2016 Thank You Card for Southern Tree Peony Seeds

I wanted to share with all of you the Thank You card I sent to my reader in Georgia for the Southern tree peony seeds he sent me. I feel so grateful for this outlet, and the feeling of community and support you all have given me. I am also grateful that I have the opportunity and privilege to spread the love of peonies far and wide into areas that people may not think of as good places to grow peonies - much hotter climates like the Southern United States. I am also grateful for all of my peony friends and the camaraderie we've shared. The blooms on this Southern Peony Thank You Card are all from my Southern Peony garden. You too can grow this beauty right in your own back yard! This thank you card is for all of you, all of my readers that share this peony journey with me. Thank you so much!  - Adriana

Southern Peony Thank You Card

2016 Planting Red Tree Peony Seeds from Georgia

Well, we finally got a break in the dry weather. We've had two rain storms in the past week, and we were sorely in need. We actually did a get the outer edge of Hurricane Hermine that brought us some of this rain, and I am very thankful. So now things in my garden seem like they are happy again instead of pouting and wilted. Now that summer is starting to fade and we are starting to get some cooler temperatures, I took some time this Labor Day to plant out the Red Tree Peony Seeds from SP Reader in GA I received a couple weeks ago. If your garden has started to cool down and moisten up a bit, then now would be a good time to plant peony seeds in your area too. If you don't have any peony seeds, and you'd like to plant some, you should definitely check out the APS Seed Sale. It is only for APS Members, but if you are this interested in peonies and you're not an APS Member yet, you should definitely sign up!

Red Tree Peony Seeds and Sign
I planted these red tree peony seeds in my fledgling tree peony garden. There is still some space here to plant in some nice soil. So I decided to go ahead and plant out these seeds there. To plant the seeds I just got some garden gloves on to prevent dirt from getting under my finger nails. Since I didn't want to cultivate the entire area, I just made some seed holes for the peonies using my thumb. The soil wasn't too hard to work with, and I was able to make a nice divot in the ground for each seed. Then I placed one seed in each hole, covered them with soil, and tamped it down. I can't wait to see what these seedlings may bring. It will take years to know if any of these seedlings will be garden worthy plants, but hopefully it will be worth the wait!
Planting Holes for Red Tree Peony Seeds

2016 Red Tree Peony Seeds from SP Reader in GA

Southern Peony Reader Photo - Red Tree Peony
Remember the Red Tree Peony photo from a Southern Peony reader from Georgia, USA that I posted earlier this year on Facebook? Well somehow I got lucky enough for him to offer to send me some seeds from the plant. These "Red Tree Peony" seeds just arrived last week, and there are 56 seeds in the bag. I am really excited to see what these seeds have to offer. The bloom on the mother plant is just gorgeous. So I am thrilled to see what the babies may look like. I might wait another week or two before I plant these out in my peony seedling test bed since it has been so hot and dry here the past couple weeks. We just got another rain storm that just wet the pavement yesterday, but it didn't rain enough to measure. We are still waiting for a big rain storm! At this point a weakened hurricane that just sits on top of us for a little while wouldn't hurt. Even though that much rain would start to wash everything away (like mulch), it would be better to have plants that are well watered and missing some mulch than well-mulched plants that are dying of thirst!

Red Tree Peony Seeds from a SP Reader in Georgia, USA