Sunday, September 18, 2016

2016 Questions - Growing Peonies in South Carolina

I received this question from Tony in zone 8b:
"I live in Mt. Pleasant, SC, zone 8 (“8b” I think) and would appreciate your help with some peonies I’ve planted. My wife is crazy for peonies and I’ve begun to try to cultivate them even though I realize we are at the outer reaches of their comfort zone."

"The herbaceous varieties I purchased and planted 2 years ago were all of the early flowering variety, mainly tending towards the pink/burgundy and white themes. According to directions, I planted them not deep, striving for the tops of the roots being 2” under the soil surface, and in areas that are either full sun or more sun than not. My soil is particularly acidic (typical for this area of SC) and I’ve tried to amend it from the 5.5 pH it started at to somewhere closer to 7.0. In several of the small plots (2-4 plants each) I’ve more or less achieved the hoped-for result, but in several others it may take me another year or so; they are now at 6.0 or so."

"The results, so far, are by no means outstanding. Of the 5 small plots planted so far, the typical is that one or at most 2 stems have come up from each, and in both Summers each plant has grown to approximately 1’ – 1.5’ tall, one single stem, with healthy-looking leaves but few of them. No apparent fungal infections, and each of them brown up and die (over a period of several weeks to a month) and are completely done with their season by the end of August or early September. When the top growth is obviously dead, I clip the stems at ground level and get rid of the clippings. None of the plants has flowered in the two years since planting. I typically sprinkle a bit of 8-10-10 around all my perennials twice a year (early Spring when growth starts, early-mid Summer) and rake it in lightly."

"My question(s) is(are) : Does this scenario sound typical for peonies – at least starting out – for my area? Should I be doing anything different or additional to maximize their potential for success? I will continue to add lime (and scratch it into the soil) to get to, or maintain, a neutral pH; I will continue to drench the plots with a mild fungicide (different each year) in Spring when growth breaks the soil. Until the plants have grown substantially in size and abundance I’ve felt no need to add a drench of minor nutrients like “Palm Nutritional” with Mg, Mn, Boron, Copper, Iron, Zinc, etc."

"I also have one “tree” peony with similar concerns. It has grown but sparingly in the two seasons since I planted it, similar pH concerns, and similar growth slowness and leaves seeming to complete their year’s duties by early September. But since it otherwise appears to be healthy, albeit very slow growing, I am not as concerned about its ultimate survival."

"I would appreciate any helpful hints or suggestions you may be able to render. I’ve not as yet explored your whole website, but I do note that in addition to peonies you also highlight lilies (Lilium, not those ‘imposters’ the daylilies) which are about my favorite flowers ever. If I can find a relatively easy way to keep the deer around here from decimating my lilies – along with about 90% of everything I plant – I will surely be ordering some of those from you in the future. Thank you in advance for your attention."


Peony Eyes Visible at Soil Level

The only thing that really jumps out at me is the 2" below the soil. Herbaceous Peony roots need chill hours in order to develop the blooms for next spring, and the deeper you plant them, the less chill hours they will receive. I am in NC, and I plant my peony roots even with the soil. I do also add a 1" layer of mulch on top of all of mine. However, I usually take care not to put too much mulch around the crown of the plant, and often many of my herbaceous peony's pink buds are visible throughout the winter. If these pink buds are buried too deeply in the soil in our climate, the peonies will not bloom.

That being said, since all of your peonies are relatively young, I would not necessarily expect any blooms yet. However, if I were you, I would lift your herbaceous peonies this fall and bring them closer to the soil surface. Tree peonies are a different story. Since most of them are grafted to a nurse root stock, it is better to plant them very deep (in hopes that the tree peony stem will start to send out roots of its own).

Another thing I was trying to get at with the photos is - What is planted near your peonies? Are they near trees, shrubs, other perennials, a fence, a wall, etc.? Do they have any competition? Is the soil evenly moist, watered on a timer, or left to Mother Nature?

Also my peonies do start to "turn brown" in the summer. It is a slow progression of foliage, whereby a lack of moisture, disease pathogens, and/or fungi affect the foliage over the course of the year. Since peonies only get one set of leaves per year, the foliage will naturally start to look ragged by the end of the summer/early fall. Right now there are some peonies in my yard that have turned completely brown, but most of them are still green/brown.

