Henry Bockstoce – 30 Roots
The King of Peonies
If you sell flowers face-to-face, plant Henry Bockstoce.
There are productive peonies. There are beautiful peonies. And then there are flowers that make people walking past your farmers-market stand stop, turn around and come closer.
For us, Henry Bockstoce is that peony.
We call it “The King of Peonies.” Its enormous, fully double, deep cardinal-to-burgundy red flowers have extraordinary scale, substance and presence. The blooms are densely packed with heavy petals and carried on substantial stems, creating a flower that can look almost impossibly large when grown well.
Henry Bockstoce was introduced by American hybridizer W.S. Bockstoce in 1955 and has remained an exceptional red double for good reason. It isn't subtle—and that's precisely its commercial value.
A Farmers-Market Magnet
We have grown and sold peonies for decades, and few varieties attract casual customers the way Henry Bockstoce does.
At a farmers market, people don't begin by reading a cultivar name or asking about vase life. First you have to make them stop.
Henry Bockstoce does that.
Its combination of enormous flower size, saturated dark-red color and extravagant double form can pull the attention of someone who wasn't even planning to buy flowers. Put a bucket of Henry Bockstoce where passing customers can see it and the flowers can become their own advertisement.
For growers selling through farmers markets, farm stands, retail bouquets or other direct-to-consumer channels, that ability to stop foot traffic has real economic value.
Grow It Like You Mean It
Henry Bockstoce is not a variety we would plant and then neglect.
The same enormous flowers that make it spectacular also make the crop heavy. We recommend support netting for commercial production so those valuable stems remain upright as the flowers develop.
We also recommend reliable irrigation. If you're growing Henry Bockstoce for maximum stem and flower quality, give the plants the consistent culture necessary to realize their potential.
It asks more from the grower than some production peonies.
The result is worth it—both economically and in sheer beauty.
A Red Peony With Real Presence
Every commercial peony field needs workhorses, but not every variety needs to earn its place in exactly the same way.
Henry Bockstoce earns its acreage through impact.
The huge, richly colored double flowers are exceptional for dramatic bouquets and statement stems, while the variety gives direct-market growers something equally valuable: a flower customers can recognize from across the aisle.
If your business depends partly on selling flowers directly to the public, that matters.
A customer may not arrive at the market knowing the name Henry Bockstoce.
They may leave remembering it.
Why Plant 30?
A handful of Henry Bockstoce plants will produce spectacular flowers.
A 30-root block gives you the beginning of a crop with enough volume to create visual impact at market—to fill buckets with one of the most commanding red peonies we grow rather than having a few exceptional stems disappear into mixed inventory.
Plant it where you can irrigate it. Support it properly. Give it the conditions to produce the massive flowers for which it is known.
Then put those flowers at the front of your farmers-market display.
Some peonies fill buckets. Henry Bockstoce can bring customers to them.
30 large 3–5 eye divisions · Vermont grown · FREE overnight shipping
