Paeonia mollis is a close relative of P. officinalis or a form or hybrid of that species. I have P. mollis from two sources, and they are clearly different from each other, so something is wrong. I'm actually not sure if either of my two kinds is, in fact, mollis, and I'm wondering if anybody here has it, or knows it well, or both.
One of my plants, let's call it "mollis no. 1", is currently in bloom, the first of all my peonies to open. It's a herbaceous peony, low-growing, with large, semi-double, veined, magenta-pink blooms with a prominent boss of gold stamens and three hairy carpels (right word)? The foliage is a different color from that of "mollis no. 2" which, like my P. officinalis varieties, has a fairly bright green foliage with bronze shadings. "Mollis no. 1" instead has glaucous, almost bluish foliage tinted wine-red, different from the officinalis varieties and also from "mollis no. 2" (also from lactiflora peonies, which have red new shoots). Some tree peonies have this color foliage, but this is the only herbaceous peony I grow that does.
I consulted 'The Gardener's Guide to Growing Peonies' for a description of P. mollis, and it says of it that "leaves are blue-green, hairless or glaucous above, paler beneath with long white hairs." This sounds like my plant. However, it also says that P. mollis is sterile, while I believe my plant is setting viable seed: there are seedlings resembling it close to the plant, and I believe some of my seedling peonies--perhaps most of them--are seedlings from this plant. But I'm not sure about this last.
The color of the flowers is similar to that of the officinalis peony shown in a photograph in the 'Gardener's Guide'. But the blooms on "mollis no. 1" are more double than that of P. officinalis, and somewhat cupped. It's a beautiful flower, whatever it is.
Any help will be appreciated.