Also some herbaceous peonies varieties do better in the South than others. I didn't see you mention the herbaceous peony cultivars you were growing. I was going to offer any experience and advice I might have if you could name the cultivars. I personally have only a few tree peonies, and I don't have as much experience with these as I do herbaceous and intersectionals. Here is a page on my site where I recommend peony cultivars that do well for me in the South... Southern Peony Best Performers

Another thing I wanted to mention to you was that intersectional peonies may be something you'd want to try in your climate. Intersectional peonies are a cross between herbaceous and tree peonies, and they grow quite well and fast. Many of their blooms are not as large as the herbaceous double peonies, but some of them are larger! One I would definitely recommend is Peony 'Bartzella', a lovely yellow double.

I hope this information helps.

Thursday, September 15, 2016

2016 Best Performer Again Peony 'Keiko' with 77 Buds!


Peony 'Keiko'™ 愛幕 (Adored) aka Peony 'Pink Double Dandy'

Last year Peony 'Keiko'™ 愛幕 (Adored) was a Southern Peony Best Performer for 2015 Peony 'Keiko' (Adored) Best Performer - Week 4. I would be remiss to mention that it was a Best Performer again this year in my garden, and not just a Best Performer, but THE best performing plant in my garden for 2016. This one intersectional peony plant had 77 buds on it, and Every. Single. Bud. Opened. Not one of the buds was blasted. The blooms were not affected by the late frost we had. The blooms were not affected by disease or bugs or anything. There were 77 blooms on this plant. Last year there were 35. Every year, this plant just keeps getting bigger and better and the number of blooms just keeps increasing! I can't wait to see what it does next spring. The flowers open a rich, gorgeous medium pink and slowly fade to a lighter medium pink. If you haven't bought one of these peony plants for yourself yet, you need to find one, and buy it, and plant it - this fall! Peony 'Keiko'™ 愛幕 (Adored) aka Peony 'Pink Double Dandy' is one peony plant your garden should not be without!

Peony 'Keiko'™ 愛幕 (Adored) aka Peony 'Pink Double Dandy'

Sunday, September 11, 2016

2016 Thank You Card for Southern Tree Peony Seeds

I wanted to share with all of you the Thank You card I sent to my reader in Georgia for the Southern tree peony seeds he sent me. I feel so grateful for this outlet, and the feeling of community and support you all have given me. I am also grateful that I have the opportunity and privilege to spread the love of peonies far and wide into areas that people may not think of as good places to grow peonies - much hotter climates like the Southern United States. I am also grateful for all of my peony friends and the camaraderie we've shared. The blooms on this Southern Peony Thank You Card are all from my Southern Peony garden. You too can grow this beauty right in your own back yard! This thank you card is for all of you, all of my readers that share this peony journey with me. Thank you so much!  - Adriana

Southern Peony Thank You Card

Monday, September 5, 2016

2016 Planting Red Tree Peony Seeds from Georgia

Well, we finally got a break in the dry weather. We've had two rain storms in the past week, and we were sorely in need. We actually did a get the outer edge of Hurricane Hermine that brought us some of this rain, and I am very thankful. So now things in my garden seem like they are happy again instead of pouting and wilted. Now that summer is starting to fade and we are starting to get some cooler temperatures, I took some time this Labor Day to plant out the Red Tree Peony Seeds from SP Reader in GA I received a couple weeks ago. If your garden has started to cool down and moisten up a bit, then now would be a good time to plant peony seeds in your area too. If you don't have any peony seeds, and you'd like to plant some, you should definitely check out the APS Seed Sale. It is only for APS Members, but if you are this interested in peonies and you're not an APS Member yet, you should definitely sign up!

Red Tree Peony Seeds and Sign

I planted these red tree peony seeds in my fledgling tree peony garden. There is still some space here to plant in some nice soil. So I decided to go ahead and plant out these seeds there. To plant the seeds I just got some garden gloves on to prevent dirt from getting under my finger nails. Since I didn't want to cultivate the entire area, I just made some seed holes for the peonies using my thumb. The soil wasn't too hard to work with, and I was able to make a nice divot in the ground for each seed. Then I placed one seed in each hole, covered them with soil, and tamped it down. I can't wait to see what these seedlings may bring. It will take years to know if any of these seedlings will be garden worthy plants, but hopefully it will be worth the wait!

