2022 Southern Peony Bloom Season

I must say this has been one of the weirdest bloom seasons I've seen in a while, and I am learning to be grateful for what and however Mother Nature decides to unfold herself...


2022 Southern Peony Bloom Season
Our early season hebaceous peonies and tree peonies experienced a late frost, which did abort several in process bloom buds, even large ones, which was quite dissappointing.

Although our drought levels here in my county are considered normal, No Drought, some counties directly to our east are in Abnormally Dry, Moderate Drought, and Severe Drought conditions. I would say that it does seem a bit drier here than usual this spring, which I feel like has decreased the number of above ground stems the peonies have decided to send up. This dryness has also however prevented almost all botrytyis blight - which is a good thing!


2022 Southern Peony Bloom Season
We've gotten a couple of heavy rains after extended dry periods, which seemed to spur a few peonies into sending up a late stem or two. On some of these late stems, we got some blooms that opened on plants long after all of their other buds were completely finished blooming.

The late freeze we experienced aborted many main buds on plants, leaving some side buds undamaged. The absence of the aborted main buds and subsequent development of these side buds really impacted the initial bloom dates of these peonies. The remaining side buds bloomed much later than the normal bloom date for these peonies, causing a mixup of bloom dates with peonies all around the spectrum. This main bud damage was noted in all 3 forms of peonies - tree peonies, herbaceous peonies, and intersectional peonies.


2022 Southern Peony Bloom Season
We've also experienced some interesting temperatures as well. The beginning of the season started out with mild/normal temperatures. The middle of the peony bloom season was very hot, a couple of weeks of 80 degree temperatures, which really shrivels blooms quickly! The end of the peony bloom season seems to be leveling out in temperatures again, back to the mild/normal pattern, with temperatures back in the 70s most days, which is gorgeous weather here for this time of year!!

This lowering of temperatures at the tail end of our peony season has really made it nice for the mainstay and late herbaceous peonies. I can't wait to continue to see how they unfold! I hope your peony bloom season is going well, no matter your location, and don't forget to stop and smell the peonies!

2022 Peony 'Tropicana' Southern Peony Best Performer - Week 3

Peony 'Tropicana'
Southern Peony Best Performer
I have excitedly been watching this Peony 'Tropicana' grow and grow steadily over the past couple years. Each year it gets larger with more blooms. It's growth habit really reminds me of Peony 'Coral Charm', but the flowers are brighter and deeper coral. The flower petals have even thicker substance, and the blooms last much longer. The foliage is not quite as sparse and a nicer color of green.


Peony 'Tropicana'
Southern Peony Best Performer
This peony usually has one bloom per stem, but it can have multiple on a stem. However each of these blooms is just so gorgeous, they pretty much need a stem to themselves!! Peony 'Tropicana' also seems to be pretty resistant to late frosts. We had a pretty bad late frost this year, and I lost a lot of main buds on many early, and early-mid peony varieties. However Peony 'Tropicana' appeared to be unscathed after the frost.


Peony 'Tropicana'
Southern Peony Best Performer
This peony also just grows and multiplies so well. It just seems to shrug off our hot, dry, long summers and just keeps on growing year after year - so tough - perfect for our Southern climate! This peony was also hit pretty bad with lawn herbicides one year by my lawn company (who is no longer allowed to spray in my back yard). It was so mangled up and twisted, I thought it might die, but this plant was so strong it fought its way back and it's even bigger and taller now than it was then!


Peony 'Tropicana'
Southern Peony Best Performer
Peony 'Tropicana' was hybridized by Jack Nordick and registered in 2012. So this is actually a more recent herbaceous peony introduction, and one definitely worth adding to your collection! The flowers seem to last longer than the other coral colored herbaceous peonies. These blooms fade as they age as well, as you can see I even captured one of them in a gorgeous ombre color-changing state - so gorgeous!! The blooms eventually fade to a pale pink edged cream. So you can enjoy a multitude of looks from these gorgeous peony blooms!


Peony 'Tropicana'
Southern Peony Best Performer
If you're looking for a place to snag one of these gorgeous gems, Peony 'Tropicana' was not only featured in our list, it also happened to be the "cover flower" this year for our 2022 Herbaceous Hot 100 Peony Catalog Price Comparison List. There seem to be a couple of growers selling it in the $50-$60 price range this year, which is pretty reasonable, I think!


