2015 Peony 'Coral Charm' Best Performer - Week 2

Peony 'Coral Charm' certainly is a charmer. It blooms early and has a very unique and lovely coral color. This particular peony was even divided for donation two years ago. The first spring after division it suffered a bit. This year it has come back even stronger and more beautiful. A large portion of this Peony 'Coral Charm' plant was given as part of my APS Peony Donation to JC Raulston Arboretum. So it has certainly grown well here, even after begin divided. Peony 'Coral Charm' is also an American Peony Society Gold Medal Winner from 1986. So if you are looking for a coral peony to add to your collection, peony 'Coral Charm' is definitely the coral peony you're looking for!
Peony 'Coral Charm'
Southern Peony Best Performer


Peony 'Coral Charm'
Southern Peony Best Performer

2015 Peony Blooms Week 2 - Early

A few more blooms managed to open this week. The photos look so gorgeous even though most of my early bloomers suffered bud blast, presumably from the late winter weather. However these beauties survived that bud-blasting cold or at least part of their buds survived. I am so happy to see such beautiful colors after a long and snowy winter here. Of the peonies in this group, Peony 'Rose Garland' and Peony 'Sweet May' had the most buds on them. Peony 'Flame' and Peony 'Salmon Dream' both had at least the same number of buds as they did last year. Peony 'Lavender' and Peony 'Horizon' had less buds than last year that matured.

Peony 'Flame'	Peony 'Sweet May'
Peony 'Lavender'	Peony 'Horizon'
Peony 'Rose Garland'	Peony 'Salmon Dream'

2015 APS Auction Donation Designer Peony Tote

Well, I finally figured out what I wanted to donate for the 2015 American Peony Society Convention Auction. When I found it, I liked it so much I had to buy two - one for the auction and one for myself! I had never heard of this designer before. I just found it by doing a search for peony tote, since I had somewhat of an idea of what I was looking for. I just didn't know exactly what, but as soon as I saw the photo of this Michel Design Works Peony Designer Tote, I knew this was just what I was looking for! I haven't received it in the mail yet since I just ordered it this week. So I can't tell you much about how it feels or how it carries. However I'm sure it's an awesome bag, and if it is anything less than spectacular, I'll be sure to let you know. If you would like the chance to bid on this Designer Peony Tote and all of the other items (lots of peonies!) in the APS auction, be sure to join us at the 2015 American Peony Society Convention!
Michel Design Works Peony Designer Tote

2015 Cut First Stems for APS Peony Exhibition

Well, I did it. I read up on this article on the Canadian Peony web site by Don Hollingsworth about Cutting and Storing Peony Flowers for Later Use, and I cut my first peonies for exhibition. It actually hurt a little bit, knowing I'd be missing several peonies from my garden this year. However I suppose lots more people will get to see them this year instead of just me (if all goes well)! Plus I guess it is kind of like giving someone a bouquet of peonies from my garden as a gift, only I had to cut the plants back a little more than I normally would for a vase since you need to allow for these peony stems to be recut later. This allows you to cut off a couple inches of the stem at the bottom that has dried out during storage. Then hopefully the recut peonies will be able to take in some fresh water and open up the day before they are to be exhibited.
Peony Stems Cut for APS Peony Exhibition
As you can see I cut several different varieties of peonies. Since I'm not a professional grower/peony seller, I don't have fields full of rows of the same varieties of peonies. So I can't just cut 10 or 20 stems of one variety. That would probably kill my plant (if they even have that many stems)! So I just cut 1 or 2 stems from several different peony varieties. If a flower doesn't open well, then I will probably not be able to show that variety since I will only have 1 or 2 cut stems of each variety to choose from. Also as you can see from the photo, I cut the stems in varying stages of bud progress. Some of the buds are tightly closed, and others are partially open. This is due to the advice I found in the article that said single petaled peonies should be cut more closed and double petaled peonies should be cut a bit more open. Supposedly double petaled peonies open slower than single petaled peonies. So cutting them in different stages is in hopes that the double peonies will be able to fully open for showing, and that the single peonies don't age too much in storage or when they open. So cutting peonies for showing sounds like quite a game that definitely rewards experienced players. Since I don't have much (any) experience, I guess I'm hoping for a little luck! :-)

