2017 American Peony Society Convention Tour of Duke Gardens

American Peony Society Group Photo at Duke Gardens
The next morning of the APS Convention Tour, we boarded the bus at 8am for our first day of garden tours. When we arrived at Duke Gardens, we were met and greeted by the Director of Horticulture for Duke Gardens, Bobby Mottern. He spoke to us in their Angle Amphitheater overlooking their Peace Pond. Then our group was divided into four smaller groups each with a guide to take us through the gardens. Our group visited the White Garden, Fern Grotto, Learning Center, Moss Garden, Peony Collection, Arched Bridge, Japanese Garden, and finally the Terrace Overlook. The view was amazing!
Our Tour Group Visiting the Doris Duke Gardens

Linette Photographing the Japanese Iris
After our tour we met the rest of our American Peony Society group on South Lawn for lunch. We enjoyed delicious boxed lunches with turkey, ham, or roast beef sandwhiches with chips, pasta salad, a pickle, and of course a chocolate chip cookie! During our lunch break I had an opportunity to look at and walk inside of the Patrick Dougherty sculpture on the South Lawn. This art installation was made with natural materials, mostly wood branches that had been shaped and formed into this huge group of sculptures, which resembled a wooden Stonehenge. Overall it was a nice tour, with good (although a bit warm) weather!
Don Hollingsworth and Piet Enjoying their Lunch Break

2017 American Peony Society Convention Picnic at Pullen Park

American Peony Society Picnic at Pullen Park
The welcome picnic for the American Peony Society's 2017 Convention was held at North Carolina's first (and best) public park, Pullen Park. Peony friends met in the Round Pavilion Picnic Shelter for a nice spaghetti dinner with salad, garlic bread, and iced tea. It was nice to see old peony friends and meet some new ones. It was also nice to have Virginia Tech students and staff represented there who are researching successfully storing and extending the life of peony cut flowers. Convention attendees were able to pick up their convention registration materials in their APS bags. All in all the picnic was a nice start to the 2017 American Peony Society Convention!
Mike & Becky
American Peony Society Picnic at Pullen Park

Lia & Dick	Jim & Robert
Virginia Techies Daniel, Joyce, & Rachel	Isabella, Maddox, & Adriana

2017 American Peony Society Convention Preparation

I know it's been a while since I've posted on here, but I have just been super busy, planning the convention, getting my garden ready for the tour, and just generally going crazy! LOL! I am so excited for the convention, and since I'll have lots of jobs to do this year and a drive home each night, I most likely won't have a play by play for this year's convention. I do promise to take lots of pictures, though (as usual), and I will try to post some convention updates later on. As you can see below, I've been busy getting the APS Convention materials ready to go. If you are coming to the convention, I'll see you soon! :-)
American Peony Society Convention Materials

2017 Tree Peony Seeds from Canada Sprout!

I was beginning to wonder if any of those 2016 Paeonia rockii Purple Tree Peony Seeds that were sent to me as a replacement for the 2015 Purple Peony Rockii Seeds from Ebay Canada were going to sprout. Since none of the seeds from the original batch sprouted, I was worried that the second batch might not sprout either. However it seems the second batch of seeds were good because I now have 5 baby P. rockii tree peony seedlings from the second batch of seeds! How exciting! I am curious to see if any of these grow into a lovely purple flower with dark purple flares like the mother plant. Now that the seeds have actually sprouted, the only thing to do now is wait for a bloom! :-)
P. rockii Seeds Sprout

2017 Peony Blooms Week 5 Late Mid Season

I obviously did not take enough pictures this week. I have been spending lots of time this year trying to get my garden "tour ready" for the 2017 American Peony Society Convention in Raleigh, NC. Plus it seems the peonies are blooming in different weeks this year as well, condensing the bloom season a bit. I think this is a symptom of the very warm, then very cold early spring weather we experienced in February and March, 2017 Protect Peonies from Super Cold Overnight Temps. So I decided to combine the Herbaceous and Intersectional bloom pictures this week. Peony 'Angel Cheeks' is always a stellar performer here and is a Southern Peony Best Performer. Intersectional Peony 'Sequestered Sunshine' really is that yellow! I hope your peony bloom season is going well!
Peony 'Angel Cheeks'

Peony 'Peony Victoire de le Marne'

Intersectional Peony 'Sequestered Sunshine'

Intersectional Peony 'Pairie Charm'

2017 Red Tree Peony Seeds Sprout!

Red Tree Peony Seedlings Sign
Remember those red tree peony seeds I planted this past fall, 2016 Planting Red Tree Peony Seeds from Georgia? Well, I was beginning to think that they weren't coming up, that perhaps there were not actually viable. However about 2 weeks ago, I finally noticed a few green things popping up in that spot (that weren't weeds). LOL! So far I have 6 baby tree peony seedlings from those 2016 Red Tree Peony Seeds from SP Reader in GA. I'm guessing a few more peony seedlings may still pop up. If not this year, then perhaps next spring. We shall see!
Red Tree Peony Seedlings

Red Tree Peony Seedlings

Red Tree Peony Seedlings

2017 Intersectional Peony Blooms Week 4 Mid

This week there was still a nice range of colors in the intersectional peony blooms. Peony 'Sonoma Rosy Future' bloomed for me for the first time this year with blooms! What an awesome plant! Peony 'Yumi' also bloomed for this first time in my garden this year, since the first root I got of it was the wrong plant. Peony 'Yumi' is a big bright clear yellow intersectional peony with lots of petals arranged in a nice symmetrical pattern. I really like it too! Peony 'Old Rose Dandy' has an interesting coloring, and Peony 'Cora Louise' is a reliable garden standard with huge blooms and a nice white/purple contrast on its petals.
Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma Rosy Future'

Intersectional Peony 'Old Rose Dandy'

Intersectional Peony 'Yumi'

Intersectional Peony 'Cora Louise'