The article below gives introduction to fuyu-botan and haru-botan
Peony
Garden in Ueno Park
Described by Yoshiko
Ueno
“If
you have to single out one flower in Japan, you must choose the
botan!” A tree peony is called botan (Paeonia suffruticosa)
in Japanese. As one of the most celebrated flowers in East Asia,
the botan has charmed the Japanese landscape ever since it was
introduced during the Heian Period (794-1185).
Since then,
many varieties have been introduced or bred in Japan to give the
botan a wide range of shapes and colors: double- and
single-flowers; white, pink, red, purple and even yellow, with
many different shades.
Botan attracts us with its size and
appearance as well; a large one can be 20 cm in diameter. It is
awesome to see double-flowered peonies of that magnitude in full
bloom. Some flowers have very thin layers of translucent petals.
Looking at the sun through these flowers creates a halo that is
simply breath taking!
In
wintertime, when other flowers are rare, I would recommend that
you visit Ueno Toshogu Botan Garden, which features
forty-different kinds of botan on six hundred trees in a
traditional Japanese garden. Protected from frost by a rice-straw
cover, each peony looks adorable as it smiles at you through the
opening of the hood. Ueno Toshogu Botan Garden is the only place
in Tokyo where peonies can be enjoyed in winter. The garden opens
for fuyu-botan (winter-peony)
from January 1 to the end of February, daily from 9:30 am to 4:30
pm, with an admission of YEN 600 for adults. 
Even
though you miss the famous cherry blossoms, you can still enjoy
looking the peonies in the garden. Countless Japanese haru-botan
(spring-peony) of two hundred varieties on three thousand trees
bloom in the spring along with some Chinese tree peonies trying to
catch your attention. Open 9:00 am -5:00 pm; April 15 thru May 6;
Adm. YEN 600 for adults.
When the botan are gone, the garden
still has something to offer: shakuyaku, or herbaceous peony.
Although shakuyaku are a little smaller and simpler than botan,
they have their own beauty and charm. Shakuyaku bloom in late
April and you can enjoy some two thousand of them. 
Located
in Ueno Park in central Tokyo, Toshogu Botan Garden is adjacent to
Ueno Toshogu Shrine, which is the mausoleum of Ieyasu Tokugawa,
the first shogun of Tokugawa Shogunate. The brilliant mausoleum
was constructed in the middle of the 17th century. Together with
the five-storied pagoda and more than three hundred stone
lanterns, it still retains the atmosphere of the days of shogun
and is definitely worth a visit. Ueno Park is best accessible from
Koen-guchi exit of JR Ueno Station on the Yamanote Line.
