2019 Questions - Gardens with Lots of White Peonies

I received this question from Linda in Zone 7b:

"I’m a watercolor artist living in Charlotte. My absolute favorite subject is peonies, especially white ones. I’m looking for an area near me that grows a lot (LOT) of peonies that might let me come to take photos to paint. Any leads you can provide will be greatly appreciated. I’ve attached photos of two of my paintings to give you an idea of my work.

"Thank you and have a great weekend."


White Single Peonies Art by Linda Fossum
I'm not sure of a local place where they will have lots of white peonies blooming. Duke Gardens in Durham may be a good option. They do actually have quite a lot of herbaceous peonies growing there. I'm not sure how many are white vs. pink or red, though. Also I know the JC Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh has a white garden with a very large white tree peony in it. There may be some white herbaceous peonies growing there too. The Biltmore House has lots of nice gardens, and I do remember seeing many peonies there, but I did not see them in bloom (just in bud). So I'm not sure what colors they have, and they may be a bit closer for you too. It might be a good idea to call ahead to the garden to ask about their peonies, potential bloom times, and whether artists are allowed. Now would be the time to go for tree peonies. Herbaceous peonies will be blooming in a couple weeks.

Good luck!


Double White Peony Art by Linda Fossum

2019 I Finally DID IT! My First Intersectional Peony Seedling-s!

I can't believe it. I think just when you finally give up on something, it actually happens. Self doubt creeps in, you start second guessing all of your steps, trying to figure out where you went wrong, and begin to wonder if you will ever reach your goal. You start to think it may never happen, and then it does. All of the hard work you've put in all along begins to pay off. Those thoughts of failure suddenly turn into realizations of success! As soon as that goal is reached, the next one starts to materialize. There is always something new to strive for...


Intersectional Peony Seedling
'Martha W.' X Nate Bremer's Rainbow

Peony Seedlings 2017 Sign
'Martha W.' X Nate Bremer's Rainbow
Somehow after years of trying, an intentional peony cross of mine finally succeeded. These two particular intersectional seedlings started out as just a happen chance idea in 2016. During the 2016 APS Peony Convention Tour of Solaris Farms, I was learning quite a lot from Don Smith, and he asked Nate if he would allow him to collect tree peony pollen from his farm, and Nate graciously invited us to collect as much pollen as we liked. Don shared a few of his envelopes with me, and I went to work, following his lead. My eyes and heart led me towards the lavender and purple colored tree peonies. Tree Peony 'Wisteria Reflections' was blooming at the time of our visit, and this was one I collected pollen from and saved it in a separate envelope. Since Don Smith didn't have many envelopes to spare, I collected lots more pollen from a wide range of tree peony colors and put it all in one envelope, which I later labeled "Nate Bremer's Rainbow". :-)


Intersectional Peony Seedling - 'Martha W.' X 'Wisteria Reflections'

Intersectional Peony Seedling
'Martha W.' X 'Wisteria Reflections'
Since my bloom season was over by the time I got home, I froze the pollen in my freezer for use the next year. That was almost 3 years ago now, and I am just now seeing the fruits of that pollen. Also it looks like I planted the seeds a bit late that year in late November, 2017 Intersectional Peony Hybridizing Efforts. So maybe if I'd planted them sooner they would have sprouted a year earlier, but who knows? I am just happy I actually got it right this time, unlike the first year I got a seedling to sprout. The only thing that sprouted that year was an accidental herbaceous peony, 2017 First Intersectional Hybrid Seedling Sprouts!. The foliage of that first sprout and these is very obviously different. That 2017 sprout had very rounded foliage with a few "pest" notches where something had eaten a few bites out of each leaf, whereas these 2019 sprouts clearly have deeper cut notched foliage that is reminiscent of tree peonies. The coloring is also different. The 2017 seedling had more red colored foliage upon sprouting with a thicker substance. These 2019 seedlings have a very intersectional grayish colored overcast to them. Very exciting! Also you never know what that first herbaceous sprout from 2017 might be good for, perhaps a good future parent. Sometimes things happen for a reason...

2019 Peony Experiments - Moving White Tree Peonies Successful

Well, I would say that my 2018 Peony Experiments - Move Mislabeled White Tree Peonies was quite successful. Perhaps it was because all of the tree peonies were very young, but all of them came through with flying colors. All of the buds that developed last fall did or will bloom this spring. I am excited to see how these tree peonies will grow in their new homes at the edge of the tree line instead of in the middle of the tree peony garden. Also I removed two very large tulip poplar tree from the tree peony garden area last fall, 2018 More Light for Tree Peonies, Sweet Gum Ball & Poplar Trees Gone! So these also are getting more light this spring than they have ever had before. So that could also be a contributing factor. Also all of these tree peonies I moved are P. Ostii seedlings. So perhaps these tree peonies are more tolerant to being moved.

P. Ostii Tree Peonies Moved Last Fall

Any way you slice it, I would say this experiment was definitely successful, and I would probably move tree peonies again in the future, especially young ones, as they seem to recover and adapt easily to their new surroundings. I can't wait to see how these young tree peonies grow and fill out (and hopefully) become covered in blooms! I think the moral of this story is that tree peonies can be moved and moved successfully. So if you are considering moving a tree peony, don't be afraid to do it (especially if the new home will have better growing conditions - like more sunlight!) Happy Growing!

