2017 American Peony Society Convention Tour of JC Raulston Arboretum

Our tour bus dropped us off right at the new archway entrance for the JC Raulston Arboretum, a stainless steel archway with Japanese Maple leaves scattered throughout, giving it the effect of a sky of silver stars. Mark Weathington, Director of the JC Raulston Arboretum greeted our group at their Visitors Center, not far from the arched entrance. We toured their Scree and Xeric Gardens, Asian Valley - which did include some tree peonies, traditional Japanese Gardens - one of my favorites, Lath House, Plantsmen's Woods - which contained the bulk of the peonies donated by the American Peony Society. We also toured their Rose Garden which is now mixed with other perennials and their White Garden. Mark mentioned that they have over 6000 species of plants on just 10 acres. So if you'd like to see all kinds of plants in a more condensed setting, JC Raulston Arboretum is the place to find them all!
Mark Weathington, Director of JC Raulston Arboretum,
Greets us at their Visitor Center

2017 American Peony Society Convention Tour of Duke Chapel

Duke Chapel on Duke University Campus
I had been to Duke Chapel before, but I had never learned as much as I did when I toured it with the American Peony Society. When we first arrived, we had a bit of free time where we were allowed to walk freely around the chapel. People admired the architecture, the stained glass windows, and the fresh flowers. Eventually people started settling into the pews at the front of the chapel, and our tour guide, a current member of the chapel's choir, met us there and gave us a great talk. We learned about the 4 organs in the chapel, how they were cleaned and restored, the chapel building and its architecture and materials (stone at the bottom and a terra cotta like tile at the top), what the chapel is used for today - a interdenominational Christian church. There are no members, just participants, and although it looks like a Cathedral, it cannot be called one since it is not affiliated with the Catholic church and uses no religious hierarchy.
APS Members Listening to Tour Guide's Talk
We also learned about the gorgeous stained glass windows in the chapel, how the windows' color is not painted but infused into the glass, giving it its richness. Each window is unique, and the larger windows placed higher in the chapel have figures from the Old Testament of the Bible, while the smaller windows placed nearer to the ground level have scenes from the New Testament of the Bible. He also mentioned that the original window drawings and plans were burned when the artists attempted to put their own initials into some of the windows. However in the 1980s a grad student of the University was granted permission to install temporary scaffolding to document each window photographically and created a book about the windows.
Stained Glass Windows in Duke Chapel

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'

2017 Peony 'Topeka Garnet' Best Performer - Week 4

I must say that I have been very impressed with how fast Peony 'Topeka Garnet' has developed in my garden. It has grown from 3 stems, to 7 stems, to 10 stems, to 12 stems, to now 15 stems this year. Each year its bud and blooms counts have been steadily increasing as well. This peony stands up in the face of heat, rain, and wind. It definitely thrives here in our warm Southern climate. This photo was taken after a big storm. As you can see a few of the blooms have been open for a few days and yet the bright red color is unaffected. The blooms have such good substance and the petals are so tough that they hang on even through a storm, giving you a nice red petaled show! The number of flowers on the bush is amazing, and I'd even already cut two stems to enter into the APS Exhibition this year! Peony 'Topeka Garnet' was hybridized by Bigger and registered in 1975. If you are looking for a good mid season red to add to your collection, I would highly recommend Peony 'Topeka Garnet'!
Peony 'Topeka Garnet'
Southern Peony Best Performer

Peony 'Topeka Garnet'
Southern Peony Best Performer

Peony 'Topeka Garnet'
Southern Peony Best Performer

2017 Peony Blooms Week 4 Mid Season

Either there are lots of red peonies blooming this week, or I just happened to take pictures of lots of reds blooming this week. :-) We finally got the much needed rain. I think Mother Nature tried to make up for our year's rain deficit all in one storm. I don't even know exactly how much rain this storm dropped on us over 3 days, but I do know my rain gauge measures up to 5 inches, and it was all the way full! We did get a few days of sun once the storm had passed, which gave me an opportunity to snap a few sunny peony pictures this week! Enjoy!
Peony 'Many Happy Returns'

Peony 'Miss America'

Peony 'Scarlet O'Hara'

Peony 'Pink Princess'

Peony 'Topeka Garnet'

Peony 'Pink Derby'

2017 Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma YeDo' Blooms!

