Peonies bloom in the sunlight at Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden. [Photo/WeChat ID: sheshanlvyou]

The peony garden in Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, which features more than 300 varieties of Chinese herbaceous peonies, has become a hotspot in early summer.

The peony garden, which encompasses 1.5 hectares within Chenshan's herb garden, has been transformed into an oil painting-like wonderland carpeted with beautiful flowers that bloom in pure white, pink white, pink purple, and bright yellow.

According to Tan Xirui, a staff member at Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, the peonies are planted together with German irises and other perennial plants with similar flowering seasons and behaviors to create a multi-layered landscape.

The Chinese herbaceous peony, also known as paeonia lactiflora, has an upright red-mottled stem and dark green leaves that are elliptic or lance-shaped with rough margins, and bears solitary, single creamy white to pale pink blossoms that are cup-shaped and elegant in early summer.

The flower is among the world's oldest garden plants and has been grown in China since the 7th century as a symbol of appreciation for ornamental flowers.

The root and bark of several species are used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Peonies are rose-like and fragrant flowers. [Photo/WeChat ID: sheshanlvyou]