2020 Intersectional Peony 'Duchesse de Lorraine' Grows Intersectional Foliage

Intersectional Peony 'Duchesse de Lorraine' on 3/19
I am happy to report that my Intersectional Peony 'Duchesse de Lorraine' plant I ordered from Spring Hill Nursery, 2020 Intersectional Peony 'Duchesse de Lorraine' at Spring Hill Nursery, is growing intersectional peony foliage! So that actually bodes well in my opinion to the end result being favorable for the peony being the actual cultivar purchased. If you were holding out to see how these fared in my garden before deciding to purchase one, now might be the time to snag one (or two like I did) of these intersectional peonies. Uh oh, too late. I just checked the Spring Hill web site, and it looks like these are out of stock. I hope some of you were able to get one before they sold out!


Intersectional Peony 'Duchesse de Lorraine' on 3/11
These were originally small potted plants without any actual foliage when they arrived, 2020 Intersectional Peony 'Duchesse de Lorraine' Arrives from Spring Hill Nursery, just a small pinkish bud on each of them that was ready to pop! However as you can see from the photos, a hint of their foliage was apparent. The tiny folded up foliage appeared to show the signature jagged edges of intersectional peony foliage (a trait they receive from their tree peony parent), which is quite different than the rounded edges of herbaceous peony foliage. As the foliage unfolded the leaf structure become more and more apparent. Now it is obvious that these are certainly intersectional peony plants.


Intersectional Peony 'Duchesse de Lorraine' on 3/13
Also notice the structure of the stem. The stems on these are much shorter than immature herbaceous peonies, and they have a sort of "stacked" appearance, whereas new herbaceous peony foliage tends to send up a longer, taller shoot. Now both of the plant I purchased from Spring Hill have grown into small, healthy intersectional peony plants. I can't wait to see how these look when they bloom. Now the waiting begins... This is definitely going to take a few years. I hope these peonies are worth the wait, as I haven't seen this cultivar offered anywhere else yet!


Intersectional Peony 'Duchesse de Lorraine' on 3/16

Intersectional Peony 'Duchesse de Lorraine' on 3/18

2020 Planting Herbaceous Peony Seeds from Peony 'Faithful Dream' & Peony 'Lemon Chiffon'

Peony 'Lemon Chiffon' & Peony 'Faithful Dream' Seeds
Planted in Pots
Yes, I know it's not the right time of year, but I get to things when I can get to things, and these peony seeds will eventually grow. This time I decided to plant them in some plastic pots instead of in the ground. I keep noticing seeds disappearing or not reappearing the next year. I don't know if it is critters, insects, or our long summers, but lots of them seem to keep going missing! So I'm hoping that these pots will help keep them a bit safer and give me the opportunity to see these seeds grow to maturity.


Planting Peony 'Faithful Dream' Seeds
I put 5 Peony 'Faithful Dream' seeds in one pot and 7 Peony 'Lemon Chiffon' seeds in another pot. These are the seeds I'd found in the garden earlier this year, 2020 Peony 'Lemon Chiffon' Open Pollinated Seeds Found During Winter Cleanup. 2 of the 7 Peony 'Lemon Chiffon' seeds looked small and malformed. So I'm thinking only 5 of those really have the capacity to sprout, but we shall see. I mixed up the soil for the pots containing mostly peat with a little bit of top soil mixed in. I filled the planters about 2/3 full, put the seeds in, covered them with a bit more of the peat mixture, then topped with a little bit more top soil. Now just water & wait...


Planting Peony 'Lemon Chiffon' Seeds

2020 First Tree Peony Blooms of the Year!

Tree Peony Paeonia Ostii
The first bloom of the season opened today! It's the second day of spring, and the tree peonies are already starting to bloom! It seems a little early to me, and I looked back over my records from the last 15 years, and this is the earliest peony bloom I've ever had! By almost a week! It looks like the previous earliest bloom start date was March 26th. Now this year in 2020, the blooms are starting on March 20th! Wow! I don't know if this is global warming or that groundhog Phil, but whatever it is, spring is here!


