2014 Peony Seedling Plastic Label Failure

When I went outside a couple weeks ago I noticed something strange with some of my peony seedling labels... They were all on the ground. Apparently these plastic labels are too lightweight and could not withstand the constant freezing and thawing of the ground here. I guess that's a valuable lesson learned. I won't know the parent name for of all of the Chinese peony seedlings that I so carefully labeled and had my Chinese husband translate for me. What a waste! Well I guess I'll stick to the tried and true steel and copper plant labels that I've been using since 2007. These have never been heaved from the ground like these plastic plant labels! Too bad I never got around to putting these on my peony seedling map... I guess if any of them turn out to be worthwhile seedlings, they'll get a new name anyway! It would have been nice to know their heritage, though, assuming they were labeled correctly in the first place.
Plastic Peony Seedling Labels


Copper and Steel Peony Seedling Labels

2013 Cheap Versus Expensive Tree Peonies

I guess time and again, when it comes to peonies, just about like everything else, you get what you pay for. I was pleased when I received my first official tree peony order from Tree Peony Garden, a peony grower in the US who focuses mainly on tree peonies. Not only were these tree peonies much more expensive, they were much, much larger and fresher than the cheaper Tree Peonies from China I purchased through Ali Express. The tree peonies I ordered from Tree Peony Garden are 'High Noon', 'Kamatafuji', and 'Li Yuan Chun 李园春'. Peony 'High Noon' is an American tree peony cultivar and an APS Gold Medal Winner in 1989, while Peony 'Kamatafuji' is a Japanese tree peony cultivar, and 'Li Yuan Chun 李园春' is a Chinese tree peony cultivar. While I ordered 2 year old tree peony plants for all three of these cultivars, it looks like they sent me a much larger and older specimen of the center one in the photo (Peony 'Li Yuan Chun 李园春'). Perhaps they ran out of 2 year old tree peonies in this variety. It was so huge I was tempted to split it in half, with three large branches and lots of roots! However I decided to let it grow as it, hoping to get a nice blossom from it in the spring. :-) I am looking forward to growing all three of these tree peonies which represent different cultures and regions of important tree peony growers and climates from different parts of the world.
Tree Peony Roots from Tree Peony Garden

2013 Dormant or Dead? Chinese Tree Peonies

Well, I received some of the Chinese tree peonies I ordered this week. I'm not sure which plants they are or which vendor they came from. None of the plants are labeled, and they all came with their roots wrapped in plastic wrap. I actually placed 7 different orders with 7 different vendors. I figured this way I was hoping to find at least a good vendor or two. I received 2 boxes from China in the mail this week, and I did in fact receive tree peony roots. One box came with a 10 inch root in it, and most of the top stem had been trimmed away, leaving only about 1/2 inch of stem. The other box came with 5 tree peonies in it with longer 6-7 inch stems, but shorter roots that had been trimmed to 3-4 inches. I'm curious to see if any of these will grow. This was not a very expensive experiment, but definitely a curious one. I plant to soak these roots all day today, and probably plant them out tomorrow. I am really curious to see if the tree peonies with longer stems or the tree peonies with longer roots are able to survive. I will definitely keep you posted on whether any of these tree peonies actually sprout in the spring!
Chinese Tree Peonies with Long Stems and Short Roots


Chinese Tree Peony with Short Stem and Long Root

2013 Ali Express Chinese Tree Peonies $5.52 for 3!

Is it too good to be true? The Chinese text says, 3 stems shipping included, 5 years old big young trees at a special price, on sale, crazy deal! Three 5 year old tree peony plants for $5.52, shipping included? For $16.56, I'm in for three sets of 3. It does sound too good to be true, but I decided to try it anyway. If I'm out $16, okay, then at least I've investigated it for the rest of you. Also when ordering with Ali Express, the money is not released to the seller until you've confirmed receipt of the item. So I'm sure to get something. We'll just have to see what the condition of goods will be when they arrive. I've ordered Ali Express Chinese Tree Peony Seeds before, and they all came nicely packed and labeled. However I've never seen peony plants offered on Ali Express before. So now I am excited about the prospect of growing several different varieties of tree peonies. I'm also skeptical whether they'll be labeled correctly, but for $1.84 each who can complain? Even if the survival rate is only 20%, maybe I'll at least get two nice ones for less than $20. I'll keep you posted on how this pans out... :)
Ali Express Chinese Tree Peonies, 3 for $5.52

