Monday, June 25, 2018

2018 Hollingsworth Nursery Updates Catalog Adds 6 New Hot 100 Herbaceous Peonies


Hollingsworth Peonies
Adds 6 New Hot 100 Herbaceous Peonies

I just got an email from Hollingsworth Peonies saying they've updated their catalogs after checking their field inventories. I guess that's good news for them (and for us)! They added 6 new Hot 100 Herbaceous peonies that they weren't offering earlier this year (bringing their total offerings on the 2018 list up to 19!). So I've updated the full 2018 Herbaceous Hot 100 Peony Catalog Price Comparison List with all of their new offerings. When I saw they were offering Peony 'Nelda's Joy', I just had to buy it. Ever since I saw it in Bill Seidl's garden in 2016, 2016 Peony 'Dreamtime' Pollen from Bill Seidl's Garden, I have wanted it, but I hadn't seen it offered anywhere (until now)! Not to mention Don Hollingsworth himself named it as one of his newest registrations that he was most excited about in my interview with him in 2016, 2016 Peony Hybridizer Interview - Don Hollingsworth.

Peony 'Nelda's Joy'
Growing in Bill Seidl's Garden 2016

Hollingsworth Peonies also mentioned that they marked some items that were previously sold out as back in stock. So if there was something you missed out on earlier this year, you might want to check their web site now to see if it is back in stock. Also while I was purchasing peonies from Hollingsworth Peonies, I decided I should pick up a Peony 'Lavon' as well since it won the APS Best in Show award this year at the 2018 American Peony Society Convention, 2018 Peony 'Lavon' APS 2018 Best in Show. I love the double decker type peonies anyway, and this looks to be an excellent one! I can't wait to see how both of these Hollingsworth hybridized peonies perform for me here in my Southern garden!

Sunday, June 24, 2018

2018 Peony 'Lavon' APS 2018 Best in Show


Peony 'Lavon'
American Peony Society 2018 Best In Show
Grand Champion

When the results for the Best in Show flower were revealed after the 2018 American Peony Society Judges Select Court of Honor and Best In Show, there was quite a bit of excitement surrounding the peony that won the highest honor of the peony exhibition. The award went a home-state exhibitor, Brooks Gardens of of Brooks, Oregon. The hybridizer of the peony also happened to be at the show, Don Hollingsworth. So it was a great win for both! I decided to talk with both of them about what having Peony 'Lavon' win Best in Show meant to each of them. Here's what they said...

Don Hollingsworth Hybridizer of Peony 'Lavon'
(named after his wife Lavon)
and Kent Tretheway, Lavon's Son

Questions for Don Hollingsworth:

How did it feel to have your Peony 'Lavon' honored as the Best In Show flower at this year's APS Convention?

"I was and am pleased. While I have known for decades that peony ‘Lavon’ is capable of making a flower which could rightly be named Best in Show, this is the first time it ever happened. And I must add: this flower winning is remarkable in that it was scarcely half the size and fullness of which ‘Lavon’ is capable. And, I am not second guessing the judges in these remarks. When competent judges do their job, flower condition (freshness, crispness) and symmetry of its anatomy are key considerations and this Best of Show flower was strong among the competition on both counts."

Were you surprised to find out that it won?

"Yes, because that was the first I was aware an entry of ‘Lavon’ had even been staged. I was not tapped for the judging, and my previous partial tour of the staged entries was focused on the hybrids classes and the floral designs, taking pictures. After judging was completed, I happened to enter the room by way of the door near where the Court of Honor was staged. Yes, it was the best possible series of events for me to be not only surprised, but pleasantly so."

How does it encourage you in your hybridizing?

"It reminded me that for years I have been wishing (and trying again and again) to find pollen in current flowers of ‘Cytherea’, which is the pollen parent of ‘Lavon’, also its seven siblings and half-siblings which have earned name registration here."


Therese Sprauer of Brooks Gardens
Accepting her Best In Show Ribbon
for her Peony 'Lavon' Show Flower

Questions for Therese Sprauer:

How did it feel to have your Peony 'Lavon' honored as the Best In Show flower at this year's APS Convention?

"Thank you for asking - it's always a thrill to compete. I really like encouraging others to do the same. I often hear how some growers and gardeners feel intimidated by such huge competition and I hope to encourage all gardeners and growers to bring even a few flowers to enter."

"I was thrilled and honored to learn 'Lavon' was awarded Best in Show/Grand Champion at the 2018 American Peony Society floral exhibit. With such strong competition, it is an absolute joy to learn one of your entries dazzled at the right moment. To share the victory with Don Hollingsworth, the hybridizer, made it even sweeter!"

"A huge thank you to the APS; the many volunteers who tagged and placed entries; and, to our Brooks Gardens team, whose work on the farm allowed me time to select, cut and store peony buds for entry."

Were you surprised to find out that it won?

"The day before the exhibit, I was in the field telling my flower cutter, Rita, that she could now cut any flowers for bouquets, as I was done gathering buds for competition. I then literally snatched two flowers out of her hand and said " Except I will take these two 'Lavon's' to enter in competition tomorrow - they look perfect." I was in a bit of disbelief when I heard that it was, in fact, a 'Lavon' that won - one of the last entries placed on the tables."

How does it encourage you in your peony growing and exhibitions?

"To see a showroom filled with hundreds of beautiful peonies is breathtaking and rewarding to all participants and visitors. I encourage all peony growers and gardeners to participate in the APS floral exhibit. No matter the level of excitement or anxiety one experiences along the way from field to exhibit table, I remind myself and others, 'it only takes one flower'. That's important to remember when you see hundreds, or even thousands of flowers brought in to the prep areas for entry selection. Bring your flowers next year and join in the fun!"

Wednesday, June 20, 2018

2018 American Peony Society Judges Select Court of Honor and Best In Show


APS Judges Select Grand Champion / Best In Show


American Peony Society 2018 Court of Honor

After what probably seems like forever for all of the APS Members and members of the public patiently waiting outside the Exhibition room, the judges finalize their class decisions, everything is recorded, and the final judging to select the American Peony Society 2018 Exhibition Court of Honor is completed. All of the hard work from all of the show participants, volunteers, and Exhibition Co-Chairs - the transportation of flowers to the show, the prepping and tagging of peony specimens, the classifying of flowers, the judging of each class, the recording of awardees, and the placement of ribbons - is finally realized, resulting in the Court of Honor. The whole thing is like a symphony with the Exhibition Co-Chairs, David and Linette, serving as the conductors. The exhibitors, volunteers, and judges are the musicians who carefully play their instruments, the peonies. The Exhibition Chairs skillfully conduct this floral symphony, which each phase of the exhibition carefully played as if a movement in a sonata. When the flower show opens, we have reached the finale! The doors of the Exhibition Room are thrown open, and everyone is invited inside to find out who's won, to see what curious new peonies on the entry tables pique their interest, and chat with all of the fellow peony enthusiasts about our favorite flower!

Photo Collage
American Peony Society 2018
Reserve Champion, Grand Champion, Best Novice

Peony 'Pastelegance'
Best White / Blush / Yellow Hybrid
Peony 'Theresa Ann'
Best Pink Lutea Hybrd
Peony 'Sonoma YeDo'
Best Intersectional
Best Yellow / Yellow Blend Intersectional
Peony 'Marchioness'
Best Yellow Lutea Hybrid
Peony 'Kansas'
Best Red Lactiflora
Peony 'Bowl of Cream'
Best White Lactiflora
Peony 'Class Act'
Best Blush Lactiflora
Peony 'Angel Choir'
Best White Suffruticosa
Peony 'Ezra Pound'
Best Pink Suffruticosa
Peony 'Raspberry Charm'
Best Pink / Coral Hybrid
Peony 'Old Faithful'
Reserve Champion
Best Red Hybrid
Peony 'Lavon'
Best In Show
Grand Champion
Best Pink Lactiflora
Peony 'Boreas'
Best Novice
Best Red Lutea Hybrid

Monday, June 18, 2018

2018 American Peony Society Convention Flower Exhibition Show Prep


Richard and Anna with their Tree Peonies
American Peony Society Exhibition Flower Show Prep


Leon, Lore, Cory, and Jeff
American Peony Society Exhibition Flower Show Prep


and Steve Filling Bottles with Water
American Peony Society Exhibition Flower Show Prep

As soon as people finish their second day of bus tours on Friday afternoon, what happens next? Everyone who's entering flowers in the show (and lots of volunteers aka APS Members) are prepping the peony flowers for the annual American Peony Society Flower Exhibition. People are checking their flowers to make sure they are opening (or not opening) (or opening too much)! Everyone is checking flower forms and color against the dizzying number of potential peony exhibition classes that can be entered. People are filling bottles with water for the exhibits. People are selecting, grooming, and placing flowers into bottles to be exhibited. People are filling out entry tags for each individual entry with the exhibitor, division, class and variety name. People are running the finished entries from the prep room to the exhibition room and placing them in their marked exhibition category. Everyone's goal is to get as many flowers into the show before the exhibition chairs make the call to close the exhibition room. The exhibition chairs must allow enough time for judging to take place. So the exhibition room must be closed to additional entries prior to the show opening. The flower show is an exciting time for exhibitors hoping to win ribbons, and the American Peony Society's best opportunity to showcase the king of flowers, the peony, to the public.

David, Jill, and Carol Prepping Flowers
American Peony Society Exhibition Flower Show Prep


Lore, Jim, and Linette, APS Exhibition Co-Chair
American Peony Society Exhibition Flower Show Prep


David, APS Exhibition Co-Chair
American Peony Society Exhibition Flower Show Prep


Wednesday, June 13, 2018

2018 American Peony Society Tours Portland Rose Garden

The next and last stop on the American Peony Society 2018 Convention Tour was the Portland Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon. While there were some roses blooming, I wasn't as impressed with the rose garden as I'd expected. Maybe it was because we were just before their peak bloom season. So most of their roses weren't open yet. Or maybe it was because I thought the garden would be larger than it was. Or maybe it was because the tour we were on was guided, and we didn't get to see the whole thing, only the parts our tour guide took us too. Our tour guide was very nice and seemed quite knowledgeable about the garden. She told us about how they kept a garden of every rose that won the Rose Society's yearly award. She told us about how they had a Rose Festival every year, and there was a Rose Queen crowned each year, a young lady who is judged on intellect and contribution to society instead of her physical appearance.

Yellow Rose

Our tour guide also told us about their spray programs at the rose garden - both insecticides and fungicides to keep the bugs and rose diseases at bay. It was all quite informative, but I do much prefer peonies to roses. Even though peonies' bloom season is much shorter than roses, they do not require all of those chemicals to keep them looking nice and pest free. I think I'd like to visit Portland Rose Garden again sometime in the future during their peak bloom season to see more of the roses in bloom and have a chance to explore the garden in whole on my own, at my leisure. It seemed like a nice place to visit, a public park that anyone can go to visit at any time for free. What a nice benefit for the citizens of Portland. I was also told that many marriage proposals and weddings happen in the Portland Rose Garden as well. How lovely!

Purple Roses

Please Note: The rose photos included in this article are actually ones I took during the 2018 American Peony Society Convention Sebright Gardens Tour. I forgot my camera (and phone!) on the tour bus during the Rose Garden Tour. So I wasn't able to capture any photos at the Portland Rose Garden.