2015 Intersectional Peony Seeds 'Lafayette Escadrille'

Seed and Seed Pod of Peony 'Lafayette Escadrille'
Of all the seeds I collected this year, I think the ones I am most excited about are from Peony 'Lafayette Escadrille'. Yes, that's right 'Lafayette Escadrille', an intersectional peony. I have only ever gotten one seed from an intersectional peony before, and that was from Peony 'White Emperor' in 2014. That one seed did not sprout. This time instead of just one seed, I got 9 seeds. However I am not sure if they are viable, but I am going to plant them anyway and hope for the best. Intersectional peonies do not usually set seed and are mostly infertile. So I'd love to be able to get one of their seeds to actually grow and get an intersectional seedling. I'll let you know if anything comes up!

Seed Pod and Seed of Peony 'Lafayette Escadrille'

2015 Peony 'Miss America' Hybridizing Unsuccessful

Remember that peony garden party with all of the Peonies in Their Party Hats? I think those peonies had too much fun at their party (or maybe not enough???) Well, anyway, it looks like I have another year of hybridizing attempts with no success. The two crosses I tried to make with Peony 'Miss America' did not produce any seed. However none of the flowers on this usually abundant seed producer produced any seed. I only tried to cross two of the flowers, and I left all of the other flowers to Mother Nature to hybridize. However none of the many flowers on this bush produced any seed. So I guess it wasn't just me. I guess next year I need to try many more crosses with many more flowers and many different mother plants. It seems that hybridizing requires more than just picking two suitable parents, but perhaps a little luck and cooperation from Mother Nature as well. It also seems like a bit of a numbers game. The more crosses you try, the more chances for success.

Unsuccessful Cross on Peony 'Miss America'	Unsuccessful Cross on Peony 'Miss America'

2015 Collect Late Peony Seeds

This week I made the last search through my garden for peony seeds. There were lots more seeds ready now at the beginning of September than there were about a month ago at the end of July. One month makes a big difference in peony seed production. In fact some of the seeds I went to harvest had already fallen to the ground. Luckily it was easy to identify which peony they came from since my peonies are not planted too close together and not all of them produced seed. So don't wait too long to collect your peony seeds in your garden so they don't get lost.
Seed Pod and Seeds of Peony 'Raspberry Firefly'
This year wasn't a stellar year for seed production. Some of usually most reliable and productive seed producing peonies failed to make any seeds this year. However I did get some seeds from peony varieties that I have never gotten seed from before. Some of those varieties that produced seed for the first time for me were: Peony 'Bowl of Beauty', Peony 'Green Halo', Peony 'Green Lotus', Peony 'Lafayette Escadrille', Peony 'Pink Spritzer', Peony 'Raspberry Firefly', Peony 'Rose Garland', and Peony 'Strawberry Wine'. I am really excited to have some different genetics in the peony seedlings I'm growing. I can't wait to see what these peonies grow up to be 5 years from now!
Fallen Seeds of Peony 'Raspberry Firefly'

2015 Vintage American Peony Society Annual Show Pin

American Peony Society 20th Annual Show Pin from 1923
I am really excited about another vintage find on Ebay this past week! I purchased an American Peony Society 20th Annual Show Pin from 1923. I had seen this pin listed for sale several months ago, but they wanted more than $40 for it. They recently dropped the price down to $25. I decided I could afford that. ;-) So now I have another American Peony Society collectible to add to my collection of Vintage American Peony Society Award Ribbons and American Peony Society Silver Medal. Just think, in another 8 years, this pin will be an antique! :-)

2015 Southern Peony New How To Section

I've added a new "How To" for peonies section to the Southern Peony web site. You can find this new section using this link, Southern Peony How To, and also by clicking on "How To" on the navigation bar at the top of any page. This page should be helpful for people with questions on how to do all kinds of gardening to dos for peonies. This page includes gardening activities like cutting back a peony, deadheading peonies, dividing peonies, fertilizing peonies, planting peony seeds, and planting the three different types of peony plants as well. There are more How Tos coming in the future so keep an eye on this page for updates. Also if you have an idea or suggestion for another How To that I haven't yet covered, please Contact Me. :-)
Southern Peony How To Page

2015 Vintage American Peony Society Award Ribbons

Vintage American Peony Society Award Ribbons on Ebay
I am so excited about this! I found some vintage American Peony Society ribbons on Ebay. These ribbons are from Wisconsin. The seller of the APS ribbons said they bought them at an estate sale in Milwaukee about 20 years ago. According to the auction description, the ribbons are from the 1953, 1954, 1963, 1978, 1981, and 1982. When I reviewed the American Peony Society's Best in Show Awards, there are only two people that have won the Best in Show Ribbon that are from Milwaukee, WI - A.J. Volz and M.C. Karrels. A.J. Volz only won the APS Best in Show Award once in 1946. M.C. Karrels won the APS Best in Show Award in 1946, 1951, 1956, 1988, 1970, 1972, 1975, 1976, and 1983. In fact Marvin Karrels is the winningest exhibitor in the history of American Peony Society exhibits for the number of Best in Show Awards.
Vintage American Peony Society Award Ribbons
I am thinking these ribbons may have belonged to Marvin Karrels. None of the dates match any of his Best in Show Awards, but the range of years for these ribbons and his Best in Show Awards overlap the same time period of activity in the American Peony Society. Judging by the photos of the ribbons in the auction, none of them appear to be a Best in Show ribbon. So perhaps these were some of his other winning ribbons. I see in the auction photos that several of the ribbons are APS Court of Honor ribbons. After doing a Google search, it appears that Marvin Karrels died in 1994. So since these ribbons were purchased at an estate sale, that would make the timing of the estate sale after his death right around 20 years ago. If these ribbons did belong to him, that would be quite a coincidence since I happened to find his American Peony Society Medal on Etsy a couple of years ago. How exciting! I will have to take more detailed photos of the ribbons when they arrive. :-)

2015 Rain on Peonies Relieves Drought

Well, we finally did get some rain for the peonies. We actually got almost an inch and half of rain. That rain gave the ground quite a good soaking. The extended drought we experienced definitely affected all of my peonies, some of them more than others. The peonies that were affected were young peony plants that are only 1-2 years old, peonies that are planted at the edge of a tree canopy, and smaller leaved peony varieties. It also affected some established intersectional peonies in full sun. Peonies that are near competing tree roots and young peonies that are not yet established were affected the most.
Southern Peonies in the Rain
Most of those herbaceous peonies near competing tree roots that wilted have come back up now. A couple of them were so bad off some of the foliage actually browned and did not revive. A couple of the young plants dried up entirely for the year. If these are still alive (hopefully) they will come back next spring. The established intersectional peonies actually wilted in a different way. Some of the intersectional peonies' foliage turned sideways, almost upside down. After the rain, most of the foliage has righted itself. Fall is fast approaching. So let's hope this is the only drought my peonies will have to endure this year!
Southern Intersectional Peonies in the Rain