Tree Peony Paeonia Ostii
Do you remember that peony covered in snow this year, 2020 First Snow of the Season @ Southern Peony? This is the same peony pictured above with all buds fully intact. Sure enough this tree peony shrugged off that snow and continued to grow and develop several buds that were already growing. It has been in the 80s yesterday and today. Quite warm! Some plants are a bit sad during the heat of the day. The ground still has a lot of moisture, but we could really use a little bit of rain especially for new plants and to help wash off all of this yellow pollen! Yes, that's here too, but all of these flowers are the things that makes spring so happy!


Tree Peony Paeonia Ostii

2020 Tree Peony 'Joseph Rock Double' from Song Sparrow

I'm not sure if any of you have seen the news, lol, but there's a pandemic out there. Since we can't spend any money at the stores, we might as well buy more peonies instead! I couldn't help but notice that this Tree Peony 'Joseph Rock Double' was not sold out yet at Song Sparrow Farm & Nursery. Many of their other tree peonies are sold out. I've been wanting this peony for a while now and have seen it auctioned at the APS Annual Banquet a few times before. It usually goes for higher than its retail price on the Song Sparrow web site, at the auction. So I just decided that this year is the year to get it. Also the nice thing about tree peonies from Song Sparrow is they sell them as potted plants. So this tree peony will ship now in the spring. So you don't have to wait until next year to see your tree peony grow, and it's possible you might even get a bloom from your tree peony this year! Here's hoping!! :-)


Tree Peony 'Joseph Rock Double' @ Song Sparrow
The description of this Tree Peony 'Joseph Rock Double' on the Song Sparrow web site says, "More petallage than Joseph Rock, but same vigor, lush foliage and staggering blossom beauty. Radiant white with purple inner flares. Rare and seldom offered. A strong plant with fragrant blooms." I am interested to see how vigorous this one is. Some grafted tree peonies struggle to get established here. However it seems that tree peonies that grow from seed and become mature seem to be very vigorous here. Also it may depend on the quality of the graft for grafted tree peonies. There are only 2 tree peonies on the Southern Peony Best Performers list so far. So I am eager to see how this one grows!

2020 Black Purple Emerging Foliage of Peony 'Dark Chocolate' to Die For!

Peony 'Dark Chocolate'
I couldn't help but notice (again!) the foliage on herbaceous Peony 'Dark Chocolate'! Even if the flowers weren't super cool, the foliage on this bad boy would be awesome enough of a reason to grow it! As you can see the foliage is a purple-black color, and even with a flash photo and lots of fill light, the color of the foliage is still quite dark. It is very different than your normal pink/green emerging foliage. The leaves will eventually turn green, but in the meantime, I'm enjoying the rare color of the foliage. It is really cool to see all of the different emerging foliage colors.


Peony 'Dark Chocolate' (Flash Photo)

Peony 'Dark Chocolate'
I don't have any peony flowers open here yet. So it is nice to have some cool things to entertain you in the garden while we anticipate those large, colorful blooms. It is fun to watch the new foliage emerging on all kinds of garden plants. It always looks so clean, bright, and fresh - free from disease, fungal infections, or pest damage. Spring is definitely the best season! I hope you have lots of peony foliage colors popping up in your garden. If not, now might be the time to add some peonies with cool foliage colors to your Peony Wish List to order and plant this fall!


Peony 'Dark Chocolate' (Flash Photo)

2020 Free Mulch for My Peony Beds!

Free Mulch for Peony Beds
Looks like Friday the 13th was my lucky day! I got a call while I was working that day from Tony, my favorite mulch guy, to see if I wanted any mulch. Of course I did!! I had been thinking about calling my favorite tree service to see if they had any, but have been quite busy lately and had not made the call. He must have known I needed it. :-) He said it was only a small half load. That's fine with me! I'll take what I can get (especially when it is free)! Here in the South mulching is an important part of growing peonies! We have a much longer, hotter, and drier summer than many other parts of the country where peonies are grown. So protecting the plants from the stress of extended droughts and high heat during the summer months is essential.


