Articles about Peony foliage
Showing posts with label foliage. Show all posts

Saturday, March 17, 2018

2018 Peony New Growth Foliage Colors

I've been wanting to do a survey like this for a long time. Foliage Color has been an item on my Surveys page for years, with no activity under it. Finally, I am able to starting recording something here. I've always thought it was neat how the new foliage of herbaceous peonies varied so much. I don't really see this kind of variation in the new foliage of intersectional peonies or tree peonies. So this article will focus mostly on herbaceous peonies. If you've not yet noticed the beautiful color variations in the new peony foliage, I'm about to open your eyes. Growing peonies to see the blooms is only part of the fun. Watching their new stems unfurl each spring, with bright neon green, scarlet red, or a lavender-tinted pink new foliage is just so exciting.

Herbaceous Peonies New Foliage Colors

Below you will find a sampling of some of the new peony foliage colors in my garden. The deep foliage colors of the chocolate peonies is so titillating. The bright neon green of the golden herbaceous peonies is so surprising. The red stems of the coral peonies seems so fitting. The lavender-pink foliage of the lavender peonies is so sweet. If you don't have peonies with a range of new spring foliage colors, now might be the time to start thinking about which peonies you'll add to your garden this fall to excite and entertain you next spring.
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Horizon'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Golden Wheel'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Lavender'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Roselette's Baby'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Many Happy Returns'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Perfect Princess'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Grace Root'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Flame'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Rose Garland'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Lustrous'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Paula Fay'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Great Lady'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Sarah Bernhardt'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Paladin'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Coral Charm'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Coral Fay'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Do Tell'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Martha W.'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Dark Chocolate'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Gay Paree'
New Foliage Colors
Peony 'Lake o' Silver'
New Foliage Colors
Tree Peony 'Fuchsia Ruffles'

Sunday, March 12, 2017

2017 I Found a Diamond In My Peony!


Diamond in My Peony

I don't know if it was luck or coincidence, but something caught my eye as I happened to walk by my intersectional peony garden today. The sun was going down, and there was just a bit of sunlight still glinting off the emerging red-toned intersectional peony foliage. Something in the foliage shimmered with facets of light, and shined like a diamond. I couldn't help but take a closer look to see what it was...

Intersectional Peony 'Unique' Foliage

When I got closer I found something very beautiful. It wasn't a diamond made of carbon, but a diamond made of water! It was so amazing. I wanted to capture it before the sun went down, before the water succumbed to the forces of gravity, before my diamond disappeared! I raced into the house to grab my camera. As luck would have it when I got back outside with my camera, the sun was still shining, and my water droplet diamond was still there! So I was able to capture these gorgeous photos of my Intersectional Peony 'Unique' foliage holding a water orb from several angles.

Intersectional Peony 'Unique' with Water Orb

How in the world did this water orb diamond come about anyway? Well Mother Nature was kind enough to give us a light dusting of snow this morning after a couple of weeks of temperatures in the 60s and 70s. Needless to say the snow melted quickly and was gone before noon. However a few of those snowflakes combined and formed this water orb. This seems like one of those once in a lifetime photos. Everything lined up just right in order for this water droplet diamond to be created, found, and photographed. The endless beauty of Mother Nature never ceases to amaze me. It makes my heart sing to find examples of this natural beauty each day.

Light Dusting of Snow on Emerging Peonies

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

2016 Herbaceous vs. Intersectional Fall Foliage

If you are looking for fall color in your peony landscape, then herbaceous peonies are definitely your best bet! The range of colors is amazing - there are reds, golds, oranges, lime greens, and even a few that are still a lovely dark green. Of course not all herbaceous peonies have fall foliage. Some herbaceous peony varieties do die back early. For information on those, check out my post about Peonies with Early Dormancy Foliage. To see which peonies have created colorful foliage for me in the past, check out some of my fall foliage colors from previous years - 2015 Beautiful Fall Peony Foliage Colors, 2014 Enjoy Fall Peony Foliage Colors, 2012 Colorful Fall Peony Foliage, 2011 Peony Fall Foliage Colors, 2010 Peony Fall Foliage.

