Beyond the Blooms: Peony Producers Persevere

The next chapter in Alaska’s peony industry may come from the basic chemistry of peonies themselves.

Over the past twenty-five years, the Alaska peony industry has grown from one research plot at the UAF Georgeson Botanical Garden to an international marketplace with about 100 commercial growers. Today, peonies are largely a direct-to-consumer cut flower business, and they bring in a quarter of the state’s horticulture industry’s $90.9 million in annual revenue. “Alaska is number one in the nation for peony farms,” says Pat Holloway, a UAF professor emeritus of agriculture.

Extract Value

Some growers are looking beyond the blooms, seeing peonies as a source of edible oil, flavorings, food dyes, corrosion inhibitors, and antibiotics. Peonies could even be used to fight tooth decay.

For example, peony seeds are used in China to make a cooking oil, Holloway says. But peony seeds are hard to get in Alaska because the state’s short growing season doesn’t allow commercially grown peonies to mature enough to create seeds. An exception is bushy peony, Paeonia anomala, known locally as Jana’s peony. Holloway is looking at Jana’s peony and others that may contribute to a future oilseed line.

Mike Williams, owner of EagleSong Peony Farm, is pursuing an alternative use, investigating the market for botanical peony extracts. “Peonies contain a large amount of bioactive substances,” Williams says. “The entire plant can be used.”