2016 Peony 'Sarah Bernhardt' for $1.69 at Aldi's!

I think it was as much curiosity as it was a love for peonies (and a great deal) that prompted me to buy this 'Sarah Bernhardt' peony at Aldi's. This peony is priced at only $1.69! I couldn't believe it! I thought the price was $4.99 (and I was going to try one even for that price), but the price was actually just $1.69! That is not a markdown price. That is their original price. I have never seen a peony sold for that low of a price before!
Gardenline Peony 'Sarah Bernhardt' from Aldi's
Of course I know, you get what you pay for. Of course the root on this peony is very small, and I'm sure it will take a long time for it to become an established plant. Also it may not even be the variety advertised. However, for only $1.69, I don't think I'll be complaining too much. The root is very small, but it looks very healthy with two large growth buds on it. There is no mold, and it seems to have been kept moist enough so that it didn't dry out. So if you're interested in getting a small, but healthy peony for $1.69 run over to your local Aldi's store (if you're lucky enough to have one) and pick up one (or three) of these very low price roots!
Gardenline Peony 'Sarah Bernhardt' Root from Aldi's
Aldi's does have more than one variety of peony available for the $1.69 price point. The dark pink peony 'Karl Rosenfield' is the same price. They are also selling several types of glads, dahlias, and lilies priced at $1.69 too. So if you'd like to round out your garden with a few other types of bulbs, you should definitely check out their selection. I picked up a couple bags of lilies for myself and my grandmother as well. If you are new to peonies or know someone who is new to peonies, these would be great to get someone interested in peonies. Once they have one, they will need more! These would also be wonderful gifts for friends or neighbors that have always wanted to try growing peonies!

2016 Peony 'Coral Charm' Has Many Adventitious Roots

In my 2016 It's Starting... Tree Peonies are Waking Up! post, I mentioned that my coral peonies were starting to wake up too. Well, one of them, Peony 'Coral Charm', is waking up in a big way - all over the place! This peony loves to multiply and spread. It apparently also has the feature of developing growth buds on its roots, called adventitious roots. Another peony of mine also has this feature - 2013 Peony 'Grace Root' Adventitious Bud Stem Flower. I hadn't really noticed this feature in Peony 'Coral Charm' until last year when it started to get one side shoot. I think this all started when I divided this peony to donate a large piece of it as a part of the 2013 APS Peony Donation to JC Raulston Arboretum. Apparently all of the severed roots that were left in the ground have now decided to regenerate and grow their own buds and crown to create lots of new plants. So now this year it has lots of side shoots (at least 15)!!! I think I'll be giving one of these to my grandma for sure. I may donate one for the American Peony Society convention or fall auction as well. :-)


Peony 'Coral Charm' with Adventitious Shoots

2016 Very Early Peony 'Nova' Buds Emerge First

I am getting a little excited. I have been growing this very early Peony 'Nova' plant for three years now. However, I have not yet seen it bloom. Every year, its buds are blasted. This is the only peony I grow with the very curious habit of pushing out huge bloom buds out of the ground first. I suppose its buds develop over the winter, much earlier than most other varieties. Then when Peony 'Nova' starts to emerge from the ground in the spring, these huge buds are very susceptible to bud blast by a late freeze. As you can see from last year's 2015 Saunders Peony Varieties Frozen Bud Blast report, all of Peony 'Nova's buds were blasted last spring.
Peony 'Nova' Bloom Buds Emerge First
From the photo above you can see that Peony 'Nova' buds emerge so early, one of them was already blasted earlier this winter. Now two more have arrived, and hopefully we'll get to see them bloom this year! We shouldn't get any more late freezes before they bloom, since our local groundhog, Sir Walter Wally, predicted an early spring this year. ;-) On a more scientific note, our local 10 Day Forecast looks like we'll have 10 days in a row of 70 degree temperatures starting tomorrow! Also the overnight temperature will range from the upper 40s to the upper 50s. If that doesn't sound like an early spring, I don't know what does! Hopefully it will be enough to coax these beautiful Peony 'Nova' blossoms from their buds!
Local Weather - 10 Day Forecast

2016 Intersectional Peony Vendor Price Changes

Well, I think all of the 2016 peony catalogs are out now. So I've updated my 2016 Intersectional Peony Catalog Price Comparison List. I decided to add a new feature this year to put green arrows for mostly lower prices, red arrows for mostly higher prices, and a blue dot for mostly same prices. Hopefully this will be a helpful feature when determining where to place your order. If you haven't taken a look yet to see what roots you'd like to order to plant this fall, now is a good time to do it. A few limited stock and in demand peonies have sold out already, but not many. However, the later you wait in the year, the more peony varieties will be sold out. So get your order in early!!!