Herbaceous Peony Fall Foliage Colors - Orange, Red, & Gold

The beauty of the fall colors of these three herbaceous peonies really struck me, and I just had to snap this photo to share. These peonies are (from left to right) Peony 'Green Lotus' (orange foliage), Peony 'Pink Spritzer' (red foliage), and Peony 'Raspberry Clown' (gold foliage). I also could not help but notice the contrast of this herbaceous peony flower bed to my intersectional peony flower bed (and my tree peony flower bed as well). As you can see the herbaceous peonies are proudly displaying a range of autumn colored foliage, while the intersectional peonies are all brown (and they've been brown for weeks, actually). It seems that intersectional peonies are much more like tree peonies than herbaceous peonies in the fall. The leaves on herbaceous peonies last much longer than either of the other two types (intersectional and tree). So if you want to add beautiful spring blossoms and bright fall foliage to your garden, then herbaceous peonies are where it's at!

Intersectional Peony Brown Fall Foliage

Saturday, September 24, 2016

2016 University of Vienna Botanical Garden Peonies


University of Vienna Botanical Garden Peony Garden

Yes, it was the end of summer, but I couldn't help checking out the peonies at the University of Vienna Botanical Garden on my trip last week. This botanical garden is quite strict in its definition of botanical. The are several varieties of peonies. All of them are species peonies however, except for one Paeonia suffruticosa selection - perhaps because there are no longer any true representations of this species left. In this Vienna, Austria garden they grow their peonies in an open, oval bed surrounded by grass and trees (at some distance). The soil is flat and bare, not covered by any type of mulch.

University of Vienna Botanical Garden Peony Garden

The species I found represented in their garden are Paeonia delavayi, Paeonia emodi, Paeonia lactiflora, Paeonia mairei, Paeonia mascula, Paeonia officinalis ssp. officinalis, Paeonia peregrina, Paeonia rockii, Paeonia suffruticosa 'Duchesse de Morny', and Paeonia tenuifolia. So they have 10 varieties of peonies growing there. Not quite enough to be listed on the American Peony Society Peony Garden Map, but still worth a visit if you are in the area or are particularly interested in species peonies.

Me with a Very Tall Paeonia delavayi Peony Plant

I was quite surprised to find this particularly tall representation of Paeonia delavayi. I must admit I have never seen a P. delavayi peony growing this tall. It was almost as tall as me. The one P. delavayi peony plant I tried to grow here lasted for a few years, but each year it became smaller and smaller and eventually died. I will have to try again after seeing how successful their plants are. Also according to Wikipedia, the growing zone in Vienna, Austria is equivalent to a growing zone 8a, which is warmer than my own growing zone 7b. Someone's calculations must be incorrect. Perhaps mine is a bit warmer or theirs is a bit cooler. The temperatures here this week are still in the 80s for the last week of September, and their temperatures were in the 60s for most of last week. It also surprises me considering they seem to be able to grow the Paeonia tenuifolia (fern leaf peony) there, which does not grow at all here in my climate.

University of Vienna Botanical Garden Peony Paeonia emodi

I was also happy to meet this Paeonia emodi plant growing in their garden. I had never seen this plant before, nor have I ever seen its roots or seeds for sale. Its foliage particularly delighted me. The leaves are so long and wide too, very gracefully coming to a nicely symmetrical, pointed tip. It is supposed to have a pretty single white flower. Here are some of the other species peonies that were growing in the University of Vienna Botanical Garden. Please feel free to click on any photo to see a larger version.
Paeonia delavayi
Paeonia lactiflora
  
Paeonia mairei
Paeonia mascula
  
Paeonia officinalis ssp. officinalis
Paeonia peregrina
  
Paeonia rockii
Paeonia suffruticosa
'Duchesse de Morny'
  
Paeonia tenuifolia

Sunday, April 24, 2016

2016 Colorful Spring Peony Foliage


Purple Spring Peony Foliage
Peony 'Garden Peace'

Wow! I can hardly believe Week 3 of my peony blooms season is over, and we're already half way through our peony bloom season here. While we're still in the early part of the season, I wanted to share one more reason to grow peonies (besides the blooms) - the gorgeous colors of peonies spring foliage! I know I've already mentioned the Beautiful Fall Peony Foliage Colors. However, I have not before mentioned their gorgeous spring foliage colors - purples, yellow greens, reds, and multi colors.

Yellow Green Spring Peony Foliage
Peony 'Golden Frolic'


Red Spring Peony Foliage
Peony 'Topeka Garnet'

If you don't yet grow Peony 'Garden Peace', you will soon find out that the uniqueness of its purple toned spring foliage far outweighs its numerous heavenly white single blooms. The leaves are large with good substance, and the bush multiplies well here in the South. Peony 'Golden Frolic' is known for both it's beautiful fall foliage, and its blossoms are some of the most attractive source of food for bees in my garden. However, the eye popping spring foliage is just one more reason to grow Peony 'Golden Frolic'. Not only is Peony 'Topeka Garnet' a 2012 American Peony Society Gold Medal Winner, the redness of its spring foliage will blow you away. From blooms, to the spring foliage, to the stigmas, this peony had red down! Peony 'Lovely Rose' has not only lime green spring foliage, but also contrasting red stems. When those multicolored stems pop open you'll get a nice coral pink surprise! So if you needed another reason to grow peonies (besides the blooms), you just got one more!

Lime Green Spring Peony Foliage with Red Stems
Peony 'Lovely Rose'

Friday, March 11, 2016

2016 Peony 'Coral Charm' Has Many Adventitious Roots

In my 2016 It's Starting... Tree Peonies are Waking Up! post, I mentioned that my coral peonies were starting to wake up too. Well, one of them, Peony 'Coral Charm', is waking up in a big way - all over the place! This peony loves to multiply and spread. It apparently also has the feature of developing growth buds on its roots, called adventitious roots. Another peony of mine also has this feature - 2013 Peony 'Grace Root' Adventitious Bud Stem Flower. I hadn't really noticed this feature in Peony 'Coral Charm' until last year when it started to get one side shoot. I think this all started when I divided this peony to donate a large piece of it as a part of the 2013 APS Peony Donation to JC Raulston Arboretum. Apparently all of the severed roots that were left in the ground have now decided to regenerate and grow their own buds and crown to create lots of new plants. So now this year it has lots of side shoots (at least 15)!!! I think I'll be giving one of these to my grandma for sure. I may donate one for the American Peony Society convention or fall auction as well. :-)


Peony 'Coral Charm' with Adventitious Shoots

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

2016 Peonies with Early Dormancy Foliage

Here in the South, it gets colder much later in the year. So peonies generally have a much longer growing season here than they do in the North. Many peonies will hold their foliage through October and into November. However, some peonies' foliage does go into early dormancy, dying back much earlier than most other peonies. This is a list of peonies whose foliage dried up, turned brown, and died back by the end of September. These are the peonies I cut back on October 1st because their foliage was already brown. Don't worry - this is normal. Some peonies just die back earlier than others. Often many coral colored peonies have this genetic trait, as well as many early blooming peonies. This is definitely not a complete list, just the ones I happened to notice this year. This list may be helpful for home gardeners who are worried about their plant, or who want to plan their garden space so that another plant will brighten the area, or perhaps they want to use their peonies for landscaping purposes and want to make sure the peonies' foliage is going to stick around as long as possible. (These plants would not be good for long lasting landscape foliage.) However, they would be great to pair with fall blooming plants that need room to grow and flower in the fall!


Peony 'Lemon Chiffon'
Dying Back Earlier Than Other Peony Varieties


Peonies with Early Dormancy Foliage
Ann Berry Cousins
Athena
Carina
Coral Charm
Coral Fay
Coral Sunset
Cytherea
Early Fernleaf
Early Scout
Flame
Grace Root
Great Lady
Henry Bockstoce
Lemon Chiffon
Ludovica
Lustrous
Many Happy Returns
Moonrise
Nosegay
Paladin
Rose Garland
Skylark
Sunshine

So if you have one of these peonies that starts to look brown in late summer, don't worry! It's okay. It is just going dormant a little earlier than the rest of its friends. It's just taking a rest and will be back to greet you again next spring!

Peony with Early Dormancy Foliage