellow’. A dramatic flower in all respects.