Cut Peony Stems
Waiting to be Wrapped, Bagged, and Refridgerated

2015 Free Peony Seeds from APS Seed Program

I got my free seeds from the American Peony Society Seed Distribution Progam this week! The APS has a benefit that allows seed donors to select a free packet of peony seeds for every 2 varieties of peony seeds you donate. I donated seeds last fall to the program, which allowed me to pick out Free Seeds for Peony Seed Donors when the seeds are distributed in the spring. Last year was the first year I donated seeds to the program. In previous years, I have purchased seeds from the program. So it was nice to get free peony seeds this year! I got every variety I requested, except one that was sold out. I ordered p. clusii, p. ludlowii, p. mascula subsp. bodurii, Zi Die Ying Fen- (Purple Butterfly in the Wind), and Jack Nordick’s Lactiflora Mixture. Apparently p. mascula subsp. bodurii was already sold out. So p. delavayi was substituted. I ordered these seeds only about a week after the peony seed list was posted to the web. So popular seeds sell out quickly. If you haven't gotten your order in yet, now's the time to do it before all of the best varieties are sold out!
Free Seeds from the APS Seed Distribution Program
I planted the seeds in my peony seedling bed a couple days after I received them. There was a space in the bed where several species peony varieties never sprouted for me. These were seeds I'd purchased from the APS Seed Program and planted in 2010. I think 5 years is long enough to wait to see if they will sprout. So some new species seeds have their spot now, and we'll see next spring if any of these seeds germinate!

2015 Peony Experiments - Herbaceous Divisions Grow

Peony Experiments - Herbaceous Divisions Grow
Remember those outcast herbaceous peony root stumps I had left over last fall after dividing my peonies? Each of these pieces had an eye on it, so I decided to plant them as Peony Experiments - Herbaceous Divisions. It seems like they are growing (well, most of them)! Both of the Peony 'Scarlet O'Hara' stumps are growing. The unknown white double peony stump is growing. It is labeled in the photo as Peony 'Top Brass' since that's what it was sold to me as (unfortunately that cultivar name was incorrect). The only one that didn't grow was the white and yellow anemone peony, which is labeled as Peony 'Rushlight' in the photo. This peony too was labeled incorrectly. Originally I divided these peonies to give them away at the plant swap. Now that these divisions have grown, I can give away or donate even more peonies in the future. I guess the moral of this story is, no matter how small a peony division you end up with after dividing your peonies, plant even the smallest pieces if they have eyes on them. They may just grow for you and make a new plant!

Peony 'Scarlet O'Hara' Root Stumps Grow


White Double Peony Root Stump Grows


White and Yellow Anemone Peony Root Stump Does Not Grow

2015 Peony Blooms Week 1 - Very Early

The very early peony season this year had only a few contributors. We had a very late cold winter, and it apparently harmed many of the early blooming peonies. Peony 'Early Scout', usually one of the first peonies to bloom in my garden, didn't even make an appearance this year. The buds developed about half way, and then stopped, never to open. The only two tree peonies that had buds this year both bloomed. (My tree peony garden is very immature, and most of the plants are still very small.) So apparently the Tree Peonies in Ice with the foliage and buds exposed to freezing cold didn't bother them at all, but hurt the early herbaceous peonies quite a bit. Tree Peony 'Kamata-fuji' was a New Peony Color Light Violet 76B in my garden, and Tree Peony 'White Phoenix' was the First Peony Bloom of the Year! Near the end of the week Peony 'Roy Pehrson's Best Yellow' opened, which is always a delight. Peony 'Coral Fay' also joined the party, and no, that photo is not upside down. This bloom was nodding quite a bit, so much so that it looks upside down! :-)

Tree Peony 'White Phoenix'	Tree Peony 'Kamata-fuji'
Peony 'Roy Pehrson's Best Yellow'	Peony 'Coral Fay'