Purple Paeonia Rockii with Dark Purple Flares
Photo Courtesy of The Seed Harvest
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
2015 Purple Peony Rockii Seeds from Ebay Canada
I have been wanting to grow a flower like this for a long time. I love purple! A peony with purple petals and dark purple flares is right up my alley. So I'm hoping these Paeonia rockii babies will be just as gorgeous as their beautiful mother. Of course when I came across the listing for these seeds on Ebay, I just had to buy some. Also this seller is in Canada, not in China where these plants originate. So I may have a better chance of actually receiving the correct seeds that are from this year's crop as stated in the auction. Since it will take a few years to actually find out what these babies look like, a lot of patience is in order to see their beautiful blossoms. I will definitely document their germination rates in the spring! Let's hope they all grow! :-)
Purple Paeonia Rockii with Dark Purple Flares
Photo Courtesy of The Seed Harvest
Purple Paeonia Rockii with Dark Purple Flares
Photo Courtesy of The Seed Harvest
Sunday, November 22, 2015
2015 Finished Cutting Back & Cleaning Up All Peonies
Yesterday I actually finished cutting back and cleaning up all of my peonies, the week before Thanksgiving! I think that's a record for me. I am usually a very slack gardener and a very good procrastinator. So lots of years I am cutting back brown, completely dried up peony stems in December and January, and occasionally in February! This year I started cutting back my peony plants as they started to look bad (when they still had a bit of gold or green or red in them and weren't all brown), and I finally finished this weekend. I started cutting back and cleaning up my peonies on October 1st. So I've been cutting them back over an almost 2 month period. Now they are just nicely groomed and freshly mulched beds waiting for spring! It feels so nice to be done with this very large task before the holidays even start. :-) If you haven't started cutting back your peonies, now's the time to do it!
Peony Beds Cut Back and Cleaned for the Winter
Peony Beds Cut Back and Cleaned for the Winter
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
2015 How to Divide an Intersectional Peony
The topic everyone has been dying to find out about... How to Divide an Intersectional Peony. Some have claimed that it's impossible, that the roots are so different than an herbaceous peony, that if you wait too long its too late. The rumors about dividing this plant have swirled, making dividing these beauties at once a mystery and almost no-no among home gardeners. However these plants are just as easy to divide as herbaceous peonies and perhaps adapt a bit easier to it. And who wouldn't want more of these long lived, easy to grow, and floriferous peonies in their garden?
Intersectional Peony to Be Divided
The first step in dividing your intersectional peony is to remove the ground covering or mulch from the soil surrounding the crown of the plant. You'll want to dig 8-12 inches away from the crown, depending on the size of your plant. I never measure this distance. I mostly eyeball it and use my gut feeling. You don't have to dig up all of the peony's roots. You just need to dig up most of them.
Intersectional Peony with Mulch Removed
After the mulch has been removed, start digging around the plant. I usually just start by making cuts into the soil with the shovel in a circle about 8-12 inches out from the plant. Don't worry if you hear a few roots being cut through. This is just part of the dividing process. However if it feels like you are cutting through lots of roots and the cuts are hard to make, you may be digging too close to the crown. Try making your cuts a little further out.
Begin to Dig Intersectional Peony
After I've made a few shovel cuts into the soil around the plant, I'll go around the plant again and do small test lifts of the rootball to see if the plant is starting to loosen out of the soil. By making these small cuts and doing test lifts, I can see how much more digging I need to do, or if the plant has become loose enough to begin to lift. You can also get an idea as to whether you should be digging closer or farther away from the peony crown.
Test Lift the Intersectional Peony
Once the peony is loose enough to begin lifting, I'll begin gently lifting it out of the soil by hand. If there is one side that lifts higher than the others, I will try to lift that side out first. If you find that the peony is still too buried to begin lifting, you may have to go back dig around it a little more, making few more cuts with your shovel.