Intersectional Peony Vendor Price Changes

2016 It's Starting... Tree Peonies are Waking Up!

OMG! I am so excited. My tree peonies are starting to wake up! There are even a couple of coral peonies that have started to sneak a little stem out of the ground. Peony season is coming! After three 70° days in a row, how could they not wake up? I am so happy to see many of my tree peonies are coming back from last year - sorry to say I have killed a few (and there may more casualties this year). I only have a small number of tree peonies, even though they supposedly grow very well here. I am trying to grow my tree peony collection, and still trying to figure out how to grow them. They're a little different than the herbaceous peonies that I'm used to growing. However, I think I am *starting* to get the hang of it - by no means an expert, but I'm starting to get them to come back year to year. ;-) I can't wait to see what my tree peonies do this year. I think a few of them have tips that look like bud tips on them. So some of the tree peonies that I have not yet seen bloom, might give me a flower this spring - very exciting!!!

Tree Peony 'Li Yuan Chun' 李园春 Leafing Out	Tree Peony 'Li Yuan Chun' 李园春 Leafing Out

2016 Why I Love Saunders Peonies (& You Should Too!)

Early Blooming A. P. Saunders Herbaceous Peonies
If you haven't discovered any of A. P. Saunders herbaceous peonies (or have a whole collection of them) yet, then you should definitely give them a try. There are so many reasons to love these early hybrids, here are mine:

1. Foliage - Their early foliage usually creeps out of the ground 1 or 2 weeks before any of my other peonies, which really builds excitement for the peony bloom season.

2. Early Blooms - Also most of them are early bloomers, giving my garden colorful blooms before some of my peonies have even fully woken up and developed their buds.

3. Lots of Colors - They don't just come in light pink and white. There are fire engine reds, light yellows, pale pinks, whites, corals, shocking pinks, and lavender too!

Even though last year I had Saunders Peony Varieties Frozen Bud Blast, several were unaffected, and some still put on a good early show! So if you are eager to expand your peony bloom season, check out the extensive list of A. P. Saunders herbaceous hybrid peonies. I grow so many of them, but there are still so many more I want to grow!

2016 Ten Years of Southern Peony Blooms

To celebrate 10 years of blooms here at Southern Peony, I decided to put together this peony bloom photo collage. It contains one bloom from each of the 10 years - 2005-2015. I have added this collage to my Peony Bloom Dates page. So if you ever need to stare at its mesmerizing beauty, you can do so anytime you like! I have organized this Peony Bloom Dates page a little, giving it some new headers, and cleaned my peony bloom offset data a bit more - removing some mislabeled peonies I have given away and updating some incorrect Asian characters. Also if you're curious about the cultivars in the collage, they are... Peony 'Blue Lagoon', Peony 'Morning Lilac', Peony 'Muskoka', Peony 'Cora Louise', Peony 'Rose Heart', Peony 'Lemon Chiffon', Peony 'Firelight', Peony 'Pink Hawaiian Coral', and Peony 'Lavender', and Peony 'Coral Magic'!
10 Years of Southern Peony Blooms!

