Paeonia 'The Fawn' is a peony with the soft-focus beauty of an old watercolour, its scented blooms opening in shades of soft to mid-pink and delicately scattered with tiny speckles of deeper rose. These fine markings give each flower a charmingly individual finish, as though Paeonia 'The Fawn' has been carefully dabbed with a paintbrush rather than grown in the usual way. Full, romantic and gently fragrant, it brings a refined sense of detail to early summer borders. As a recipient of the RHS Award of Garden Merit, Paeonia 'The Fawn' offers beauty with reassuring garden performance too.

Plant Paeonia 'The Fawn' in rich, fertile, well-drained soil, where its elegant flowers can bask in sun or light shade and be admired at close quarters. Its speckled pink petals look exquisite among silvery foliage, hardy geraniums, salvias and airy ornamental grasses, creating a border that feels composed but never stiff. The blooms are also wonderful for cutting, bringing their subtle scent and painterly colouring indoors for arrangements with a quietly luxurious mood. Long-lived, dependable and distinctly pretty without trying too hard, Paeonia lactiflora 'The Fawn' is a peony for gardeners who appreciate the finer details.