2019 Questions - Intersectional Peonies How to Cut Back Stems with Buds

Intersectional Peonies with Above Ground Buds
I received this question from Joy in zone 8a:

"First and foremost, thank you for having a most informative website on one of my most loved flowering plants."

"I am writing to you today, as I’m just now getting out into the garden and tidying up my peonies, which I usually cut them back in the fall. I noticed that my Itoh Peony Julia Rose (I have 2 and planted them in 2012) have developed eyes on last years dead stems and as normal, eyes also stemming from the ground. I’ve never seen this before and thought perhaps that it was a result of not cutting them back in the fall. I’m not sure how to proceed with spring clean up and thought to seek your most valuable advice."

"Thank you for your time and look forward to your guidance."


Intersectional Peonies with Above Ground Buds
Actually intersectional (also called Itoh) peonies can grow and bloom from woody stems grown in previous years (especially in our warmer Southern climates). I actually did an experiment to see what would happen with those stems, 2011 Peony Experiments - Intersectional Blooms. So when you are cleaning up your intersectional peonies that have woody stems in place, be sure to keep those stems where you can visibly see a red growth bud at the top. Then just pick off any old leaves or foliage from that stem. For all of the other stems, cut them back to the first red growth bud that you see. You can make the cut a little above the growth bud, leaving an inch or a half inch or so.

I usually wait to cut back my intersectional peonies later than the rest of my peonies, usually late winter (sometimes early spring if I'm really behind). It is possible that some of those above ground stems could get killed over the winter and some may not. By waiting to cut them back later in the winter season, you'll then know which ones will grow and which ones were killed. That way you can cut back any that didn't make it. If I do happen to cut my intersectional peonies back early (in late fall), then I generally leave all stems with buds on them, cutting them back to the first pink bud. Sometimes they don't all make it through the winter, though.

I hope you enjoy your 'Julia Rose' Intersectional Peonies this spring! Take Care and Happy Growing!


Intersectional Peonies with Above Ground Buds

2019 Swenson Gardens $25 Intersectional Peonies!

Peony 'Prairie Charm' @ Southern Peony
When creating my 2019 Intersectional Peony Catalog Price Comparison List this year, I noticed something I'd never seen before! A $25 Intersectional Peony!!! This is the first time ever that these gorgeous beauties have been offered for sale at this low of a price directly from a peony grower! Swenson Gardens is the vendor who actually was the first to offer this price drop, and it is not just one intersectional peony at this price point, but 3 of them! They are offering Intersectional Peony 'Border Charm', Intersectional Peony 'Prairie Charm', and Intersectional Peony 'Shining Light' for $25 each. It's definitely an exciting time to see the intersectional peony prices begin to approach the lower price points of standard herbaceous peonies!

Peony 'Border Charm' and Intersectional Peony 'Prairie Charm' were both hybridized by Don Hollingsworth (check out my interview with him here - 2016 Peony Hybridizer Interview - Don Hollingsworth), while Intersectional Peony 'Shining Light' has an unknown hybridizer of Japanese origin. I grow both 'Border Charm' and 'Prairie Charm' here in my Southern Peony garden. (See my photo of Peony 'Prairie Charm' above.) All three of these varieties are yellow flowering intersectional peonies. So if you don't yet have a yellow peony or you want to try a new yellow intersectional, this might be the time to do it!


Swenson Gardens Offers $25.00 Intersectional Peonies!

2019 Intersectional Peonies at Lowe's 3 for $29.98

Intersectional / Itoh Peonies for Sale at Lowe's
I'm not sure if I've ever seen a deal this good on Itoh / Intersectional Peonies before. If you haven't seen them yet, Lowe's Home Improvement is selling 3 Intersectional Peony roots in a box for $29.98! That's a really good deal considering the cheapest Intersectional Peony that I track on my price list, 2019 Intersectional Peony Catalog Price Comparison List is $25 (plus shipping) for one (and that's the lowest price, the average price is $73)! Each "ITOH PEONIES" box has 3 peonies in it. The boxes all have 2 varieties in each box, with a mix of Intersectional Peony 'Bartzella' and one other peony. However I couldn't see how many you got of each. I'm guessing since it didn't tell you how many of each variety, that there are probably 2 'Bartzella's and 1 of the other variety in each box.


