2010 APS Peony Seed Program

I was excited to get some seed from the APS Peony Seed Distribution Program this year. Since I've been a member for a few years now, this program has been available to me in the past, but I've never taken advantage of it. Somehow it was a bit more enticing to be able to select the seeds in person instead of ordering them through the mail. I got 9 packets of seeds, 8 of those packets were species peonies. The species seeds were $2.50 per pack and the cultivar seeds were $3.00 per pack. So I spent $23.00 in seeds. Not too bad. The seeds that I got were: P. brownii, P. caucasica, P. mascula, P. mlokosewitschii, P. ostii, P. peregrine, P. rockii, P. tenuifolia, P. veitchii. I am really excited to see how well these grow for me.

2010 APS Favorite Show Peonies

There were so many peony varieties on display. It is hard to come up with one favorite, but the peony that keeps popping into my mind is not the latest, greatest peony of rare color or form. It was registered in 1966 and hybridized by Bigger. It is Peony 'Pink Derby', and it was displayed by Adelman Peony Gardens. I don't yet have this variety, but I plan to order it for the fall. There were lots of other flowers with rare colors and forms that did catch my eye as well. Here are some pictures and variety names of some of those...

Peony 'Pink Derby'
Peony 'Falcon'	Peony 'The Fawn'	Peony 'Cream Delight'
Peony 'Lemon Chiffon'	Peony 'Coral Sunset'	Peony 'Etched Salmon'

2010 APS Banquet and Peony Auction

The American Peony Society 2010 banquet and auction were quite nice. The dinner was good, the people were sloshy (better bids that way), the officers were inducted, and the auction went on for quite some time. Although the highlight of the evening may have been seeing one of the incoming APS officers do the chicken dance for $20.00 at the request of some of our Dutch members! Too bad I didn't get a picture of that! Harvey Buchite, the outgoing president, gave a nice speech to induct the officers and the incoming president, Dana Tretheway. Also three additional board members were nominated from the floor. It looks like the board representation will be a little more geographically diverse next year. I'd like to see more representation from the southern region as well.

2010 APS Peony Seminars

I was able to attend 4 of the 5 seminars at the American Peony Society convention this year. I wanted to attend all of them, but I lost track of time and missed one of them while photographing the beautiful flowers on display. The seminars I attended were “Entering your Cut Flower Peonies in an Exhibition” by Dana Tretheway, “Companion Plants for Peonies” by Mark Dwyer, “The Best Fragrant Peonies” by Harvey Buchite, and “Down Peony Lane” by Roy Klehm. I missed the seminar by Kim Hummer on Peony Genetics. I wish I had attended that one and skipped the companion plant seminar instead. Excluding the companion plant seminar, I felt like I learned something about peonies and the society from each of the seminars.
Dana Tretheway's “Entering your Cut Flower Peonies in an Exhibition”

2010 APS Grand Champion Peony - Flying Pink Saucer

Flying Pink Saucer

Flying Pink Saucer is the Grand Champion of the 2010 American Peony Society National Convention. This flower was hybridized by William Krekler and Roy Khlem. I guess it is fitting since the peony convention is here in Wisconsin, and Roy gave everyone at the convention a personal tour of his farm. I'm sure he's thrilled. Roy gave the talk on my tour bus, and he was quite entertaining. The flower seems to be listed for sale on his web site currently, name misspelled. I am guessing this one may sell out this year. It is listed as a double on his web site, although the bloom displayed at the convention was semi-double, and the APS registry description lists it as semi-double as well. It is a beautiful flower, though. Check it out...

2010 APS Peony Convention Farm Tour

The weather did not cooperate this morning for the tour of Klehm's Song Sparrow farm. It rained quite a bit. However, it did start to clear up this afternoon. I was able to get several shots of varieties that interested me. I saw a few peonies in person that I had been interested in, in the past, and after seeing them in person, intensified my interest. The Award of Landscape Merit meeting is tonight, and the flower show opens to the public tomorrow after judging. I met several people that I have ordered peonies from, talked to over email, or heard of in the APS bulletin. It is nice to put faces with names.

Klehm's Song Sparrow Farm

2010 APS Peony Convention Park Picnic

Today I arrived in Wisconsin. The weather is nice, and so are the people. The recently formed Wisconsin Peony Society hosted the welcome picnic. I made some new friends today at the picnic and hope to make many more tomorrow during the farm tour. I haven't seen a peony yet, but I am so ready! It would be nice to see more intersectional peonies in bloom, but I think their season has probably passed here. Also I don't think Klehm grows very many of them, as I haven't seen too many listed in their catalog for sale. They did hand out an abbreviated version of their catalog in the registration packet, and I did see 3 yellow intersectionals for sale on the back cover. I don't recall seeing any more, but I haven't had time to review the catalog in detail. It will be so nice to see the peonies in person tomorrow!