What is a Cerise Noir peony?

Cerise Noir is a new Eternity® Peony in a softly shadowed shade of mauve, with layered sculptural petals that reveal subtle notes of plum and violet. It is the first dark hue Venus et Fleur has ever offered in our most coveted floral, grown exclusively for us in Japan.

Read it in daylight and it is mauve. Read it after five o'clock and it reads almost blackberry. That shift is the whole point of the shade, and it is the reason we named it Cerise Noir rather than anything more literal.

Why mauve, and why now

We have offered Eternity® Peonies for years, and until this season every one of them has been a pastel: Cotton Cloud White, Pêcher Blush, Jules Pink, Lavande Rosé, Pétale de Rose. Beautiful, and unmistakably spring.

The peony has never had a fall wardrobe. Fall florals get handed the same warm palette every year — rust, amber, ochre — and the peony, with its density and its very particular petal structure, does not wear those colors well. It looks costumed.

What the peony does wear beautifully is depth. Its petals sit in dozens of overlapping layers, so any color with a dark undertone pools in the folds and lifts at the edges. Put a mauve on that structure and you get two tones out of one flower: a soft, dusty rose at the outer petals and a genuine wine at the center. That is Cerise Noir. Mauve, transformed by shadow.

How the shade was developed

Our peonies are grown exclusively for Venus et Fleur at partner farms in Japan and hand-picked at peak bloom by the botanical experts there. Peak bloom is a narrow window, and it is the only moment at which a flower will take preservation well — a day early and the petals are too tight to open, a day late and they bruise.

From there the bloom is preserved rather than dried. Dried flowers lose their water and their color together, which is why they go brown and brittle. Preservation replaces the sap with a plant-based solution that holds the petal soft and holds the pigment in place. That solution is where a colorway is actually made, and it is why a dark peony is harder than a pale one: deep pigments are far less stable, and they are unforgiving of any unevenness from petal to petal.

Cerise Noir took several seasons to get right. It is why the first release is small, and why it may never appear in quite this form again.

Can you get peonies in the fall?

Yes, if they are preserved. Fresh peony season in the United States runs roughly eight weeks, from late April to mid-June, so fresh peonies are genuinely out of season in the fall. Preserved peonies are picked at peak bloom in that window and preserved, so they are available year-round.

This is the honest version of an answer most people never get. Search for fall peonies and you will find bare-root planting stock and a great deal of silk. Ours are real flowers that were alive in June, picked at their best hour, and stopped there.

Where to see Cerise Noir

As a standalone peony arrangement:

• Thalia Porcelain Vase in Cerise Noir — 15 to 18 preserved Eternity® Peonies in our handcrafted Thalia porcelain, logo lightly embossed at the front.
• Fleura Porcelain Vase in Cerise Noir — 12 to 13 preserved Eternity® Peonies, the most giftable size in the collection.

And layered into Nocturne Rosé, our mixed composition, alongside Blackberry Eternity® Hydrangeas, mauve-pink two-tone Eternity® Roses and our signature Blackberry Eternity® Roses:

• Gia Marble Vase in Nocturne Rosé — black and white marble, nine pounds, finished with a bronze plaque.
• Large Round Black Classic in Nocturne Rosé — the Parisian hat box with gold embossed detail.
• The Grand Venus in Nocturne Rosé — our tallest vessel, white glove delivery in New York City and the tri-state area only.

Frequently asked questions

Can you get peonies in the fall?

Yes, if they are preserved. Fresh peony season runs about eight weeks in spring, so fresh peonies are out of season in fall. Preserved peonies are picked at peak bloom in that window and preserved, so they are available year-round and last a year.

What color is Cerise Noir?

A softly shadowed mauve with plum and violet undertones. In daylight it reads dusty rose to wine; in low light it reads almost blackberry. It is the first dark colorway we have offered in our Eternity® Peonies.

Are these real peonies?

Yes. Every Cerise Noir peony is a real flower, grown exclusively for Venus et Fleur in Japan and hand-picked at peak bloom, then preserved at peak beauty. They are not silk, not dried and not artificial.

How long do preserved peonies last?

A year. Preserved peonies need no water and no sunlight. Keep them out of direct sun and away from humidity, dust them gently with a soft brush, and they hold their shape and color for a full year.

What is a dark peony called?

In our collection it is Cerise Noir. In the garden, dark peonies are usually deep burgundy or maroon cultivars, and true black peonies do not exist — the darkest are a very deep wine that reads black in low light.

Explore the full collection of preserved Eternity® Peonies or shop Fall Blooms.

[ LINK TO ADD — link "fall peonies" to /collections/fall-peonies once that page is built. ]