'Bartzella' & 'Scarlet Heaven' Peony Set
Intersectional Peony 'Bartzella' is a great peony to own anyway. It is an American Peony Society Gold Medal Winner and and American Peony Society Award of Landscape Merit Winner. It is also a Southern Peony Best Performer, 2012 Peony 'Bartzella' Best Performer - Week 5. From what I could see, it seems they are selling three combinations: Peony 'Bartzella' & Peony 'Cora Louise', Peony 'Bartzella' & Peony 'Canary Brilliants', and Peony 'Bartzella' & Peony 'Scarlet Heaven'. If you don't grow some of these varieties or if you think intersectional peonies have been too expensive for you to grow in the past, then this is an excellent opportunity to try them. Also if you do grow these varieties and you'd like to grow more of them, here's your chance to stock up!


'Bartzella' & 'Cora Louise' Peony Set

'Bartzella' & 'Canary Brilliants' Peony Set

2019 Intersectional Peony Catalog Price Comparison List

Not only is the new year here, but the first month of the new year is almost over! The online peony catalogs have been up for weeks now, but I think we are really only missing one. The vendors who don't have their lists up yet still have a line through them. I'll update this information as more online peony catalogs are updated and become available. I added a little bit of formatting and color to try to make the price list a little easier to read. I hope you like it! If you'd like to compare this year's prices to last year's prices, here's a link to my 2018 Intersectional Peony Catalog Price Comparison List Enjoy! (Also if you'd like your company to be listed here, please join the American Peony Society as a Commercial Member, since this is where I obtain my peony grower information.)


2019 Southern Peony Intersectional Peony Price List
Intersectional Peony 'Julia Rose'

Varieties Offered	Peony Vendor	Price Change from Last Year
35	Adelman		mostly same or lower
2	Blossom Hill		same
18	Brooks		mostly same or lower
6	Cricket Hill		same
11	Fina		same
6	Hidden Springs		mostly higher
10	Hollingsworth		mostly lower
7	Peony's Envy		same
17	Peony Shop Holland		mostly lower
30	Solaris Farms		mostly lower or same
11	Song Sparrow		same
39	Swenson		mostly lower