2013 Monrovia Itoh Peony 'Misaka'™ 美 (Beautiful Blossom) & Itoh Peony 'Takara'™ 慈悲 (Treasure)

Today I got an email from one of my favorite local garden centers saying that select annuals and perennials were 50% off. I called them since I was just there on Monday, and the peonies were only 30% off then. They said they would give me 50% off of the peonies even though there weren't yet marked to 50% off. So I went to the nursery right away and picked out another one of the Monrovia Itoh peonies from their Japanese heritage collection. They had two varieties left that I didn't have yet. I'd purchased 2013 Monrovia Itoh Peony 'Keiko'™ (Adored) a little over a month ago, and one other variety was already sold out. The two they had left were Peony 'Misaka'™ (Beautiful Blossom) & Peony 'Takara'™ (Treasure).

'Misaka'™ 美 (Beautiful Blossom) Itoh Peony	'Takara'™ 慈悲 (Treasure) Itoh Peony

I first selected the Peony 'Takara'™ since it was the largest plant, the foliage looked the healthiest, and it had a seed pod on it (so I knew it had bloomed this spring). I also wanted a Peony 'Misaka'™, but the only two they had left were in bad shape, and even 50% off didn't seem like enough. So I asked the staff member if it were possible that they might take more than 50% off for one of those two since they looked so bad. One had very sparse foliage with some blight, and the other one had lots of stunted yellow foliage, which looks like it might have been from over fertilization. The staff member didn't think they would take anything more off, but agreed to check with the management to be sure. When he came back, he said they would take more off of the plant, 75% off! I was very happy at the news, and decided to purchase one of each Peony 'Misaka'™ & Peony 'Takara'™ to put in my Japanese garden. I can't wait to see how lovely these three peonies look next spring when they are all in bloom!

2013 Purple Tree Peony Seedlings From Ebay UK

Purple Tree Peony Seedlings for Sale on Ebay
I was lucky enough to happen upon these purple tree peony seedlings for sale on Ebay a few weeks ago. Purple is my favorite color, and I couldn't believe how cheap these peony seedlings were selling for. I don't know if these new plants will be true to seed, but I am definitely interested and excited to see what kind of plant and flower these seedlings will turn out to have. I purchased two of these seedlings on July 14th, and they arrived in the mail yesterday - Royal Mail! :-) These plants are from Blandford, Dorset, United Kingdom. It seems they don't get as cold there in the winter, and they also do not get as hot in the summer. Their temperatures are much more stable than they are here in NC. So I'm curious to see how the plant adjusts to our weather here.

Purple Tree Peony Seedlings from the UK
The plants were definitely stressed from their international voyage, and I'm sure the summer weather here didn't help them much. However they were still a bit moist even though the soil was a bit shaken up. The leaves started to turn brown on the edges, but even if they go dormant now, I think they will still survive. At least I hope they will. That's why I bought two, just in case! I did get a good look at the roots on these since the soil was shaken up quite a bit, and the roots on at least one of them looked really healthy. On one of the plants I noticed the seed was still attached to the peony root where it sprouted, and I have never seen a peony seed this BIG before!!! I put a ruler next to it and another normal sized tree peony seed next to it for reference. The peony seed from this purple tree peony looks a little over 5/8", where the normal peony seed looks a little under 3/8". That's a big difference! Well I guess we'll see what these giant seeded peonies can do!

