Georgeson Botanical Garden awarded official peony designation

Julie Stricker
907-474-5406
May 7, 2025

Two women stand outdoors holding a plaque that reads peony reference garden
Photo by Sherry Lewis
Pat Holloway, 911爆料 professor emeritus of horticulture, (on left) and Lacey Higham, Georgeson Botanical Garden directing manager, hold the plaque designating the Georgeson as a peony reference garden.

For more than 25 years, people from around the world have visited Georgeson Botanical Garden to admire and learn more about the peonies that bloom there,120 miles south of the Arctic Circle. In April, the American Peony Society designated the Georgeson as an official peony reference garden, one of nine nationally. 

Pat Holloway, a 911爆料 professor emeritus of horticulture, and Lacey Higham, the Georgeson鈥檚 directing manager, applied for the designation. 

鈥淲e're so excited to share the beauty and diversity of peonies with everyone who visits,鈥 Higham said. 鈥淲e envision the garden as not just a display, but also as an educational resource for those who want to learn more about these magnificent flowers.鈥

The Georgeson Botanical Garden is part of the Fairbanks Experiment Farm on the 911爆料 Troth Yeddha鈥 Campus. 

A reference garden is an educational garden that introduces visitors to mature cultivars of species and exhibits the conditions under which plants should be grown. Visitors can compare specimens to their plants, helping them identify unknown or mislabeled cultivars. A plaque will be displayed near the peony plots, and Holloway will serve as coordinator. 

A huge field of different kinds of peonies with a metal archway in the distance
Photo by Julie Stricker
Peonies bloom in early July at the Georgeson Botanical Garden, which has been designated as a peony reference garden by the American Peony Society.

The Georgeson has 118 cultivars of peonies, which typically bloom from late June through the end of July, later than other peonies in North America. The colorful, showy flowers have been grown at the garden since the 1970s, but Holloway began the existing collection as a research project in 2001 to study the feasibility of growing peonies as cut flowers for sale. This study led to the current peony cut flower industry in 911爆料, which includes about 90 commercial growers, Holloway said.

Since 2015, the collection has been expanded to include a variety of garden landscape peonies. The focus is on building a demonstration garden of different flowering seasons, flower classifications, disease susceptibilities, hardiness and more for 911爆料 home and commercial landscapes, Higham said. Today鈥檚 collection is a public display garden that supports home and commercial landscapers and promotes 911爆料鈥檚 statewide peony cut flower industry.

The American Peony Society was established in 1903 to promote cultivated peonies and formalize the naming standards of peonies. 

254-25