Peony 'Tropicana'
Southern Peony Best Performer

2022 First Bloom on Intersectional Peony 'Haleigh's Hallelujah'!!

I was excited to see what the first would look like on Intersectional Peony 'Haleigh's Hallelujah'. This first bloom on the plant actually opened about 2 weeks ago (on 4/14). I think it bloomed a bit ahead of normal, most likely to having been grown in a green house or perhaps a warmer climate, (but my guess is a greenhouse). It was an overcast day when I took this photo, so it's not quite as sunny and bright as most of my usual photos, but the flower does look quite nice.


Intersectional Peony 'Haleigh's Hallelujah'
First Bloom to Open 4/14
I can't say that the color is anything special, as it does seem to be in the same pink to yellow color family as the majority of other intersectional peonies. However it's most unique feature seems to be the picotee edging, which is quite unique! The blooms keep their picotee edge as the flower changes color as well (as it ages). I must say I don't have another peony quite like it. It does kind of remind me of Intersectional Peony 'Berry Garcia', (which I like a LOT), with a lot more petals and deeper colors.


Intersectional Peony 'Haleigh's Hallelujah'
First Bloom to Open 4/15
The flowers do seem to be quite full of petals, a nice full semi-double form to me. The petals open with a combination of pink cream, and seem to change to a pale pink edge changing over to light yellow. The picotee edge is not harsh and seems to fade into the other color, with an almost ombre like effect. I do like it, and am very glad I purchased it when I saw it, 2022 Intersectional Peony 'Haleigh's Hallelujah' at Local Nursery!


Intersectional Peony 'Haleigh's Hallelujah' Sign

2022 Southern Peony Easter Egg Hunt

Southern Peony Easter Egg Hunt
I am once again reminded of how the simple things in life can be so meaningful. Being able to gather with friends and family, something we all took for granted not so long ago, was not an option for many during the global pandemic. I am so grateful that we are once again able to share a tasty meal, celebrate a spring holiday, and watch the children run and play in the garden amongst the flowers.


Southern Peony Easter Egg Hunt
These photos are from last Sunday, and I am not sure why I couldn't get an in focus photo of my little boy. Maybe he was too excited to find the eggs and running too fast for the camera. The peonies and irises were definitely putting on a colorful show. Not everything is in bloom yet, but many of the earlier peony varieties had flowers, and a few of the intersectional peonies were starting to open too.


Southern Peony Easter Egg Hunt
I think everyone had a good time, with plenty of eggs (and candy) to go around. This year we also threw some Easter Eggs into the lawn, just to watch the kids race to the eggs. :-D I also found 3 more unfound eggs out in the garden this weekend (a week later). So the kids didn't find them all. I bet I haven't found them all yet either! We were definitely blessed to be able to share Easter with my granparents, parents, brother's family, and friends. I hope each one of you had a nice Easter as well, and you found a little time to spend out in the flower garden!


Southern Peony Easter Egg Hunt

2022 Southern Peony @ Blossom + Bone Flower Arranging Workshop

Southern Peony Flower Workshop Bouquet with Blossom + Bone
I have been pretty busy this past week, not in the garden but at our quarterly All Hands Meeting at work. This time, though, I actually got to do an activity with and learn something about flowers! How cool is that? (especially since software is my day job)? We were given three options for the social activity on the final day of the meeting, and one of the options was a flower arranging class with Blossom + Bone, a local Durham, NC florist. Of course I picked that one, and I made a thing...


Southern Peony Flower Wrapped Workshop Bouquet
We were allowed to choose the flower colors for our bouquets and the greenery. I decided to pick some of the more lavender colors for my bouquet (of course). There were so many pretty flowers to choose from though, there were bright, sunny yellow snapdragons and neon orange poppies that really grabbed your attention. Even though there weren't any peonies to put in our bouquets, I still had a great time thinking about how to best use the greenery, how to fill in dead space in an arrangement, and how to coordinate (or contrast) the colors in your bouquet. It was so much fun, and I can't wait to put my flower arranging skills to good use again at the upcoming APS Convention!


Blossom + Bone Florals
How can you not love a florist that has an intersectional (itoh) peony on the front page of their web site? Blossom + Bone Florals. I had such a great time meeting some of the ladies of Blossom + Bone, and getting to chat with them about their backgrounds. I even got to hang out with a fellow lefty that helped me tie my bouquet with twine. She had previously worked on a flower farm (after graduating college), and it was fun to hear her stories on how to grow some of the trickier types of flowers. I am filled with gratitude for being able to meet some other flower aficianados, spend some fun time with my colleagues, and get to take home an awesome floral bouquet!!