Seasons in the garden are measured by the month, so plants, I've decided, should pay their rent with more than a transient week or two of bloom. Not that I'm after eternal plastic flowers, mind you. Foliage and fruit have beauty, too.And Paeonia obovata var. alba does it for me, handsome from spring to fall. Sturdy coral-red shoots emerge in spring, the young leaves clasping a rounded bud.As unfolding leaves turn green, the bud unfurls to a pure white chalice, a single row of petals around a golden crown of stamens in a show that continues fromApril to May.Autumn produces another peak display as seedpods open wide, revealing lustrous metallic-blue pea-size fertile seeds elegantly set off by Chinese-red, infertile ones.The show is so beautiful that I'm betwixt and between: Do I enjoy the show or gather seeds for sowing? This herbaceous Japanese woodland peony, hardy to Zone 5, prefers light shade and a loamy soil high in organic matter that is moist but well-drained. If one is patient, propagation is quite easy from fresh seed. Sow promptly outdoors, and a wee shoot will emerge the second spring.Young plants will bloom approximately five years later. Offered occasionally by a few specialty nurseries, this easily grown, long-lived beauty is one that more than pays for its keep.