Intersectional Peony	Price	Vendor
Al's Choice	$75.00	Brooks
Al's Choice	$75.00	Swenson
Anderson's Kaleidoscope	$40.00	Swenson
(Anderson's) Kaleidoscope	$75.00	Brooks
Ballarena de Saval	$65.00	Adelman
Bartzella	$40.00	Solaris Farms
Bartzella	$45.00	Adelman
Bartzella	$50.00	Brooks
Bartzella	$50.00	Hollingsworth
Bartzella	$54.95	Hidden Springs
Bartzella	$58.00	Fina
Bartzella	$60.00	Swenson
Bartzella	$75.00	Song Sparrow
Bartzella	$79.00	Peony's Envy
Bartzella	$89.00	Cricket Hill
Berry Garcia	$95.00	Brooks
Border Charm	$25.00	Swenson
Border Charm	$40.00	Adelman
Border Charm	$60.00	Song Sparrow
Border Charm	C$90.00	Blossom Hill
Callie's Memory	€10.00	Peony Shop Holland
Callie's Memory	$35.00	Solaris Farms
Callie's Memory	$40.00	Hollingsworth
Callie's Memory	$40.00	Swenson
Callie's Memory	$65.00	Brooks
Canary Brilliants	$35.00	Solaris Farms
Canary Brilliants	$40.00	Swenson
Canary Brilliants	$55.00	Adelman
Canary Brilliants	$55.00	Brooks
Canary Brilliants	$79.00	Peony's Envy
Canary Brilliants	$89.00	Cricket Hill
Chief Black Hawk	$175.00	Brooks
Chief Black Hawk	$175.00	Swenson
Cora Louise	$59.95	Hidden Springs
Cora Louise	$60.00	Adelman
Cora Louise	$60.00	Brooks
Cora Louise	$79.00	Peony's Envy
Cora Louise	$80.00	Song Sparrow
Cora Louise	$89.00	Cricket Hill
Court Jester	$40.00	Swenson
First Arrival	$35.00	Solaris Farms
First Arrival	$40.00	Swenson
First Arrival	$50.00	Hollingsworth
First Arrival	$57.00	Fina
First Arrival	$60.00	Adelman
First Arrival	$60.00	Brooks
First Arrival	$79.00	Peony's Envy
First Arrival	$89.00	Cricket Hill
Garden Treasure	$30.00	Swenson
Garden Treasure	$35.00	Solaris Farms
Garden Treasure	$50.00	Adelman
Garden Treasure	$50.00	Brooks
Garden Treasure	$50.00	Hollingsworth
Garden Treasure	$52.00	Fina
Garden Treasure	$54.99	Hidden Springs
Garden Treasure	$79.00	Peony's Envy
Garden Treasure	$85.00	Song Sparrow
Garden Treasure	$89.00	Cricket Hill
Going Bananas	$32.00	Adelman
Going Bananas	$40.00	Swenson
Going Bananas	C$90.00	Blossom Hill
Going Bananas	$110.00	Song Sparrow
Gordon E. Simonson	$150.00	Hollingsworth
Gordon E. Simonson	$150.00	Swenson
Gordon E. Simonson	$185.00	Adelman
Gordon E. Simonson	€250.00	Peony Shop Holland
Hidden Treasure	$35.00	Solaris Farms
Hillary	$35.00	Solaris Farms
Hillary	$40.00	Swenson
Hillary	$50.00	Adelman
Hillary	$50.00	Hollingsworth
Hillary	$55.00	Brooks
Hillary	$55.00	Fina
Hillary	$59.95	Hidden Springs
Japanese Itoh (Unknown Yelllow)	$30.00	Swenson
Joanna Marlene	$60.00	Swenson
Joanna Marlene	$75.00	Fina
Joanna Marlene	$75.00	Solaris Farms
Joanna Marlene	$80.00	Adelman
Julia Rose	$35.00	Solaris Farms
Julia Rose	$40.00	Swenson
Julia Rose	$54.00	Fina
Julia Rose	$65.00	Brooks
Julia Rose	$75.00	Adelman
Julia Rose	$79.00	Peony's Envy
Julia Rose	$85.00	Song Sparrow
Julia Rose	$89.00	Cricket Hill
Kopper Kettle	$99.00	Adelman
Kopper Kettle	$100.00	Swenson
Lemon Dream	$35.00	Adelman
Lemon Dream	$35.00	Solaris Farms
Lemon Dream	$40.00	Swenson
Lemon Dream	$45.00	Fina
Lemon Dream	$55.00	Brooks
Little Darlin'	€25.00	Peony Shop Holland
Little Darlin'	$60.00	Song Sparrow
Lollipop	$45.00	Solaris Farms
Lollipop	$60.00	Swenson
Lollipop	$62.00	Fina
Love Affair	€60.00	Peony Shop Holland
Love Affair	$120.00	Brooks
Love Affair	$125.00	Adelman
Love Affair	$150.00	Solaris Farms
Lunar Glow	$45.00	Solaris Farms
Luxuriant	$150.00	Swenson
Momo Taro (Peach Boy)	$50.00	Solaris Farms
Morning Lilac	$60.00	Solaris Farms
Morning Lilac	$60.00	Swenson
Morning Lilac	$65.00	Adelman
New Millennium	$100.00	Swenson
New Millennium	€150.00	Peony Shop Holland
New Millennium	$160.00	Hollingsworth
New Millennium	$165.00	Adelman
Norwegian Blush	$125.00	Swenson
Old Rose Dandy	€13.00	Peony Shop Holland
Old Rose Dandy	$30.00	Swenson
Old Rose Dandy	$35.00	Solaris Farms
Old Rose Dandy	$40.00	Adelman
Pastel Splendor	$30.00	Swenson
Pastel Splendor	$35.00	Solaris Farms
Pastel Splendor	$42.00	Fina
Pastel Splendor	$45.00	Adelman
Pastel Splendor	$48.95	Hidden Springs
Pastel Splendor	$75.00	Song Sparrow
Peppermint Blush	$150.00	Swenson
Pink Double Dandy	$85.00	Song Sparrow
Prairie Charm	€10.00	Peony Shop Holland
Prairie Charm	$25.00	Swenson
Prairie Charm	$40.00	Hollingsworth
Prairie Charm	$44.95	Hidden Springs
Prairie Charm	$95.00	Song Sparrow
Predawn Beauty	$150.00	Swenson
Purple Reign	$250.00	Swenson
Rosy Prospects	€30.00	Peony Shop Holland
Rosy Prospects	$35.00	Adelman
Royal Blush	$50.00	Swenson
Saffron Innocence	$100.00	Swenson
Scarlet Heaven	$35.00	Solaris Farms
Scarlet Heaven	$40.00	Adelman
Scarlet Heaven	$40.00	Hollingsworth
Scarlet Heaven	$60.00	Brooks
Scarlet Heaven	$79.00	Peony's Envy
Scarlet Heights	$175.00	Swenson
Sequestered Sunshine	$48.00	Fina
Shining Light	$25.00	Swenson
Singing in the Rain	$40.00	Solaris Farms
Singing in the Rain	$50.00	Adelman
Singing in the Rain	$60.00	Brooks
Smith Family Jewel	$45.00	Solaris Farms
Smith Family Yellow	$99.00	Adelman
Smith Family Yellow	$100.00	Hollingsworth
Sonoma Amethyst	€30.00	Peony Shop Holland
Sonoma Amethyst	$45.00	Solaris Farms
Sonoma Amethyst	$60.00	Adelman
Sonoma Amethyst	$65.00	Fina
Sonoma Apricot	€23.00	Peony Shop Holland
Sonoma Apricot	$35.00	Solaris Farms
Sonoma Apricot	$80.00	Adelman
Sonoma By the Bay	$130.00	Solaris Farms
Sonoma Halo	$250.00	Solaris Farms
Sonoma Halo	$350.00	Adelman
Sonoma Kaleidoscope	$100.00	Adelman
Sonoma Rosy Future	$75.00	Solaris Farms
Sonoma Rosy Future	$85.00	Adelman
Sonoma Sun	€23.00	Peony Shop Holland
Sonoma Sun	$45.00	Adelman
Sonoma Velvet Ruby	€23.00	Peony Shop Holland
Sonoma Velvet Ruby	$35.00	Adelman
Sonoma Welcome	€25.00	Peony Shop Holland
Sonoma Welcome	$45.00	Solaris Farms
Sonoma Welcome	$65.00	Adelman
Sonoma Yedo	$350.00	Solaris Farms
Strawberry Blush	$150.00	Swenson
Strawberry Blush	$165.00	Adelman
Tonka Berry	$175.00	Swenson
Tonka Peach	$300.00	Swenson
Tonka Pink	$200.00	Swenson
Unique	€23.00	Peony Shop Holland
Unique	$40.00	Brooks
Unique	$45.00	Solaris Farms
Unique	$45.00	Adelman
Viking Full Moon	$35.00	Solaris Farms
Viking Full Moon	$45.00	Adelman
Watermelon Wine	€45.00	Peony Shop Holland
Watermelon Wine	$60.00	Swenson
Watermelon Wine	$99.00	Adelman
White Emperor	€25.00	Peony Shop Holland
White Emperor	$75.00	Swenson
Yankee Doodle Dandy	$85.00	Song Sparrow
Yellow Crown	€10.00	Peony Shop Holland
Yellow Crown	$35.00	Solaris Farms
Yellow Dream	$65.00	Brooks

2019 Peony Experiment - Planting Little Darlin' Intersectional Root Pieces

Digging and Dividing Intersectional Peony 'Little Darlin''
You know me - I'm always up to something. So I decided to go visit my Grandma yesterday since it was raining, and you can't really do anything outside. I had purchased a couple extra 50% off roots in the Adelman Peony Gardens sale, 2018 Adelman Peony Gardens Black Friday Sale 50% Off for her, and I still hadn't remembered to give them to her yet. So it seemed like a good day to do it, but I also wanted to bring her a root from the 'Little Darlin'' Intersectional Peony which has been growing like a weed in my garden. I wanted to split it and bring her a hunk since it is planted right next to my Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma YeDo', and it is kind of encroaching on its space a bit.


Intersectional Peony 'Little Darlin'' Root Divisions
So I split a piece of my Intersectional Peony 'Little Darlin'' off with my shovel, but it split into two large chunks. The large chunk on the left with the huge root was one solid division, so I gave that one to my Grandma. The chunk on the right didn't have much root on it, and when I picked it up, it split into 7 pieces (with varying degrees of roots)!! All 7 pieces had nice pink buds on them. This sounded like another experiment in the making, and it reminded me a lot of the Intersectional Peony 'Bartzella' roots I planted in previous experiment, 2012 Peony Experiments - Intersectional Divisions.


7 Intersectional Peony 'Little Darlin'' Small Root/Eye Pieces
So I decided to plant all 7 intersectional peony root pieces in my peony test bed to see how they might grow. I planted them from smallest amount of root (on the left) to largest amount of root (on the right). It was a little muddy and wet outside for planting, but luckily it was only a light rain. We shall see in the spring how many of these roots sprout, and then we shall see how many of them live to see another spring. Last time all of the Intersectional Peony 'Bartzella' roots sprouted, no matter how little (or no) roots the division had, 2013 Peony Experiments - Intersectional Divisions Grow. So I am interested to see how these Intersectional Peony 'Little Darlin'' plants will do (especially since the original plant was growing like a weed).


Intersectional Peony 'Little Darlin'' Pieces Replanted

Intersectional Peony 'Little Darlin'' Sign

2018 Strawberry Crème Brûlée Intersectional Peony at Spring Hill Nursery

I have been looking for 'Strawberry Crème Brûlée' Intersectional Peony for a few years now. I never wrote about it on here before since it was a sad story, but a reader of mine gave me a hint about where he had purchased some of his intersectional peonies - from a nursery in Canada called Select Plus Lilac Nursery. I placed a small order for three small intersectional peony roots, one of the varieties being 'Strawberry Crème Brûlée'. Sadly I never received my peony root order since the owner and proprietor of the nursery passed away before my order was scheduled to ship. :(


Spring Hill Nursery
Unregistered Intersectional Peony Offerings
That was in 2015. For some reason I just decided to search for 'Strawberry Creme Brulee' peony again this fall, and I found it at Spring Hill Nursery. I have ordered a couple peonies from Spring Hill Nursery in the past, a long, long time ago (2005), and the peonies I ordered seemed to be labeled correctly. So I thought I might take a chance on this one too. Intersectional Peony 'Strawberry Crème Brûlée' was hybridized by Don R. Smith, but it does not appear to have ever been registered. While I was poking around the Spring Hill web site, I noticed they had two other Itoh peonies I had never heard of for sale, 'Oochigeas' Itoh Peony and 'Pastel Lilas' Itoh Peony. I'm wondering if these two varieties are also Don Smith introductions that have never been formally registered with the APS. I guess you could say my curiosity got the better of me... I had to place an order. :P (If your curiosity is piqued as well, Spring Hill Nursery also has coupons out for $100 off $200. So find a small item to put in your basket with these to save almost 50% off.)

2018 Intersectional Peony 'Luxuriant' Arrives from Ebay

Intersectional Peony 'Luxuriant' Root from Ebay
The 2018 Intersectional Peony 'Luxuriant' on Ebay that I ordered last week arrived yesterday. The root itself, not just the variety, was luxuriant as well. This root was huge! It was advertised as a 6-7 eye root, but it actually had more like 8-9 eyes on it. It was quite long and quite heavy as well. The root measured over 10 inches, with a stem at the top as well, bringing the total length to over 13 inches. The root itself was quite firm, seemingly freshly dug. I'm hoping this one will establish quickly. It would be nice to get a bloom from this Intersectional Peony 'Luxuriant' this coming spring 2019, but we'll see. I'm guessing that might depend on what kind of winter and spring warm up we get around here.


Intersectional Peony 'Luxuriant' Eyes
The root was packed very well in peat, and not one piece of it broke off during shipment. It was shipped via USPS Priority Mail and arrived here within 3 days of shipment. The bright pink eyes on this root are very firm and full. It definitely looks ready to grow. I made it a nice spot in my intersectional peony bed, dug in a bit of organic top soil, a scoop of natural fertilizer and a small scoop of lime. I also mixed in the peat that it was shipped in, to add a bit more organic matter to the soil as well. Let's see what this beauty brings next spring...