2016 Ten Years of Peony Bloom Data!

Yay! After finishing my 2016 Peony Data Entry in Winter Time, I finally have ten years of peony bloom data. I think I finally have enough to start publishing it on my site now. Last year was the first year I got my Peony Bloom Data in a Peony Database. This past week I spent some time analyzing and cleaning my data, reloading my old data, and adding last year's new data into the database. I still feel like the data could be better with more of it, but I suppose that will come with time. For now, I plan to publish peony bloom dates based on the offset from Peony 'Red Charm', which is the currently accepted method. However, I may add or change the reporting method in the future. For now, here's the scoop... Check out my Peony Bloom Dates page! :-)

2016 3-Trunked Monster Down = More Sun for Peonies

Ice Storm Damage to Three Trunked Monster Tree
Well, the ice storm did a number on the big oak tree in our back yard. Remember the 3 trunked monster I told you about last year that was eating all of the sun in my back yard and caused me to do my own Southern Peony Big Dig - Part Shade to Full Sun? Well, all three of the trunks were leaning/growing at angle, and we got so much ice in the big ice storm we had this winter, that one of those giant trunks just cracked completely in half. It's just as well. I had been wanting to cut this oak tree down for a couple of years now. I do think it served its purpose well. It provided years of shade for my daughter while playing in the back yard, a nice perch for all of the birds visiting our back yard feeder, and now it will provide wood for our fireplace next winter and several winters to come! Now that it's gone, the remaining peonies that didn't get moved in the big dig, will be much happier now with so much more sunshine. When this tree was small, the peonies near it grew well since it was so small and short, but as this tree grew over the years, the peonies actually started to dwindle, growing fewer stems and making fewer blooms each year. Here's hoping the sun will make them happy, and they will start to increase again!

Three Trunked Monster Tree	Three Stumped Monster

2016 Peonies with Early Dormancy Foliage

Here in the South, it gets colder much later in the year. So peonies generally have a much longer growing season here than they do in the North. Many peonies will hold their foliage through October and into November. However, some peonies' foliage does go into early dormancy, dying back much earlier than most other peonies. This is a list of peonies whose foliage dried up, turned brown, and died back by the end of September. These are the peonies I cut back on October 1st because their foliage was already brown. Don't worry - this is normal. Some peonies just die back earlier than others. Often many coral colored peonies have this genetic trait, as well as many early blooming peonies. This is definitely not a complete list, just the ones I happened to notice this year. This list may be helpful for home gardeners who are worried about their plant, or who want to plan their garden space so that another plant will brighten the area, or perhaps they want to use their peonies for landscaping purposes and want to make sure the peonies' foliage is going to stick around as long as possible. (These plants would not be good for long lasting landscape foliage.) However, they would be great to pair with fall blooming plants that need room to grow and flower in the fall!


Peony 'Lemon Chiffon'
Dying Back Earlier Than Other Peony Varieties

Peonies with Early Dormancy Foliage

Ann Berry Cousins Athena Carina Coral Charm Coral Fay Coral Sunset Cytherea Early Fernleaf Early Scout Flame Grace Root Great Lady	Henry Bockstoce Lemon Chiffon Ludovica Lustrous Many Happy Returns Moonrise Nosegay Paladin Rose Garland Skylark Sunshine

So if you have one of these peonies that starts to look brown in late summer, don't worry! It's okay. It is just going dormant a little earlier than the rest of its friends. It's just taking a rest and will be back to greet you again next spring!
Peony with Early Dormancy Foliage

2016 Favorite Peonies at APS Convention Flower Show

Since it is wintertime and there aren't any peony blooms in sight anywhere, I figured it would be a good time to publish my favorite peony blooms from the 2015 American Peony Society Convention. Never before seen photos of gorgeous peonies from the 2015 APS Convention, who wouldn't want to see that in the dead of winter? :-) Just pull out that Peony Wish List for Next Year you been dreaming up, because you're going to need to add a few more peonies to it... Plus, if you haven't Registered for the 2016 American Peony Society Convention yet, you just got another reason - make that eleven more reasons! :-) So check out this eye candy - hopefully it will keep you warm. :-) Happy Valentine's Day!
Peony 'Sonoma Halo'

Peony 'Black Swan'	Peony 'Rosy Prospects'	Peony 'Early Canary'
Peony 'Lois Choice'	Tree Peony 'Leda'	Peony 'Cherry Ruffles'
Peony 'Pastelegance'	Peony 'Henry Bockstoce'	Peony 'Christmas Velvet'

Peony 'Douglas Brand'