Free Mulch for Peony Beds
As you can see some of the mulch fell on top of my grass, which is not good for the grass. I have had my grass die in the past when I've gotten an especially large load of mulch directly on the grass or partially covering the grass. If you don't get the mulch off the grass quick enough, it will die from lack of sunlight and overheating (large mulch piles can get quite hot!). Luckily, I was able to get all of this mulch spread out yesterday. After 31 loads in my Gorilla Cart, my husband came back from playing soccer with my son and volunteered to load up some mulch for me. I gladly accepted his help, as I was pretty tired by this point. He helped me with the last 3 loads, and we were able to finish it all! I put a large part of it on my front garden bed, which contains a magnolia tree, tree peonies, herbaceous peonies & double daylilies. I think it turned out pretty nice. :-)


Front Garden Bed with New Mulch

2020 Tree Peony Seeds from Luoyang, China Grow!!

Tree Peony Seedling #2 on 3/9
I was beginning to give up on those tree peony seeds from China, 2018 Planting Tree Peony Seeds from Luoyang China, but it looks like they are starting to germinate this year! I stared at some empty dirt and kept picking weeds out of the area last year hoping to find a sprout, but never did. After not seeing anything pop up yet this year, I thought there was no hope for them this year, until I saw a seedling pop up in that area a week or so ago. Even then I was suspicious whether that seedling came from one of the seeds from China or just some random lost or rogue seed in the bed. When I looked for that first seed a few days later the bed was empty - no seedling. I began to wonder whether some underground (or above ground?) critter got the roots and/or seedling. I imagined some animal just sucking it underground, since the tree peony seedling was nowhere in sight.


Tree Peony Seedling #1 on 3/9
After spending some time pulling some miniature weeds from the seedling bed, I finally discovered that first seedling (Tree Peony Seedling #1 pictured above). As you can see it was either killed by some low overnight temperatures (which we did experience) or some kind of fungal wilt. The cold temperatures can also cause the wilt. So it is really hard to say what the culprit was in this case (but some corroborating evidence may exist for the cold theory, as I've noticed some selected tips of other new plants with burnt - dried & blackened - tips). So I think this tree peony seedling may have experienced cold burn/freeze damage. That's very sad. This is the first year this peony tried to grow a leaf, and it got knocked down. I don't think this one will be able to come back next year. I guess that is just part of nature's selection process.


Tree Peony Seedling Signs

Tree Peony Seedling #2 on 3/12
I guess you could say the biggest fail with these seeds are the signs. I took a lot of time to figure out how to plant these seeds with their signs since the peonies I purchased had no names on the flower only pictures. I even purchased some special Black & Decker UV plastic laminate to laminate them with. As you can see that laminate was not really UV protected. Too bad about the false advertising on those laminating sheets. These signs didn't even last 1 full year before fading. The flowers photos were all so beautiful and colorful when I put them on there. Oh well, at least I took a photo of them and scanned them into the computer before I put them outside in the sun to fade! LOL


Tree Peony Seedling #3 with Signs
These tree peony seedlings are definitely having some challenges. As you can see Tree Peony Seedling #3 (pictured below) looks like it had 2 tiny stems originally, and one of them looks like it has already been bitten off. I hope some of these Chinese tree peony seedlings make it through Mother Nature's wrath into adulthood in a few years, so that I may see their beautiful blossoms. I'm just hoping that they aren't all single, white Paeonia ostii seeds/seedlings. Only time will tell...


Tree Peony Seedling #3

2020 Peony Experiments - Adventitious Roots Results, Peony 'Grace Root'

Peony 'Grace Root' Sign
Well, I guess you could say this Experiment is a failure. It's been almost 5 years since I planted those Peony 'Grace Root' root tips, 2015 Peony Experiments - Planting Adventitious Roots, and nothing has grown from them. Maybe next time I will try actually cutting pieces close to the crown of the plant and/or cutting larger pieces. The root tips I planted for this experiment were just small pieces that happened to break off from the Peony 'Grace Root' plant when I was digging it to be divided (so that I could donate a root to a local arboretum). I can also say with confidence that I did not pay those root pieces any special attention - no watering, no fertilizing, no nothing - just time. Upon digging in the soil I found no traces of those root pieces either. So I'm guessing they dried up and disintegrated. Oh well, on to the next!


