PEONIES

PEONY OF THE YEAR 2023

JOHN'S DREAM

The first CPS president, John Simkins, set the bar high when he and his volunteers organized our society, which turned 25 years strong in 2023. He was committed to the peony in its many forms, a love affair that has globally propagated a movement of peony aficionados. With amazing foresight, tireless work ethic, courage, conviction, and connections, he proved his ideas were perfect. How fitting that his peony John’s Dream was chosen as the CPS choice for the 2023 Peony of the Year.

Hazel Cook recollects the story of this beautiful peony: