Monday, September 24, 2012

2012 Peony Experiments - Intersectional Divisions

I divided a huge Peony 'Bartzella' this week with 24 stems. I ended up with 10 divisions. Four of the divisions have large root systems, and I know they will grow fine. However 6 of them had little to no root left on them. Since Peony 'Bartzella' DNA seems to be quite valuable these days, and I am not currently in the business of cloning :), I thought I'd plant them out to see if they'd survive, grow, and thrive. Some of them have only a stem and a bud on them. So those I planted a little deeper hoping for an adventitious root. I know some peonies are known to create adventitious buds. So I'll be curious to see if these are able to develop adventitious roots. :) I planted these out in my new peony seedling test bed which I guess is now just my peony test bed. I also had a little helper that sprinkled a bit of water on them. :)


Peony 'Bartzella' Division with Small Roots	Peony 'Bartzella' Division with Small Roots Planted

Peony 'Bartzella' Division with Tiny Roots	Peony 'Bartzella' Division with Tiny Roots Planted

Peony 'Bartzella' Division with No Roots	Peony 'Bartzella' Division with No Roots Planted

Peony Helper

Friday, June 29, 2012

2012 Ebay Peony Order - American Greenhouses

I decided to buy some Peonies on Ebay last week, and they arrived yesterday. The label on the Priority Mail box they arrived in said they were from American Greenhouses, Hosta Gardens of Burr Ridge. It appears that this company imports many of their plants, and the plants I received appear to have been purchased for resale, not grown by the seller. The peonies were packed with peat moss inside brown paper bags. These peonies have not yet had food, water, or sunlight this year. It is almost July here, well into summer, so I will try to baby these plants in hopes they are able to establish some roots this year. The buds on the peonies had already sprouted, and they are all past ready to leaf out. So hopefully with some sun, soil, and water, they will survive.

Ebay Intersectional Peony Order

Intersectional Peony Bare Roots

This morning after I unpacked the roots, I put them each in a bowl of water to soak for a few hours. Hopefully this will restore a bit of moisture to the roots before I plant them out. I think since my Intersectional Peony Bed is not yet ready for plants, I will plant these in my seedling test bed until this fall. By then the Intersectional Peony Bed should be ready for planting, and I will move these peonies when the weather is cooler.

Peony Roots Soaking in Bowls of Water

Monday, October 26, 2009

2009 Fall Peony Orders

Well, it's that time of year again, fall planting! I can hardly wait for the orders to arrive all year. You have to get your orders in early in the year if you want to get certain varieties. The best ones sell out quick. This fall planting season is especially unique because a peony I have been wanting for 3 years (or more) has finally arrived, Peony Lavender, from hybridizer Saunders. I would love to expand the work done in the field of lavender colored peonies. All shades of purple are my favorite color. I have been trying to get Don Hollingsworth to sell me a Peony Lavender root for some time, and this year he decided to put it in his catalog. So I didn't waste any time putting my order in. I also ordered it from Hidden Springs Flower Farm last year, but they decided they couldn't ship any. So I requested they send it this year, but they didn't and just sent a refund. That was very disappointing, but now I finally have one from Don.

The fall orders have been arriving these past few weeks. I waited until I had them all so that I could take some pictures and compare the packing materials, the size and condition of the roots, and my overall opinion of the vendors. So this is what I came up with:

Gilbert H. Wild