Purple Tree Peony Seedling	Purple Tree Peony Seed

2013 Questions - Source for Peony 'Uncle Tom'

I received this question from Karen in Zone 8:
"I see that you have Auten's Uncle Tom Peony in your inventory. Can you tell me where you purchased this peony? I have been looking for a source for this peony but could not find anywhere. Thanks"

I actually purchased this peony from Gilbert H. Wild several years ago in 2008. This may be one of the few varieties I received from them that was actually labeled correctly. I no longer purchase plants from this vendor due to their rampant mislabeling of varieties (or perhaps it may be more accurately described, unannounced substitutions, who knows?). Anyway they are notoriously known for sending plant material that is not true to name. However their prices are very reasonable, read cheap, and if you are looking for sheer quantities of peonies, not caring about the variety or even color, they can definitely help you with flowers in numbers. Or perhaps you may want to place an order for just excitement to find out years later what color and peony flower type you actually received. I, however, did not find this to be an exciting game, and am still pruning my collection of mislabeled varieties they've sent me. I'm sorry I don't have a more reliable source for you since you are looking for a specific variety, I'm guessing you'd want it to be true to name. It doesn't look like Gilbert H. Wild is even offering Peony 'Uncle Tom' this year or season. However most peony growers do not offer all of their varieties every year. They rotate them in their catalogs according to their available stock (and perhaps to keep things interesting). Hopefully some other vendors will offer this peony to the public again in the near future!

Peony 'Uncle Tom'

2013 Monrovia Itoh Peony 'Keiko'™ 愛幕 (Adored)

Monrovia Peony 'Keiko'™ 愛幕 (Adored)
So I saw these Monrovia Itoh peonies at a local garden center near me. They looked so lovely, they looked so intersectional, they looked so... expensive! As you can see from the tag on this one, they are tagged to sell for $89.99. However I definitely didn't pay that much. The garden center had them on sale for 30% off, and I also had a $50 Visa gift card that someone had given me. So I ended up paying a little more than $17 with tax after the sale and gift card.
Monrovia Peony 'Keiko'™ (Adored) Tag
These Monrovia peonies that they were selling are part of Monrovia's Japanese collection of peonies with Japanese names to honor the creator of Itoh peonies, Toichi Itoh, of Japan. The intersectional peony I selected was the largest plant I saw and the one with the best looking foliage. It is named Peony 'Keiko'™ (Adored), and from the picture of the bloom, it looks like it will be a lovely pink color. With it's Japanese name I figured this peony would feel much at home in my Japanese garden near my pagoda statue and Japanese irises. So that's where I planted it. I can't wait to see it bloom next year! Also I will have to keep my eye on these at the garden center to see when they go on clearance. :-)
Monrovia Peony 'Keiko'™ (Adored) Near Japanese Garden

2013 P. Rockii Peony Seeds from Cricket Hill Garden

Last week I got the Tree Peony P. Rockii Seeds I ordered from Ebay. They apparently came from Cricket Hill Garden. I wasn't sure, but I thought these seeds might come from a private individual. The seeds came with a very nice catalog from Cricket Hill Garden as well. I think they normally charge $2.00 for a copy of their catalog. So I've never gotten a copy since I don't like to pay for catalogs. It looks like Cricket Hill Garden is using Ebay as a creative marketing tool - sell some seeds, send a free catalog. The catalog actually has some interesting information about Japanese and Chinese tree peonies, which is great since I don't know a lot about the differences and history of both of these type of peonies. So I was very happy to receive the catalog with the seeds. The Ebay auction was for "15 Fresh Tree Peony P. Rockii Seeds USA GROWN", and they actually send 20 seeds. So that was nice of them. I will definitely be leaving them positive feedback on Ebay! I can't wait to see how these grow!
P. Rockii Seeds and Catalog from Cricket Hill Gardens

2013 Planted P. Rockii and P. Ludlowii Peony Plants

Today I planted the P. Rockii Peony Plant that Arrived last week in the mail from Edelweiss Perennials. I decided to keep in in the pot for a short while to make sure it had plenty of water this week, and it looks like it helped it a lot. The leaves are no longer wilted looking, and it seems like it even grew a bit. I guess I planted it in the correct place as well. I planted it where it will receive some afternoon shade. From what I just read, it seems that the P. rockii tree peonies generally go into early dormancy in places that have hot, dry summers. It sounds like this guy is in for a challenge in this southern climate. Luckily I planted it in a location that will give the plant a bit of relief from our long and hot summers here.