Intersectional Peony 'Luxuriant' Close Up

Intersectional Peony 'Luxuriant' Planted

2018 Intersectional Peony 'Luxuriant' on Ebay

When I saw the chance to pick up Intersectional Peony 'Luxuriant' on Ebay for a better price than I've yet to see on my 2018 Intersectional Peony Catalog Price Comparison List, I jumped. Also I have purchased from this seller, jackshouse2008, before. So I'm hoping this will be another positive experience as well. As you can see from my 2018 Ebay Peony Seller Reviews, I purchased Intersectional Peony 'Lemon Dream' from them in 2014, and it turned out to be correct. I featured some photos of that Peony 'Lemon Dream' in my 2018 How to Take Awesome Photos of Peonies (or Any Other Flower) article.


Intersectional Peony 'Luxuriant' on Ebay
I have never grown peony 'Luxuriant' before. So I am excited to try it. The coloring of it looks similar to intersectional peony 'Cora Louise', perhaps with a slight more tinge of pink. The petals appear to be more symmetrical and even, fewer of them, with perhaps more substance. You can only tell so much from a photo, but I am excited to take some photos of my own. Intersectional Peony 'Luxuriant' was hybridized by Roger Anderson and registered in 1986. I'm surprised it's not in wider distribution by now, since it looks like quite a nice intersectional peony flower.

I don't see another Peony 'Luxuriant' on Ebay from jackshouse2008 for sale right now, but I do see a couple other peonies. They are currently selling Peony 'Lemon Chiffon', which I highly recommend if you don't yet grow it. They are also selling Intersectional Peony 'Chief Black Hawk', which I do not yet grow. I'd be curious to grow this one since it is supposed to be quite dark in coloring, but the price is still quite expensive. So I have not yet tried it. They also have a Paeonia lutea 'delavayi' yellow peony for sale. I haven't had much luck with P. delavayis yet, but I would like to keep trying. Perhaps I will order this one in the future. They seem to grow so well in Austria, 2016 University of Vienna Botanical Garden Peonies, (almost as tall as me!), that I feel encouraged to try them again at some point...

2018 Southern Peony 'Hillary' Ships to Winner - Jill in MN

The first of this month, October, I shipped out the prize to the 2018 Southern Peony Intersectional Peony 'Hillary' Winner Selected in April. The winner was Jill from Benson, Minnesota. The growing zone in Benson, MN is 4b. That's 3 whole growing zones colder than ours. I'm sure the Intersectional Peony 'Hillary' will settle in nicely, and I can't wait to hear how it does. Intersectional Peony 'Hillary' is one of our Southern Peony Best Performers. This intersectional peony was given away to celebrate an amazing milestone for us, 2018 Southern Peony Hits 250,000 Pageviews!!. Next year will be our 10 year anniversary, so keep your eye out for another great giveaway to celebrate our 10 years of writing about peonies! Thanks again to each and everyone of our loyal Southern Peony readers!


Intersectional Peony 'Hillary' Ships to Winner
in Benson, MN, Growing Zone 4b

2018 Planting Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious'

Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' Pot
Is There Anything in the Pot?
I was kind of nervous to see if my intersectional 'Scrumdidleyumptious' peonies, that have been sitting it out in pots all summer were still alive after 2018 Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' Arrives, and they were planted in April. Their foliage came up nicely and they grew for a time, but the foliage has long since died back. I'm not a great pot Mom, so I didn't remember to water them much. I'm guessing that's why the foliage died back early. Luckily we have had record rain fall this year (not once did my lawn turn brown this summer from lack of water). So now these roots have been sitting in quite wet pots for a couple of months with no foliage, and I was worrying that the roots had rotted away. They've been in part sun/part shade sitting next to my deck all summer. So I decided it was time to check them out to see if there was anything still left in their pots.


Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious'
Checking the First Pot

Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious'
Checking the Second Pot
I was happily surprised to find that not only were they not rotten, but they seemed to be doing okay, maybe even pretty well. It looks like they've started to grow new, baby storage roots as well as some small white feeder roots. They actually seemed decently happy. I guess I got lucky! So I got them planted out right away. One root was larger than the other, but that's pretty much how they came. The larger root had 3 foliage sprouts in the spring, and the smaller one only had one, but they both made it! I'm guessing it might be a couple years before they actually bloom, but I am just happy to have them in my garden. I'm really hoping they are the right variety. Only time will tell! If you happened to buy a root or two from 2018 Tulip World Offers Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' for $12.95!, please write in to let me know if you get any 'Scrumdidleyumptious' blooms this spring!


Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' Root #1

Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' Root #2

2018 Peony 'Pink Double Dandy' aka 'Keiko' for Sale at Song Sparrow

Klehm's Introduces New Itoh Peonies for Sale
Finally! My favorite intersectional peony so far, Peony 'Pink Double Dandy' also known as Peony 'Keiko' is for sale at Klehm's Song Sparrow. They just sent out a note this afternoon saying that they'd just added it to their catalog. This is the first time in 5 years that a peony grower has offered it in their catalog. I've been doing my intersectional peony Price Lists since 2013, and this is the first time it has ever been on the list. (I just updated the list today to include these 2 new offerings.) This peony is a Southern Peony Best Performer, 2015 Peony 'Keiko' (Adored) Best Performer - Week 4, and several people have asked me how to get their hands on one. Before now, you would have had to purchase your plant from a local nursery that carried Monrovia plants and found it for sale as Peony 'Keiko' (that's how I got mine) or been lucky enough to purchase it at an APS auction (ultra-rarely offered there either).


Peony 'Pink Double Dandy'
aka 'Keiko'™ 愛幕 (Adored)
While the photos of the peony in Klehm's email are very pretty, they just don't do the flower justice. Take a look at the photo above of Peony 'Pink Double Dandy' aka Peony 'Keiko'™ 愛幕 (Adored) that was taken in my garden this year. If you're still looking for this peony, now's your chance to snag one. I really think this peony has the potential to become an APS Gold Medal winner. It blooms for weeks, has very full double flowers, and holds its color well. In addition to 'Pink Double Dandy', it looks they are offering another selection by hybridizer Don R. Smith. (Read more about Don in my interview with him here, 2016 Peony Hybridizer Interview - Don R. Smith.) Klehm's Song Sparrow is also offering intersectional Peony 'Yankee Doodle Dandy'. According to my Price Lists, this one has only been offered once in the last 5 years, in 2013 by Peony's Envy. So this is another rare opportunity to snag another one of Don Smith's gorgeous Itohs. I just might have to snag this one myself. ;-)

2018 Intersectional Peony Blooms - Week 5 Late Mid

This was another full week of blooms for the intersectional peonies. Intersectional Peony 'Misaka' 美 (Beautiful Blossom) is always such a lovely shade of peach when it opens. I love the purple streaks in Intersectional Peony 'Lemon Dream' that make it so unique. Intersectional Peony 'Sugar Plum Fairy' bloomed for me the first time this year. Intersectional Peony 'Prairie Charm' has such a lovely form, and Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma Rosy Future' has quite a unique color of pink for an intersectional. Intersectional Peonies 'Cora Louise' and 'Garden Treasure' are both reliable garden stalwarts.
Intersectional Peony 'Misaka' 美 (Beautiful Blossom)

Intersectional Peony 'Lemon Dream'

Intersectional Peony 'Sugar Plum Fairy'

Intersectional Peony 'Prairie Charm'

Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma Rosy Future'

Intersectional Peony 'Cora Louise'

Intersectional Peony 'Garden Treasure'

2018 Peony 'White Emperor' Best Performer - Week 5

Of all the white intersectionals I grow, this one, Intersectional Peony 'White Emperor' has definitely performed the best for me so far. I'm not sure why there aren't more white intesectional peonies. I only know of two, and I believe they are both sports of yellow intersectional peonies. This one, Intersectional Peony 'White Emperor' is a sport of Intersectional Peony 'Yellow Emperor', which also grows well for me. Intersectional Peony 'White Emperor' is a consistent performer year after year, always growing and increasing in size and blooms. It was hybridized/discovered by Bill Seidl and registered in 1989. The blooms open with a creamy white center and become more white as the blooms age. If you haven't heard of Intersectional Peony 'White Emperor', I'm not surprised. It seems that not many people grow it, but they should. I've only seen it offered by Swenson Gardens (which is where I purchased it). According to my Price Lists, it looks like they are offering it this year for $100, and it is not yet sold out. Don't miss your chance! :-)
Intersectional Peony 'White Emperor'
Southern Peony Best Performer

Intersectional Peony 'White Emperor'
Southern Peony Best Performer