P. Ostii Tree Peonies Moved Last Fall

2019 Peony Blooms Week 1 Very Early

Since my Tree Peony 'White Phoenix' bloomed so early this year, there were only 2 peonies blooming in week one this year (aside from several other P. ostii seedling that also bloomed and a p. rockii seedling that bloomed for the first time this year). So that means there are lots more tree peony blooms to look forward to next week! I apologize that the photos are not as sunny as I'd like, but with my new job, I can only snap photos after 6pm or on the weekends now. Maybe I will take a half day of vacation here and there when the blooms really start coming! Of all of these peonies, the P. Rockii seedling is definitely the most fragrant, and it smells wonderful! If you don't yet grow any tree peonies, I would start now. Tree peonies are great growers in the South, and since they bloom very early, they can really extend your peony bloom season!


Tree Peony 'White Phoenix'

Tree Peony 'Lavender Grace'

Tree Peony P. Rockii Seedling

2019 Second Peony Bloom of the Season, Tree Peony 'Lavender Grace'

Tree Peony 'Lavender Grace'
My second peony bloom of the season opened today. I've had several other p. ostii seedlings open subsequently, aside from my 2019 First Peony Bloom of the Season!, Tree Peony 'White Phoenix'. Since all of the subsequent openings have all been unnamed seedlings, I'm not counting them. So there was actually a pretty big gap between the first and second peony blooms opening this year, from March 29th to April 4th. That's pretty much a whole week, just one day shy! I guess that means I need to keep collecting more tree peonies to fill in the gap!


Tree Peony 'Lavender Grace'
with Three Buds
I can't say I am super impressed by the lavender color in the peony (since it seems to be a bit on the pinkish side), but the color is still nice. It is also great to have such a colorful early blooming peony. I am also very excited to see how much it has grown since last year. It went from 1 bud in it first growing season last year to 4 buds in its second growing season this year! All of the buds look big and fat and healthy too (like they will all open)! As you can see it is already growing a second stem from below ground this year which also has it own bud. So it seems to be quite vigorous and floriferous. I'm looking forward to the rest of the buds opening and to seeing how it does next year as well. :-) The

2019 Color Showing on Tree Peony Buds

Tree Peony 'Lavender Grace'
I was excited to see some color starting to show on some of my tree peony buds today. Purple and lavender are my favorite colors so I am definitely excited to see the blooms on Tree Peony 'Lavender Grace' again this year. I just purchased and planted Tree Peony 'Lavender Grace' last year, 2018 Spring Tree Peony Planting 'Kinkaku' & 'Lavender Grace' after seeing it in 2018 Klehms Song Sparrow Offers Tree Peony 'Lavender Grace' on Front Page of Web Site. I did get to see one bud open on it last year, and this year it seems to have 3 buds growing! Let's hope all three of those buds open!


Tree Peony 'Yao Huang' 姚黃 (Yao's Yellow)
Tree Peony 'Yao Huang' was the second peony to open last year, 2018 Second Peony Bloom of the Season - 'Yao's Yellow' 姚黃 (Yao Huang), opening on the same day as Tree Peony 'White Phoenix'. This year Tree Peony 'White Phoenix' has already bloomed, now 5 days ago! These colorful tree peonies are definitely biding their time a bit more this year. My Tree Peony 'Angel Emily' already lost 3 buds this year, 2019 Tree Peony 'Angel Emily' Snapped Off! At least there are still lots more buds left, though. I think it would have had 11 buds before those 3 were snapped off. So now I guess we're down to 8 buds for this year. Oh well, 8 is better than none! I still can't wait to see them open!!!


Tree Peony 'Angel Emily'

2019 Peonies at Duke Gardens Spring Plant Sale

I've never been to Duke Garden's Spring Plant Sale before until now. I just went this past weekend to see what it was all about. The sale is an annual event for the Sarah P. Duke Gardens on the Duke University campus, and it is a fundraiser to help fund their summer intern program. I couldn't believe how many people were there, and how early they got up to get the best plants. The earlybird really did get the worm at this plant sale. The plant sale was from 8:00 am-12:00 noon. I arrived at 8:30 am, and I struggled to find a parking spot. I got lucky because one of the earlybirds was already finished their shopping and leaving!


"Deer Resistant" Peony Plants
Duke Gardens Spring Plant Sale
Of course I wanted to see what peonies they had for sale there. I did see several people with peonies in their wagons, herbaceous peonies with big fat buds, and a several intersectional peonies as well. I kept asking the people with intersectional peonies in their wagons where they got them from, most couldn't remember, but the ones who did pointed me to a place that didn't have any left to purchase. So those intersectional peonies really did go fast! The only peonies I found that were still left for sale at 8:30 am were a few herbaceous peonies with a "Deer Resistant" sign on them. (The sign was so cute, I just couldn't resist snapping a photo of it!)


Duke Gardens Spring Plant Sale
There were so many people there and so many plant vendors as well. Many of the plants had been propagated and potted up by the Duke Gardens staff from their own gardens. There were also specialty vendors selling everything from camellias in bloom, redbuds in bloom, peonies in bud, hellebores in bloom, ferns, hostas, annuals, and veggies. There was pretty much something for everyone. They even had a carnivorous plant tent! The local Master Gardeners were also there with their own booth giving out growing advice and selling plants they'd propagated.


Duke Gardens Spring Plant Sale
The line to check out was quite long (almost 30 minutes), but I still had a great time, and I would definitely go again in the future. However I would need to go much earlier to find a parking spot before 8:00 am to see everything that's being offered at the sale. I didn't buy any peonies, but I did find a couple of things. I purchased 2 ferns and a double hellebore. The whole even was like a feeding frenzy for plant lovers. All of the people at the sale were like goldfish that had just been fed. The amount of excitement in the air was palpable. It was nice to be near that many other plant enthusiasts and feel their energy and happiness.


Peonies and Blue Pottery
Duke Gardens Spring Plant Sale

Redbud, Camellia, and Intersectional Peony
Duke Gardens Spring Plant Sale