In 1804 english botanist henry charles andrews was the first person outside china to describe and validly publish the tree peony the tree peony flower is a much loved symbol in chinese culture and today gardeners around the world enjoy their exotic beauty they flower in spring and have humongous flowers up to 25cm 40103441 in diameter tree peonies are hardy shrubs that are disease resistant and in excess of a hundred blooms can flower on a mature plant the flowers of tree peony