2016 APS Convention Travel Booked

Ebates Cash Back on Travel
I had already Registered for the 2016 American Peony Society Convention back in January. Now I have booked my travel too! Yay! If you're planning to go to the APS Convention, and you haven't booked your travel yet, I found a great deal on Expedia. I usually use Orbitz, but my travel was $100 cheaper on Expedia. Plus, you can get 10% cash back on flight/hotel combos if you go through Ebates first. Ebates is a rebate site that pays you actual cash for buying things online. I have been a member of Ebates for almost 10 years now (since 2007), and I have already saved over $1000! Also if you haven't made your reservation for the 2016 American Peony Society Convention, now's the time to do it before the tour buses sell out! I hope to see you all in Green Bay!
American Peony Society Convention Green Bay Trip Booked

2016 Truck Load of New Mulch for Peonies

I was happily surprised to get a call last week while I was at work asking if I still needed a truck load of mulch. I had been worrying about getting some ever since the last guy I knew who would bring me free mulch had his phone number disconnected. I had called around to several tree service companies inquiring about free wood chips a couple weeks ago, but I hadn't heard anything yet. So I was very grateful when I got this call. The tree service man kept asking me was I sure I needed a whole truck load? Each time I replied Yes! I told him I was away, but he was more than welcome to leave it at the end of my driveway. So on Friday when I got home from work, I found this beautiful, very large pile of mulch in my driveway. Now I can keep the weeds at bay around my peonies while gradually adding valuable organic matter to the soil over time. :-)

2016 Intersectional Peonies Suffered Frozen Bud Blast

Nope. Not even all of the intersectional peonies were able to withstand that late cold winter blast last spring. You would think with their tough guy image and strong tree peony like woody stems, they would just shrug off a cold blast. Unfortunately some varieties had blasted buds and some had both blasted buds and a reduction in blooms from the previous year. Not all of my intersectional peonies are rated here. Some of them were too small and/or immature to evaluate or there was not enough data to make a proper evaluation. Check out the table below to see who suffered in the cold...

Intersectional Peonies with Buds Blasted by Late Freeze
Peony Variety	2015 Bloom	2014 Bloom	Blast Rate	Bloom Reduction
Peony 'Little Darlin'	0 of 3	4 of 4	100%	100%
Peony 'Scarlet Heaven'	0 of 2	2 of 2	100%	100%
Peony 'Morning Lilac'	1 of 3	8 of 8	67%	88%
Peony 'Pastel Splendor'	3 of 3	10 of 10	0%	70%
Peony 'Sonoma Amethyst'	7 of 7	16 of 21	0%	56%
Peony 'Julia Rose'	8 of 8	10 of 10	0%	20%
Peony 'Garden Treasure'	13 of 16	15 of 15	19%	13%

2015 Intersectional Peony Garden
There were however several varieties which did shrug off that winter cold, seemingly unaffected by the late frost, that did not suffer any reduction in bloom or bud blast. These intersectional peonies all increased (or maintained) their bloom counts. Only one of these varieties suffered some bud blast. I am amazed to see three of Don Smith's Japanese named Intersectional Peonies sold by Monrovia as the top three in this list! I'm guessing the other Japanese named peony in that collection is not on this list only because it was too immature in my garden to evaluate. I am also not surprised to see Peony 'Cora Louise' on this list which was nominated for the APS Gold Medal last year, and it almost won, Peony 'Bartzella' which already won the APS Gold Medal in 2006, and Peony 'Keiko' a 2015 Southern Peony Best Performer.

Intersectional Peonies Unaffected by Late Freeze
Peony Variety	2015 Bloom	2014 Bloom	Blast Rate	Bloom Increase
Peony 'Yumi' 由美 (Possess Beauty)	3 of 3	0 of 0	0%	300%
Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored)	35 of 35	9 of 9	0%	288%
Peony 'Takara' 慈悲 (Treasure)	19 of 19	6 of 6	0%	216%
Peony 'Cora Louise'	11 of 11	5 of 5	0%	120%
Peony 'Copper Kettle'	2 of 4	1 of 1	50%	100%
Peony 'Yellow Crown'	11 of 11	6 of 6	0%	83%
Peony 'Bartzella'	7 of 7	4 of 5	0%	75%
Peony 'White Emperor'	9 of 9	9 of 9	0%	0%

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored)