Wednesday, January 23, 2019

2019 Peony 'Glowing Candles' Tries to Grow Again in January

Well, the first sprout on my newly planted Peony 'Glowing Candles' has already died. Back in November, shortly after I planted this peony root (in October), it sprouted the first time, 2018 Song Sparrow Peony Root Sprouting in the Fall. Now it's January, and it is sprouting again. We always have weird winter weather here in NC. You never really know what you're going to get, like the 2018 7 Inches of Snow on Southern Peony Gardens! we got this December. It was 71 degrees on January 1st for the high and 31 degress on the 21st for the high. It's mostly been in the 50s, 60s, or 40s for the high, but we've had some much colder weather so far this week. The 17 degree overnight temperatures we've had this week have surely done it in again. I just hope this thing has some eyes left (and energy) come spring!


Peony 'Glowing Candles' Growing Again in January

The more I think about this, the more I feel sure this root must have been refrigerated for some time (maybe even an extended period of time). I bought this root from the 2018 Fall Peony Sale @ Song Sparrow where they had 7 select peony varieties on sale for $19.95. The varieties they put on sale were 'David Harum', 'Glowing Candles', 'Green Lotus', 'High Adventure', 'Honey N Cream', 'Jubilee Pink', and 'Scarlet O'Hara'. I'm guessing those 7 varieties must have been overstocked and were in need of being sold, thus the price markdown. I couldn't resist buying Peony 'Glowing Candles', though, because it just looks so lovely. I'm wondering if anyone else who bought a root or two from this sale has had the same experience as me with having them sprout early (just curious)...

2 comments:

  1. You might be right about the refrigeration...

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    1. Bob,

      Thanks for the vote of confidence in that hypothesis. So far it seems the January sprout has somehow survived into spring without any help from me - mulch, dirt, or any other kind of cover. However I don't think it will bloom this year, as I don't recall seeing any shoots carrying buds mature enough to bloom. Too bad that first shoot in November died. That one looked to be carrying a bud that would have come to full term. It seems wonderous that the January sprout has survived many freezes though. So perhaps this is a hardy plant that will thrive here. We shall see...

      Adriana

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