Lift Out One Side of the Intersectional Peony
Once you have one side of the peony out of the dirt, you should be able to continue lifting it on that side and gently wiggle the rest of the roots out on the other sides. One or two (or several) of the roots may snap off, and that's okay, as long as you are able to get the majority of them intact. You have most certainly already cut through several of the roots when you were digging the peony anyway. Snapping and cutting off some roots is just part of the process when dividing a peony. So don't worry about those roots, your peony will live - as long as you didn't snap them all off! (Even then it may still survive, it would just take much much longer to reestablish itself and bloom again.)
Gently Shake the Intersectional Peony Until You Can Pull It Out
The next step is to select a place to divide the intersectional peony root. Often there will be a gap or space between some of the small clusters of pink buds. A space like this somewhere near the center would be a good place to start. I like to find a place like this and stick my dividing knife there. Also don't fuss too much about finding the "perfect spot" to divide the peony. Even if you make a mistake and cut a small piece off, that small piece will likely grow anyway, providing there's a small piece of the crown (hopefully containing a pink bud) with a small piece of root attached. Then you'll just have an extra "baby" division. This small division may take longer to grow to full blooming size, but it will be one more intersectional peony plant than you had before!
Find a Good Spot to Divide the Intersectional Peony
Often the intersectional peony roots are too hard to split by hand. I think this attribute is what may have caused the rumors that these peonies are hard to divide. However intersectional peonies are no more hard to divide than herbaceous peonies. They may require an extra tool (like a rubber mallet), but that tool may actually make the job a little bit easier. Use your rubber mallet to tap the dividing knife into the peony root in the place where you've decided to make your first cut.
Use a Rubber Mallet to Divide the Intersectional Peony
I usually do not try to put my dividing knife all the way through the peony's crown. Usually the peony's storage roots are intertwined and growing all around and underneath the peony's crown. Once the dividing knife is halfway or 3/4 of the way through, I will try to wiggle and pull the pieces apart to prevent further damage to the storage roots. If you find that you are unable to pull apart the pieces, then you may need to cut a little further or in a slightly different spot in order to separate the two divisions.
Intersectional Peony First Division Made
After you've made your first division, then you can examine the remaining pieces to see if you can find any other gap or spaces between buds that seem like a suitable place to divide the root even further. Repeat the steps above to cut and carefully pull apart any additional divisions you choose to make.
Find Another Spot to Divide the Intersectional Peony
You can divide your peony into as many pieces as you like. Most professional growers recommend leaving at least 3-4 eyes (the eyes are the pink buds) on each division. Also some growers will sell extra large divisions with at least 7-8 eyes on them. These larger divisions will establish themselves more quickly and are more likely to produce a bloom in their first growing season.
Intersectional Peony Second Division Made
Once you have separated your peony root into as many pieces as you'd like, you're done! Congratulations, you have now successfully divided your intersectional peony! The next thing to do is to figure out How to Plant an Intersectional Peony. May your garden grow and multiply. Good luck! :-)
Intersectional Peony Three Division
Intersectional Peony to Be Divided
The first step in dividing your intersectional peony is to remove the ground covering or mulch from the soil surrounding the crown of the plant. You'll want to dig 8-12 inches away from the crown, depending on the size of your plant. I never measure this distance. I mostly eyeball it and use my gut feeling. You don't have to dig up all of the peony's roots. You just need to dig up most of them.
Intersectional Peony with Mulch Removed
After the mulch has been removed, start digging around the plant. I usually just start by making cuts into the soil with the shovel in a circle about 8-12 inches out from the plant. Don't worry if you hear a few roots being cut through. This is just part of the dividing process. However if it feels like you are cutting through lots of roots and the cuts are hard to make, you may be digging too close to the crown. Try making your cuts a little further out.
Begin to Dig Intersectional Peony
After I've made a few shovel cuts into the soil around the plant, I'll go around the plant again and do small test lifts of the rootball to see if the plant is starting to loosen out of the soil. By making these small cuts and doing test lifts, I can see how much more digging I need to do, or if the plant has become loose enough to begin to lift. You can also get an idea as to whether you should be digging closer or farther away from the peony crown.
Test Lift the Intersectional Peony
Once the peony is loose enough to begin lifting, I'll begin gently lifting it out of the soil by hand. If there is one side that lifts higher than the others, I will try to lift that side out first. If you find that the peony is still too buried to begin lifting, you may have to go back dig around it a little more, making few more cuts with your shovel.
Lift Out One Side of the Intersectional Peony
Once you have one side of the peony out of the dirt, you should be able to continue lifting it on that side and gently wiggle the rest of the roots out on the other sides. One or two (or several) of the roots may snap off, and that's okay, as long as you are able to get the majority of them intact. You have most certainly already cut through several of the roots when you were digging the peony anyway. Snapping and cutting off some roots is just part of the process when dividing a peony. So don't worry about those roots, your peony will live - as long as you didn't snap them all off! (Even then it may still survive, it would just take much much longer to reestablish itself and bloom again.)
Gently Shake the Intersectional Peony Until You Can Pull It Out
The next step is to select a place to divide the intersectional peony root. Often there will be a gap or space between some of the small clusters of pink buds. A space like this somewhere near the center would be a good place to start. I like to find a place like this and stick my dividing knife there. Also don't fuss too much about finding the "perfect spot" to divide the peony. Even if you make a mistake and cut a small piece off, that small piece will likely grow anyway, providing there's a small piece of the crown (hopefully containing a pink bud) with a small piece of root attached. Then you'll just have an extra "baby" division. This small division may take longer to grow to full blooming size, but it will be one more intersectional peony plant than you had before!
Find a Good Spot to Divide the Intersectional Peony
Often the intersectional peony roots are too hard to split by hand. I think this attribute is what may have caused the rumors that these peonies are hard to divide. However intersectional peonies are no more hard to divide than herbaceous peonies. They may require an extra tool (like a rubber mallet), but that tool may actually make the job a little bit easier. Use your rubber mallet to tap the dividing knife into the peony root in the place where you've decided to make your first cut.
Use a Rubber Mallet to Divide the Intersectional Peony
I usually do not try to put my dividing knife all the way through the peony's crown. Usually the peony's storage roots are intertwined and growing all around and underneath the peony's crown. Once the dividing knife is halfway or 3/4 of the way through, I will try to wiggle and pull the pieces apart to prevent further damage to the storage roots. If you find that you are unable to pull apart the pieces, then you may need to cut a little further or in a slightly different spot in order to separate the two divisions.
Intersectional Peony First Division Made
After you've made your first division, then you can examine the remaining pieces to see if you can find any other gap or spaces between buds that seem like a suitable place to divide the root even further. Repeat the steps above to cut and carefully pull apart any additional divisions you choose to make.
Find Another Spot to Divide the Intersectional Peony
You can divide your peony into as many pieces as you like. Most professional growers recommend leaving at least 3-4 eyes (the eyes are the pink buds) on each division. Also some growers will sell extra large divisions with at least 7-8 eyes on them. These larger divisions will establish themselves more quickly and are more likely to produce a bloom in their first growing season.
Intersectional Peony Second Division MadeOnce you have separated your peony root into as many pieces as you'd like, you're done! Congratulations, you have now successfully divided your intersectional peony! The next thing to do is to figure out How to Plant an Intersectional Peony. May your garden grow and multiply. Good luck! :-)
Intersectional Peony Three Division
Sunday, November 15, 2015
2015 Yellow Tree Peony from the UK Arrives
Yellow Tree Peony From UK Mailing Tube
The Yellow Tree Peony Seedling from UK on Ebay arrived this past week, and I got it planted right away, which was good since its packaging wasn't very secure. It arrived in a half tube with a small pint sized plastic plant pot taped to the bottom of the tube. When I cut the tape to separate the tube from the plastic pot, I discovered that the rootball of the tree peony was no longer inside the plastic pot. It had apparently been jostled during shipment and there was no plastic, tape, or rubber bands - nothing to keep the plant inside its pot. The rootball was dry and the foliage obviously no longer looked like the foliage in the auction picture. However I got it planted straight away the same day it arrived. Since it has been raining here for several weeks now, the soil is nice and moist. So hopefully this will give the plant an opportunity to get some much needed nutrients and adapt itself to our climate before our harsh summer weather hits.
Yellow Tree Peony from UK
On the bright side, it looks like its roots are quite a bit more established than the Purple Tree Peony Seedlings From Ebay UK that I got in 2013. Those purple tree peony seedlings appeared to be first year seedlings. This yellow tree peony looks to be at least a second year seedling, as its roots system is much more extensive. Hopefully this extended system of moisture and nutrient absorbers will give this tiny tree peony a much better chance of survival. The bent and broken foliage looks a little roughed up from shipment. However I'm guessing the foliage won't last much longer here anyway. So I'll probably remove that soon anyway and let this plant concentrate it efforts below the soil.
Yellow Tree Peony from UK Planted
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
2015 Peony Experiments - Intersectional Stems
With the success of my peony experiment planting intersectional peonies with little to no stem attached (2012 Peony Experiments - Intersectional Divisions / 2013 Peony Experiments - Intersectional Divisions Grow), I decided to try another experiment this year planting intersectional peony stem pieces only. I want to see if intentionally planting only the intersectional peony stems will grow a new intersectional peony. I'm sure this would be a much slower method of propagation, since they would have no roots and would have to develop their entire root system and then grow large enough to bloom.
Yellow Intersectional Peony 'Bartzella' Stems
Even if this does work, I'm not sure it would work for every intersectional peony variety. For this experiment, I am using the same peony variety that I used in my 2012/2013 experiment - Peony 'Bartzella'. After cutting back a peony I planned to divide, I saved any of the stems that contained pink growth buds. Stems without these growth buds probably do not have much chance of growing. So I reserved only those stems that had a visible pink growth bud. Also I made sure that the stems were long enough to include at least two of these growth buds, and even three if there were three growth buds present on one stem.
Small Trench Dug in Peony Test Bed
For this experiment, I have 10 nice looking intersectional peony stems, 7 stems with 2 growth buds and 3 stems with 3 growth buds. First I dug a small trench in my peony test bed. I laid the shorter, 2 growth bud stems diagonally in the trench and covered them with dirt. I planted the three taller, 3 growth bud stems vertically with one section of the stems sticking out of the ground. I intentionally planted these two different ways to see if one way roots better than the other. I did not use any growth hormone or fertilizers on these intersectional peony stems. I plan to let Mother Nature work her magic on these, and we'll see what she comes up with in the spring.
3 Growth Bud Intersectional Peony Stems Planted Vertically
Yellow Intersectional Peony 'Bartzella' Stems
Even if this does work, I'm not sure it would work for every intersectional peony variety. For this experiment, I am using the same peony variety that I used in my 2012/2013 experiment - Peony 'Bartzella'. After cutting back a peony I planned to divide, I saved any of the stems that contained pink growth buds. Stems without these growth buds probably do not have much chance of growing. So I reserved only those stems that had a visible pink growth bud. Also I made sure that the stems were long enough to include at least two of these growth buds, and even three if there were three growth buds present on one stem.
Small Trench Dug in Peony Test Bed
For this experiment, I have 10 nice looking intersectional peony stems, 7 stems with 2 growth buds and 3 stems with 3 growth buds. First I dug a small trench in my peony test bed. I laid the shorter, 2 growth bud stems diagonally in the trench and covered them with dirt. I planted the three taller, 3 growth bud stems vertically with one section of the stems sticking out of the ground. I intentionally planted these two different ways to see if one way roots better than the other. I did not use any growth hormone or fertilizers on these intersectional peony stems. I plan to let Mother Nature work her magic on these, and we'll see what she comes up with in the spring.
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3 Growth Bud Intersectional Peony Stems Planted Vertically