Planting Holes for Red Tree Peony Seeds

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

2016 Red Tree Peony Seeds from SP Reader in GA


Southern Peony Reader Photo - Red Tree Peony

Remember the Red Tree Peony photo from a Southern Peony reader from Georgia, USA that I posted earlier this year on Facebook? Well somehow I got lucky enough for him to offer to send me some seeds from the plant. These "Red Tree Peony" seeds just arrived last week, and there are 56 seeds in the bag. I am really excited to see what these seeds have to offer. The bloom on the mother plant is just gorgeous. So I am thrilled to see what the babies may look like. I might wait another week or two before I plant these out in my peony seedling test bed since it has been so hot and dry here the past couple weeks. We just got another rain storm that just wet the pavement yesterday, but it didn't rain enough to measure. We are still waiting for a big rain storm! At this point a weakened hurricane that just sits on top of us for a little while wouldn't hurt. Even though that much rain would start to wash everything away (like mulch), it would be better to have plants that are well watered and missing some mulch than well-mulched plants that are dying of thirst!

Red Tree Peony Seeds from a SP Reader in Georgia, USA

Saturday, August 20, 2016

2016 Extended Dry Period Makes Some Peonies Crispy

We've been lucky with the rain so far this year - until now! This has been the first completely dry 10 day period we've had all summer! Some years my grass is crispy in June! (and more often by July). However, this year my grass hasn't gotten crispy until now, well into August, (and only some of it is crispy) which is great. However, I think all of the plants in my yard have gotten used to the adequate supply of water in the form of rainfall. I rarely water my peonies unless they are already drooping in early summer - in which case I'll sometimes give them a drink so they can make it to the next rainfall.

Peony 'Flame' and Peony 'Prairie Moon'

I think I noticed foliage on this Peony 'Prairie Moon' had become crispy a bit too late. As you can see the foliage on it already looks wilted and crispy. So I did try watering it a couple days in a row, hoping it would perk up a little, but so far it hasn't. As you can see the foliage on the peony next to it, Peony 'Flame' looks just fine. So right now only a very few peonies have been affected. We just got our first rain after this extended dry period last night. However, we only got enough to wet the back deck, but not enough to measure in the rain gauge. So I am hoping for some more rain tonight. It looks like there's about a 50% chance of rain in the forecast today, and then another extended stretch of dry weather. It seems like I'll be watering again this coming week!

Crispy Peony 'Prairie Moon'

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

2016 Planting First Intersectional Peony Seeds


First Intersectional Peony Seeds from
Peony 'Lemon Chiffon' and Peony 'Martha W.'

I have been mulling over where and how to plant these seeds. I am sure I am putting way too much thought into this. I'm also sure that Mother Nature would likely take much better care of these tiny seeds than I could or would have the time to. So I definitely want to plant them outside somewhere, just where is the question. I have been considering planting them with mulch, without mulch, or maybe even in a peat pot planted in the ground to try to protect it from bugs and critters. I am leaning toward the latter, and even have a few peat pots sitting in my Amazon shopping cart waiting to be checked out.

First Intersectional Peony Seeds Planted in Peat Pots

I did end up ordering the peat pots from Amazon, deciding that I'd try a mix of Mother Nature with (hopefully) a little extra protection from the peat pots. There were 7 seeds total from my 2016 First Intersectional Peony Seeds! harvest this year. There were 2 seeds from Peony 'Lemon Chiffon' and 5 seeds from Peony 'Martha W.' So I got them all lined out and planted. I filled the peat pots with composted cow manure and a bit of soil. I dug a small trench and sunk all 7 peat pots into the ground. Then I pressed one seed into each pot with my finger, and I sprinkled a half a teaspoon of Eco Scraps Organic Fresh Start Plant Food over each peat pot. This fertilizer's N-P-K ratio is 2-14-0 and it designed for "optimum root growth". I'm hoping that this fertilizer will help these baby peony seedlings grow strong roots whenever they sprout!

Eco Scraps Fresh Start Organic Plant Food
and Peony Seeds in Peat Pots


After I sprinkled a little bit of the fertilizer over each peat pot, I firmed the soil up, around, and over the pots. Then I pushed a bit of mulch over the soil covered pots. Lastly I watered them in a bit to make sure they are moist. This particular spot near my house usually is pretty moist already. So hopefully I won't have water them very much. I may pull a bit of the mulch back in the spring just in case there is too much mulch cover. I can't wait to see how many of these will sprout in the spring! The outer casing of one of the Martha W. seeds had already cracked open. I'm not sure if that one will sprout. I put it at the top of the row so I can keep track of it and find out later whether it actually sprouts. We'll see!

Peat Pot with Peony Seed, Compost, Soil, and Plant Food