Peony 'Grace Root' Adventitious Root Test Bed

2020 Bye Bye Imposter Itohs, Hello Favorite Intersectional Peonies!!

Intersectional Peony 'Yumi' in Japanese Garden
I got tired of every year hoping the intersectional peonies I had right outside my back door were going to be beautiful intersectional peony plants filled with lush, full double blossoms. They were supposed to be Intersectional Peony 'Impossible Dream' and Intersectional Peony 'Yumi'. Both were imposters, intersectional peonies - they were, but the named cultivars they claimed to be - they were not. I purchased both of them from the same seller on Ebay, atskor8, 2018 Ebay Peony Seller Reviews, and they both turned out to be mostly single, yellow intersectional peonies with a very small number of flowers of small size and unimpressive qualities. It was especially disappointing since I had these planted in some of the most prime real estate in the garden, with partially protected, mostly moist, sunny locations!


Intersectional Peony 'Yumi'
Every year I keep thinking that I've already ripped out the imposters and replaced them with "real" cultivars, and every spring I am disappointed again. So this year before they bloomed, I finally remembered that I still needed to take those lame peonies out of my best spots and put in something good! I had already ordered a replacement for Intersectional Peony 'Yumi' from a different vendor on Ebay in 2016, garden*breeze, whose product turned out to be authentic. So I just needed to get rid of that imposter, which ended up in the compost pile, and put the real one in its place. Easy peasy.


Intersectional Peony 'Bartzella' in Deck Garden
As for the imposter Intersectional Peony 'Impossible Dream', that one too went to the compost pile. In keeping with the yellow theme in that area, I decided to put a division of Intersectional Peony 'Bartzella' in its place. Intersectional Peony 'Bartzella' really is one of the best intersectional peonies there is. It is an APS Gold Medal Winner and has also been awarded the APS Award of Landscape Merit. It is also a Southern Peony Best Performer and consistently puts on a show every year, 2012 Peony 'Bartzella' Best Performer - Week 5. I am excited to see both of these gorgeous intersectional peonies take off in their new spots!!!


Intersectional Peony 'Bartzella'

2020 Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' Arrives from K. Van Bourgondien

Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' Arrives
from K. Van Bourgondien
Remember that order I placed last month for another try at Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious'? 2020 Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' - Here We Go Again!! Well, it actually arrived last week. That was really fast. It actually arrived one week to the day after placing the order. Unlike the intersectional peonies I ordered from Spring Hill Nursery, 2020 Intersectional Peony 'Duchesse de Lorraine' Arrives from Spring Hill Nursery, this peony was not potted, growing, and carefully packed. It was bagged in a vented plastic bag containing peat moss and shipped in the box with a couple of air bubbles to minimize damage and breakage in transit. It's a little disappointing in comparison. However this root was much cheaper. Hopefully the savings in price is from the treatment and presentation of the plant and not the authenticity this time!


Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' Bagged
I was able to get the root planted quickly, and I decided to plant it right next to one of the fake ones I received from Tulip World, 2019 'Scrumdidleyumptious' Intersectional Peony Update, for comparison purposes. It will be interesting to see how the foliage compares when they are both up and growing. I hope this one wakes up soon, as it looks like it has been storage perhaps. I'm also hoping this one is the real thing. The root I got this time from K. Van Bourgondien looks much different that the roots I got from Tulip World, 2018 Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' Arrives. Here's hoping it's correct!!! :-)


Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' Bagged

2020 Intersectional Peony 'Duchesse de Lorraine' Arrives from Spring Hill Nursery

Intersectional Peony 'Duchesse de Lorraine' Arrives
My order of Intersectional Peony 'Duchesse de Lorraine' arrived this week from Spring Hill Nursery. The plants arrived well packaged and quite safe from spills and accidents just as they did the last time I placed an intersectional peony order with Spring Hill Nursery, 2019 Spring Hill Nursery Peony Order Arrives. Each peony is potted and growing in a small pot. The pots are bagged and twist tied, and then securely attached to cardboard boxes with viewing panes that are wrapped in an additional layer of shrink wrapped plastic. Last year the intersectional peonies I ordered had foliage visible in those viewing panes, while the Intersectional Peony 'Duchesse de Lorraine' plants I ordered this year did not.


Intersectional Peony 'Duchesse de Lorraine' Order Arrives

Intersectional Peony 'Duchesse de Lorraine' Potted and Bagged
The big difference may be the timing of the order. Last year I received my order in mid April and the peonies were fully leafed out, which made it easy to identify the foliage as intersectional. This year I received my order in early March, and the peonies have not yet leafed out, which makes them a bit harder to verify as intersectional. However one of the two peonies received has started to break dormancy, as the bud has visibly opened, and a tiny leaflet has emerged. This tiny leaflet does appear to be very tree peony like in appearance, which leads me to believe these are likely intersectional peonies. I'd like to verify the full foliage once it emerges to make the final determination. So I'll keep you posted as the peony foliage continues to mature.


Intersectional Peony 'Duchesse de Lorraine' Breaking Dormancy

Intersectional Peony 'Duchesse de Lorraine' Still Dormant

2020 Peony Seedling Double Light Pink with Red Center

Southern Peony Seedling: Light Pink Double with Red Center
There was one more peony in my peony seedling bed that I found of interest last year. I tagged it to be moved to my peony seedling test bed last year while it was blooming. Let's just say today was the first opportunity I had to do so. I saved the cleanup of my peony seedling bed until last, and I finally got to cutting back the dead foliage today. While doing so I noticed the tag I placed on this plant last May, marked as "Light Pink Double Red Center". As you can see, the blooms present in two different ways in the photo. The one in the front is the main bud, with more rounded, even petals. The one in the back is the side bud, with more frilly pink petals. Both forms are beautiful to me, and I'm curious to see how this one will perform this year. Since the peonies aren't really out of the ground much yet here, (and this one hadn't started growing yet at all), I decided to go ahead and move it today.


Southern Peony Seedling Dead Foliage


Southern Peony Seedling Eye Bud & Sign


Southern Peony Seedling Roots


Southern Peony Seedling New Planting Hole


Southern Peony Seedling Planted


Southern Peony Seedling Close Up

2020 Peony Hybridizer Interview - Joshua Scholten

Joshua Scholten is a 5th generation farmer, and a 4th generation flower farmer from Holland. Their family farms originally grew vegetables, then later flowers (including tulips, irises, and peonies at times). Joshua, along with his father and brother, were the first ones to the focus the family business entirely on peonies in 2005. In 2012, Joshua and his brother established the name of the family company as Peony Shop Holland. If you haven't had the opportunity to purchase a peony from Peony Shop Holland yet, I'm sure you'll be rethinking that decision after you see the beautiful, mouth-watering peonies Joshua's been creating over in The Netherlands. :-)


Peony Hybridizer - Joshua Scholten
Here's Joshua's story on his family peony business:

"We've started the family peony business as 'Scholten-Keeman' together with the 4 of us, in the early years my father (Theo) and my mum (Tini) built up the peony farm from 1989, when Jeremy and I were old enough we joined the company. As that time we had Tulips, Irises and Peonies. In 2001 we were known as Peony Nursery Paionia (paionia.com) but the firm name was officially 'Scholten-Keeman. When my mum in 2005 died we continued the firm with only the 3 of us but only with the focus on Peonies. In 2009 we changed the name of 'paionia' into Peony Shop under the officially name scholten-keeman. (peonyshop.com) In 2011 my father Theo died and Jeremy and I took over the company. And then re-named the firm after 25 years of 'Scholten-Keeman' in 2012 into 'Peony Shop Holland' because that has a more international name for the Peonies."

"My older brother Jeremy Scholten (born 2-2-72) deserves some credit in the article as well, even though he's on the background. He's testing everything with the new seedlings and is responsible for the dividing of these seedlings. Together we're a great team!"

"Nothing better than a family company :)"

1. Did your early life give you an introduction to the world of plants and flowers?

"Yes, as a young kid I was always busy with flowers. We grew up with Tulips, Irises and Peonies."

2. What year did you start hybridizing?

"I think around 2001 for fun and more seriously in 2003."

3. What made you want to get into peony hybridizing?

"Just to create unusual colors and very early peony hybrids for cut-flower production."

4. Are you self trained, or have you taken classes or read books on hybridizing before you started?

"In the first years, I was inspired by Don Hollingsworth, and he helped me to understand the first baby steps. Later on I developed my own path."

How did Don Hollingsworth help you understand the baby steps?

"Helping to understand the process of germination."

5. How would you characterize your breeding program?

"Creating of very early peony hybrids for cut-flower production in all kinds of colors & types. (pastel, powder color, yellow, white, pink, lime-green, red)."

6. What kind of peonies do you specialize in?

"Mainly herbaceous hybrids for cut-flower production"

7. How has your "eye" for evaluating peonies changed over the years?

"Peonies really need to add something to the existing palette of colors, time of flowering, size of the flower, production, growth habit and the last year checking for fragrance."

8. When you look at a plant as an experienced hybridizer, what do you see?

"Color, size of the flower, flower bud size, production etc."

9. When you evaluate your seedlings, what are your major criteria?

"Color, flower season, doubleness, fragrance, production"

10. What are your aspirations for the future of peonies?

"Creating earlier double peonies to extend the season, and or unusual color combination, (blue peonies)"

What is the closest peony you have to "blue" so far?

"Nothing yet to be close to 'blue' - just this is a real challenge!"

11. What is your favorite named and registered cultivar so far (of your own) and why?

"'Maximus', because of the giant double blush/white flower. 'Maximus' is very early ready for cutting and has a lovely fragrance!"


Joshua Scholten's Peony 'Maximus'
12. Which of your peonies are your oldies but goodies?

"Red Charm as cut-flower producer, Lemon Chiffon for both cut-flower production & breeding purposes."

13. Which of your new and/or upcoming registrations are you most excited about?

"The new registrations to come. We will introduce many, many good varieties but 'Tini Keeman' (named to my mum) is one of the specials.""

Why did you name 'Tini Keeman' after your mother?

"'Tini Keeman' was named after my mother, as she was an inspiration for us all. She loved the old English tea roses so much. At her doorstep there was one English tea rose growing as well. 'Tini Keeman' peony was a surprise because of the rose-shape on opening and its beautiful color. My mum really loved the old English tea roses. So it was exactly her peony. (She died in 2005)."


Joshua Scholten's Peony 'Tini Keeman'
14. What is the story behind the first peony you ever registered?

"'Maximus' - as we love the rich Roman history, and the famous movie 'Gladiator' where Maximus is the 'Gladiator'."

Why did you choose to register this one first?

"'Maximus' was one of the first, as we registered a few at the same time. But for me 'Maximus' because of the very early double white, giant flower ready to be 'cutted' far before others in our cut-flower schedule."


Joshua Scholten's Peony 'Maximus'
15. What is the average length of time you evaluate a peony before you put it on the market?

"6-8 years"

16. How do you come up with the names for your peonies?

"95% Inspired by the Roman History"

17. Which of your peonies have proved to be the most popular with the public? Were any of these a surprise?

"'Maximus', 'Luna Fortuna', 'Valentine's Kiss' - they were all surprises! in color, flower types and time of flowering."

Why were they surprises?

"'Luna Fortuna' - early, lots of full double yellow flowers
'Maximus' - because of the very early giant white flower, never seen before such early double white flower
'Valentines Kiss' - the sometimes unique rose-shape of its flowers"


Joshua Scholten's Peony 'Luna Fortuna'

Joshua Scholten's Peony 'Valentine's Kiss'

Joshua Scholten's Peony 'Valentine's Kiss'
18. What excites you about other hybridizers programs?

"New colors and or time of flowering."

19. Has the pleasure you have taken from the world of peonies changed and evolved over the years?

"We're every day full with passion busy with our 'babies' and enjoy it as the very first day."

20. What would you like to say to newbies just getting into the world of hybridizing peonies?

"Have fun with the very first Peony to flower, as this feels like a 'new love' ;) everyone can do it, but you need a lot of patience!"

All Photos Courtesy of Joshua Scholten @ Peony Shop Holland