peony

Two extension services reach the same practical conclusion. Ohio State University Extension gives peony an “L” flammability rating, the low band on its five-point scale and one of the bands it recommends. Those ratings reflect the authors’ expert experience. The University of Arizona Cooperative Extension lists peony among fire-resistant plants when irrigated and maintained. Its guidance also cautions that fire-resistant plants are not fireproof.

The agreement is useful because it comes from guidance prepared for two different regions, Ohio and Arizona. Still, both assessments are expert-curated judgments, so the verdict should be read as landscaping guidance rather than a guarantee about how every plant will behave in a fire. Peony is a perennial in the Paeoniaceae family, and Ohio State also describes it as tolerant of urban conditions, long-lived, suited to sun or light shade, and intolerant of wet soils. Overall, the available assessments support calling peony fire resistant, provided it receives the irrigation and maintenance attached to Arizona’s recommendation.