2016 Southern Peony New Peony Hybridizers Section

I am very excited about a new page I'm adding to Southern Peony - Hybridizers. This page will be on the 2nd row of the menu bar at the top of every page. So it will be very easy to find. This page is a result of my interest in breeding and breeders. When I was reading an article about a breeder from TN of another type of plant, I felt like there was a gap in the reporting and recording of this type of information in the world of peonies. So I decided to start interviewing peony breeders. My first interviewee and I have finally finished my first interview, and I am very excited to publish it tomorrow. I won't spoil the surprise of who the first peony hybridizer interview is with. So you'll have to check back tomorrow to find out who it is and read all about them! Hybridize Definition

2016 Why I Love Saunders Peonies (& You Should Too!)

Early Blooming A. P. Saunders Herbaceous Peonies
If you haven't discovered any of A. P. Saunders herbaceous peonies (or have a whole collection of them) yet, then you should definitely give them a try. There are so many reasons to love these early hybrids, here are mine:

1. Foliage - Their early foliage usually creeps out of the ground 1 or 2 weeks before any of my other peonies, which really builds excitement for the peony bloom season.

2. Early Blooms - Also most of them are early bloomers, giving my garden colorful blooms before some of my peonies have even fully woken up and developed their buds.

3. Lots of Colors - They don't just come in light pink and white. There are fire engine reds, light yellows, pale pinks, whites, corals, shocking pinks, and lavender too!

Even though last year I had Saunders Peony Varieties Frozen Bud Blast, several were unaffected, and some still put on a good early show! So if you are eager to expand your peony bloom season, check out the extensive list of A. P. Saunders herbaceous hybrid peonies. I grow so many of them, but there are still so many more I want to grow!

2016 Peony on My Wish List 'Silvia Saunders'

Peony 'Silvia Saunders'
4 Years Propagation Time Until Available in 2020
Photo Courtesy of Hidden Springs Flower Farm
When doing the research for my 2016 Intersectional Peony Catalog Price Comparison List, I came across this peony I just had to have, Peony 'Silvia Saunders'. If you know a little about me, then you'll know I am a huge A.P. Saunders fan. I've been collecting Saunders peonies for quite some time and created a separate garden space, which I call my Saunders Peony Garden in 2007. If you know a little about A. P. Saunders, you'll know that Silvia was his daughter and carried on her Father's work. So when I saw this beauty, I knew I just had to have it. Unfortunately the first time I saw it, it was already sold out. I contacted the grower, Harvey Buchite at Hidden Springs Flower Farm and asked if it would be available again next year. Unfortunately it won't be available again until 2020! It is still going on my Peony List anyway... What a gorgeous flower!
Silvia Saunders, Daughter of A. P. Saunders
Also when looking up this flower, I came across this video, Paeonia 'Silvia Saunders' that David Michener at Nichols Arboretum created, which really shows just how beautiful this plant is in person! David has been doing a lot of great work with historic peony varieties, going to great lengths to catalog and preserve them in the Matthaei Botanical Gardens of Nichols Arboretum at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. From reviewing the Nichols Arboretum Peony Database, they first acquired Peony 'Silvia Saunders' in 1921! So that points to this flower having great longevity. Check out David's video. Their mature specimen of Peony 'Silvia Saunders' is just gorgeous!
David Michener with Peony 'Silvia Saunders'
Video, Paeonia 'Silvia Saunders' from MatthaeiBotanicalGardens

2015 APS Convention Met Peony Hybridizer Don Smith

One of the most exciting things about the APS Convention this year was having the opportunity to meet Don Smith, the American intersectional peony hybridizer. Speaking with him was like listening to a peony prophet. I felt like I was just trying to absorb as much knowledge as I could in such a short period of time. He was a really nice guy and willing to share the boring (to some, but not to me) details of hybridizing from how he collects, stores, and transports his pollen, to how he puts the pollen on the carpels, to how he labels his peony seed pods, to how he starts all of his seeds indoors. Wow. I was amazed not only by the wealth of hybridizing knowledge and experience this man possesses, but also by his openness and generosity of spirit. I hope to meet him again one day.
Me and American Intersectional Peony Hybridizer Don Smith
I think he was happily surprised to meet me since I grow several of his intersectional peonies and also brought some of them to the APS Convention Exhibition. I even won ribbons for a couple of them, American Peony Society Southern Peony Winners. I won a 2nd place ribbon for a set of three blooms of his Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy' and an Honorable Mention award for a single blooms of his Peony Takara 慈悲 (Treasure) - Smith Opus 2. However I think what amazed him the most and made him most proud was the Court of Honor ribbon I won for a single bloom of his Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy', APS Southern Peony Court of Honor Winner - 'Keiko'. It amazed me too! :-)

2012 APS Peony Convention Garden Tours

Today was the garden tour day of the American Peony Society's annual national convention. We all boarded the tour bus early this morning for a 3 stop tour and a catered lunch. Since Nebraska's spring was about a month early this year, we missed the peonies entirely. The first stop was Jocelyn Castle which was very ornate, my favorite part being a stained glass window seat overlooking a small tropical conservatory.

Joslyn Castle

The second stop was the Sass Memorial Garden at Mahoney State Park, with a large display of all Sass hybridized peonies and irises. There wasn't much in bloom, but the layout and gazebo were nice.

Sass Memorial Garden
(Me with APS Editor Claudia Schroer)

The last stop was Lauritzen Gardens, which had an extensive collection of peonies and Chinese tree peonies. I would have loved to have seen it in bloom. However the garden had more to offer - a large rose garden, a miniature train garden, a Victorian garden, and so much more. At Lauritzen Gardens we had a nice catered lunch, mine being chicken salad on whole wheat, which was good.

Lunch at Lauritzen Gardens

After lunch peony hybridizer Don Hollingsworth gave a presentation on how to judge peonies for the Award of Landscape Merit (ALM). All in all it was a good day. However I feel almost like I have peony withdrawal since I was ready to see lots of blooms on the garden tours today, but they were all finished blooming! I can't wait to see all of the flowers tomorrow.

Don Hollingsworth's Award of Landscape Merit Presentation

2010 APS Peony Convention Hybridizers & Growers

One awesome part of the convention was getting to meet some of my favorite hybridizers and growers. It was neat to pick their brains on what has worked or not worked for them in areas I'm interested in. I also like learning about their operations to see how the business side of things work for them. Here are some pictures of some of the neat people I met at the show. I met lots of other neat people too, but I may not have a gotten a picture...
Reiner Jakubowski (APS Registrar) and me
Sarah Klehm & Roy Klehm (Klehm's Song Sparrow) and me
Don Hollingsworth (Hollingsworth Nursery) & me
Jim Adelman, me, and Carol Adelman (Adelman Peony Gardens)