P. rockii Peony Planted

I also got the P. ludlowii peony plant I ordered from Ebay planted today as well. This one looks like a nice plant except it looks like it already has botrytis blight on its stems. This worries me since the seller of this plant calls it a P. delavayi var. lutea ludlowii. The other P. delavayi plant I have with red flowers on it has not done very well here and is always diseased. I hope this yellow P. delavayi variety does not have the same poor performance here. We shall see...

P. ludlowii Peony Planted

2013 P. Rockii Peony Plant Arrived

Well, the P. Rockii Species Peony from Edelweiss Perennials that I ordered last week arrived today. It looks like a nice size plant, although the leaves looked a little wilted, presumably from its trip through the mail system. So I decided to let it take a dip and rest in the shade this afternoon. The plant was well protected in its box except for its dirt, some of which was dispersed inside the package. The roots of the tree peony were showing since the top soil has been displaced. (This could have been prevented by putting the pot in a plastic bag and using a twist tie to close the plastic bag around the stem. I've gotten several other plants in the mail this way, and it seems to work very well.) So anyway I added a little potting soil and water to the top of 4" pot, that was supposed to be a quart - which I plan to contact the company about. So we will see what they say about that. Otherwise, the plant seems to be a good one with nice foliage. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, which is good since it's so hot all of a sudden. Hopefully it will cool us down a bit and keep the ground a little moist. Then I should be able to plant out this P. rockii on Saturday. :-)
P. Rockii Peony Plant

2013 P. Rockii Species Peonies at Edelweiss Perennials

Wow. Google is my friend. :-) I found a P. rockii peony using Google offered by Edelweiss Perennials. I've never heard of this nursery before, but I thought I'd take a chance. It seems like they a large variety of plants. They even have several other species peonies to choose from (Paeonia delavayi, Paeonia intermedia, Paeonia lutea var. ludlowii, Paeonia mairei, Paeonia mascula subsp. arietina, Paeonia mlokosewitschii, Paeonia obovata var. willmottiae, Paeonia peregrina, Paeonia potaninii, Paeonia rockii ssp. rockii, and Paeonia tenuifolia). Some of them I've not seen offered elsewhere (like Paeonia intermedia, P. mairei, P. potaninii, P. triternata), and their prices are very reasonable. If the P. rockii peony I purchase from them does well, I may order some additional species plants from them later this year or next year. I'm really excited to see the white and purple blooms of the Paeonia rockii!

P. rockii Peony at Edelweiss Perennials

2013 Half Price Peony at Local Nursery

Wow! Did I get lucky! I went to get my oil changed this week, and I always take my car to a place that's near one of my favorite local nurseries. I usually walk over there to check to see what they have on sale while my car is being worked on. Well yesterday when I went there I found a Peony 'Coral Sunset' that had an orange sale sticker on it, and all of their sale items were 50% off. The original price was $24.99. So that made it only $12.50! Yes, I already have Peony 'Coral Sunset', but who could resist another one for 50% off? So of course I bought it, and I got it planted today. So keep your eyes open when shopping at your local nurseries. They may have some peonies from last year's stock on sale! Since this Peony 'Coral Sunset' was growing in a pot, I actually planted it more shallow in the ground than it was growing in the pot, as evidenced by the whitish color at the base of the stems. This portion of the stem was previously under the soil when it was growing in the pot, but due to our climate here, I knocked off a bit of the soil from the top of the peony root, and planted the roots close to the surface. This way the peony roots will get the chilling hours required to generate bloom here.
Half Price Potted Peony 'Coral Sunset'


Planted Peony 'Coral Sunset'

2013 Chinese Peony Seeds from Ebay

Well it wasn't 3 days, but they did come pretty fast, considering they came all the way from China. The Suffruticosa Tree Peony Seeds from China I ordered from Ebay came yesterday. I also ordered a pack of pink tree peony seeds from Ebay for 99 cents (shipping included!) the day after I ordered the first set of Ebay peony seeds, and those came today. So they both arrived in 8 days! Not bad for coming from halfway across the world. I also noticed that the seeds packets came from different address in the same city (Huaian Jiangsu). That's interesting. :) Even the $2.50 seeds from Ebay came packaged as 6 separate varieties. The Ebay auction listing also tells me what color seed is inside of each of the six packages. I figured for that low of a price, all of the seeds would just be mixed together in one package. So that's nice that the different colors of seeds are separated. I can't wait until they grow and bloom. I'm so curious to see what will turn up! I'm sure the picture from the Ebay auction has been "enhanced". I've never seen a peony that blue. I'm sure it must be some shade of purple, which would be perfectly fine with me, since purple is my favorite color. :)

	P1 white P2 black P3 blue P4 green P5 pink P6 red
Tree Peony Seeds from China

99 Cent Pink Peony Seeds from China

2013 Suffruticosa Tree Peony Seeds from China

On a reader's recommendation (Steve), I ordered some peony seeds from Ali Express. I wanted a nice mixture, and one of the sellers, Linlang Department Store, offered seeds from 15 named tree peony varieties (Chinese names, of course) of all different colors. So I decided to order from them. They weren't 4 cents a seed, but I'm hoping for some nice seedlings. They ended up being 12 cents a seed for 100 seeds, so $12. I also ordered a pack of mixed color seeds, no named varieties, off of Ebay for $2.50 for 120 seeds. That's about 2 cents a seed. Who knows what I would do with all of those plants if they actually came up? Tree peonies aren't even my favorite anyway, but for more than 200 p. suffruticosa seeds for less than the price of one herbaceous peony root, I figured I'd give them a try. I'm sure not all of the peony seeds will come up anyway, but this gives me a nice chance of actually getting some plants and the opportunity to see how these Chinese tree peonies will adapt to and grow in my southern climate.
Chinese Tree Peony Seeds

2013 Questions - Purchasing Peony Plants Versus Roots

I received this question from Karen in Zone 8:
"I currently have no peonies growing in my yard, zone 8, Montgomery AL. My first question is should I even attempt to do this with our long, very hot humid summers and mild winters. I've seen several container grown peony plants for sale in nurseries here in the spring. Is this advisable to purchase a plant rather than bulbs?"

I would say that if you find a plant for sale in your local nursery, most likely the plant should grow in your zone. Most nurseries want repeat customers, and if they sell plants that don't grow well in your zone and just die, they're not likely to get to many repeat customers that way. Peonies will definitely grow in zone 8. The question of whether to purchase a peony plant or a bulb (which is really a root) depends on how much time and money you have. If you can wait a little and want to buy the peony at a lesser cost, buy the root, since the root will likely be cheaper. However it may take one or more years to see blooms depending on the size and condition of the peony roots. Conversely if you don't mind spending a little more and would rather see results sooner, buy the container plant. Usually you can find peony container plants in bud or in bloom, so you know you will have blooms this year and for many years to come! If you do find a container peony in bloom, you will also know exactly what color you are purchasing - which is not always the case with roots, which could get mixed up. Good luck with your peonies, and I'd love to see pictures!

Intersectional Peony in Container	Intersectional Peony Root

2013 Freeze Dried Peony Petals for Weddings

I wanted to order some freeze dried rose petals for my wedding, but I was thrilled to find out that I could order freeze dried peony petals instead! Flyboy Naturals offers freeze dried peony petals that are perfectly preserved like fresh peony petals. What an awesome way to honor my favorite flower than to have my daughter toss peony petals on the beach at my wedding! Also they are environmentally friendly since they are biodegradable. :) These petals are grown in the USA. Flyboy Naturals has a nice selection of petals to choose from. So if you are looking for peony petals for your special event, I would highly recommend them! I selected the ivory peony petals, but they have lots of peony petal colors to choose from - ivory, lemon, pink, yellow, dark red, coral, and deep wine. The box I received was very nicely packaged, and the peony petals are beautiful. I can't wait to use them at my wedding!
Ivory Freeze Dried Peony Petals

2013 Peony Seeds From Hirt's Gardens

Talk about instant gratification - I ordered these seeds on Sunday, and they arrived in my mailbox on Wednesday! I must say I am impressed with Hirt's Gardens and the seeds I ordered from them on Ebay. All of the seeds were the correct number as promised except for P. banatica, which had one extra seed in it. This is what I received: P. ludlowii (2 seeds), P. mascula (5 seeds), P. officinalis banatica (5 seeds), P. tenuifolia (5 seeds), and P. wittmanniana (5 seeds). The peony seeds came with some interesting instructions. "PLACE SEED IN MOIST VERMICULITE IN PLASTIC BAG. PLACE IN WARM AREA OF THE HOUSE OUT OF THE SUN. WHEN THE ROOTS APPEAR, MOVE TO REFRIGERATOR FOR 10-12 WEEKS. TRANSPLANT WHEN SHOOT ARISE." I must admit I've never gone to that much trouble to germinate any seeds before. The most effort I've put forth is starting my vegetable seeds indoors for my vegetable garden, but no refrigeration was required. I might actually follow these instructions out of curiosity just to see what happens. I'll let you know how they do...

Peony Seeds from Hirt's Gardens

2013 Questions - Where to Buy Peony Seeds

I received this question from Courtney in Zone 7:
"My father is interested in purchasing some peony seeds. He has always been into flowers and gardening and its evident by his yard. His favorite are peonies and he has just become interested in trying to grow them from seeds. I found your site online today after he requested that I try to find some catalogues or places where he could buy seeds. I’m not sure if you sell them or could help me in finding a place that sells them. I would appreciate your advice!"

The places that come to my mind for buying peony seeds are either on Ebay or the APS Seed Distribution Program. Doing a quick search on Ebay, there are lots of peony seeds you can buy from China. Also there are some peony seeds offered from Hirt's Gardens (based out of Ohio) on Ebay. Thanks to your inquiry, I decided to purchase a few of these seeds myself.

Peony Seeds for Sale on Ebay

You may want to check out my previous posts on the 2010 APS Peony Seed Program and 2012 APS Convention Peony Seed Sale . Also you DO need to be an APS member to participate in the APS Seed Distribution Program. The costs of the APS seeds are typically very affordable (usually $2-$3 per pack + shipping). If your father is not already a member of the American Peony Society, an APS Membership would make a great gift! I do not sell any peony seeds myself, and although I cannot personally vouch for the outcomes from any of the seeds you might buy, the costs of your endeavor should be low and the rewards great, provided you have the time. Peony seeds typically take 3-5+ years to develop into a flowering plant. I'd love to see any pictures from the fruits of your labors. Good luck! :-)

2012 Brother P-Touch Peony Outdoor Plant Labels

I am working on making some plant labels for my garden today. Brother is a great company for label makers. I used to use the Brother P-Touch label makers that were handheld. The first one I purchased required batteries. The second one I purchased you could plug in, which really saved a lot in batteries. Now I have the Brother P-Touch that you can connect to your computer. This allows you more flexibility in what you want to put on the labels, the fonts you can use, the layout, etc. I always use the 1" Extra Strength Adhesive Tape for outdoor applications. I have been using this for years now, and it does not peel off or fade. I would highly recommend it if you're looking for labels for your garden that will last and last!
Brother P-Touch Label Editor Software

Brother P-Touch PC-Connectable Label Maker