Remember that box I received in January, 2017 First Intersectional Peony Gift from a Friend? Well, I am happy to report that it actually did bloom this year. This Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma YeDo' had only one bloom on it this year, but what a lovely bloom it is! The flower is so full, so full of petals of a rich, luxurious yellow. I haven't seen another peony quite like it. I was so tempted to cut this flower in bud to enter it into this year's 2017 American Peony Society Convention in Raleigh, NC, but I just couldn't resist seeing it bloom in my own garden! I'm guessing this gorgeous flower probably would have won a ribbon in the Exhibition, but seeing it bloom on the bush was worth missing out on a ribbon! Plus I want to keep as much foliage as possible on this Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma YeDo' bush so that it can grow even larger next year!
Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma YeDo'

Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma YeDo'

2017 In Love with Tree Peony 'Angel Emily'

Tree Peony 'Angel Emily'
I can't help it! I'm in love! Tree Peony 'Angel Emily' is the best tree peony I've ever grown. Not that I have grown that many of them (but I have grown a few - at least tried to grow and tried and tried). Okay, I've killed a couple tree peonies along the way, and it seems like none of them really ever want to get established, but Tree Peony 'Angel Emily' is a totally different story! This tree peony actually grows and grows and grows bigger each year - and more beautiful, with more blossoms on it. This year it actually had 3 blooms on it, and they were all this gorgeous shade of lavender. One of the blooms had already finished, and these two blooms opened a bit later.
Tree Peony 'Angel Emily' Blooms
It's like this tree peony grows how tree peonies are actually supposed to grow. I haven't quite had a tree peony yet to impress me. Sometimes I'd get a couple blooms the first year from the grafted stems of a tree peony, then I'd get no blooms, then the plant might get smaller, or sometimes just grow the same size as it was the year before (very disappointing). However Tree Peony 'Angel Emily' has been a totally different story. I think it had a bud on it the first year, but it didn't mature, the next year had no buds, but the bush got larger and larger. You could tell it was adapting and growing. The next year (this year), the bush was even larger and had three blooms on it. I can't wait to see what it does next year!
Tree Peony 'Angel Emily' Bloom
I was even able to use some fresh pollen from this gorgeous tree peony to pollinate the blooms on my herbaceous Peony 'Martha W.' during the 2017 Good Peony Hybridizing Weather we had last week. So even if the year old pollen I had in the freezer doesn't work, at least I will have tried some fresh pollen too! We will see which pollen actually does a better job at producing seeds. It would be great to get some intersectional peony seeds from this cross, especially since lavender and purple are my favorite colors. :-) We shall see...
Tree Peony 'Angel Emily' Bush

2017 Intersectional Peony Blooms Week 3 Early Mid

This week we started to get more of a range of colors in the intersectional peony blooms, with the yellow intersectionals starting to open up. In addition to yellow colored blossoms there were also some whites, pinks, and peach tones as well. It was so nice to see the intersectional peony blooms open, the plants and blooms getting better each year. There were also some new blossoms I'd never seen before. It is always so nice to see a new peony bloom for the first time! I hope you are all enjoying your gardens as much as I am this year! Happy Peony Bloom Season!
Intersectional Peony 'Misaka' 美 (Beautiful Blossom)
aka 'Smith Opus 1'

Intersectional Peony 'Hillary'

Intersectional Peony 'White Emperor'

Intersectional Peony 'Yellow Emperor'

Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory'

Intersectional Peony 'Takara' 慈悲 (Treasure)
aka 'Smith Opus 2'

2017 Free Mulch for Peonies and Garden

Free Wood Chip Mulch for Peonies
I was kind of worried this might not come in. I've been calling my tree service guy for about 4 months now asking for free wood chips. I also called all around town to other tree services, but hadn't had any luck finding any wood chips. I was getting really desperate knowing the 2017 American Peony Society Convention being held in Raleigh, NC this year (and there might be a few visitors to my garden). I decided to try the tree service guy I know one more time a week ago. This time he finally said he'd be working in my area and could bring me some mulch! I was overjoyed. Now comes the hard part. Time to get to work shoveling, hauling, dumping, and raking! As you can see my Peony 'Keiko' (Adored) in the background is really happy about getting the new mulch too! :-) If you don't grow Peony 'Keiko' I highly recommend it. It is an outstanding and consistent plant, and is one of my Southern Peony Best Performers.