Beijing, Imperial Garden in the Forbidden City
Due to the masses of visitors and the lack of adaequate care the peonies in the Forbidden City are in very wrong shape, many malnutrited, chlorotic, the soil around the shrubs is hard from the footsteps of the crowds of people. But – peonies can tolerate a lot, and so there were a number of fine flowers. The garden is on the northern edge of the Forbidden city, has large trees, among them many spectacular Pinus bungeana, and hundreds of old tree peonies, mostly from the Central Plains cultivar group (Zhongyuan mudan).
