2020 Peony Experiments - Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' Blooms on Old Overwintered Woody Stems

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 3/14
I know I posted one article on this topic back in 2011 Peony Experiments - Intersectional Blooms, and I thought this year would be a good year for an update. Nowadays I regularly leave the woody stems on my intersectional peonies through the winter, especially if they have big fat buds on them. Some stems will survive the winter and some won't. In my opinion if there's any chance the stem might bloom the next year, it is worth it to leave the stems in place over the winter. This Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) aka 'Pink Double Dandy' had a couple of tall woody stems that were growing last month from the tips. So I decided to follow their growth to show the actual blooms on those woody stems.


Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 3/14
As you can see both of these growth terminals at the tops of these woody stems were both productive, producing large, fat buds and then beautiful pink blooms. Not only did each of them produce bright pink blooms, but one of the stems produced 3 blooms on one stem! So if there's any doubt in your mind that leaving stems on intersectional peonies over winter might be a worthwhile endeavor (especially in Southern climates), there you have it! It is no surprise to me, as I have seen this happen so many times over the years. I am also not surprised that Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) is capable of such a feat, as it is a Southern Peony Best Performer, 2015 Peony 'Keiko' (Adored) Best Performer - Week 4.


Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 3/26

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 3/27

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 3/27

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 4/3

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 4/3

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 4/3

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 4/8

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 4/8

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 4/8

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 4/8

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 4/8

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 4/8

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 4/10

2020 Intersectional Peony 'Strawberry Crème Brûlée' Red Spring Foliage

Intersectional Peony 'Strawberry Crème Brûlée'
Red Spring Foliage
I was enamored to see this gorgeous red spring foliage on my Intersectional Peony 'Strawberry Crème Brûlée' this year. Even though the plant is not large enough to entertain me with its blooms, it is definitely entertaining me with the foliage! I remember seeing a difference between the foliage of this one and the other small potted intersectional peonies I purchased at the same time when 2019 Spring Hill Nursery Peony Order Arrives. Having such unique foliage seems promising for this peony to be true to name. I can't wait to see what these 'Strawberry Crème Brûlée' blooms look like when this intersectional peony does grow large enough to flower! :-)


Intersectional Peony 'Strawberry Crème Brûlée' Sign

2020 Intersectional Peony Blooms Week 3 Early Mid

It's interesting to me that the first intersectionals to bloom are not yellow. Especially since the yellow intersectionals were the first ones invented (in Japan by a man named Itoh of course). I guess the yellow parent must be later blooming than these other colorful intersectional parents. The intersectional peony bloom season started off this year with Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma Amethyst', 2020 First Intersectional Peony Bloom of the Season, Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma Amethyst', followed a couple days later by Intersectional Peony 'Watermelon Wine' & Intersectional Peony 'First Arrival'.


Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma Amethyst'

Intersectional Peony 'Watermelon Wine'

Intersectional Peony 'First Arrival'

2020 Potted Up Intersectional Peony Roots for Fall Planting

Potted Up Intersectional Peony Roots for Fall Planting
Well, since my last Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' died of root rot, I decided that I would pot up the recent peony roots I've purchased, 2020 Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' from Hirt's Gardens on Ebay, 2020 Ordering Peonies on Etsy from ExoticseedsLatvia. I plan to plant these intersectional peony roots out in the fall. I'm hoping that will give me some time to fix the soil where the old Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' was planted and give these peonies a chance at surviving (and hopefully thriving) during their first Southern summer!


Potted Up Intersectional Peony Roots for Fall Planting
I'd already had these peony roots soaking for a day or two to try to regain any lost moisture during shipment. So I found some pots that were laying around to pot them up in. The two roots from Etsy/ExoticseedsLatvia were larger than the root from Ebay/Hirt's Gardens. So I put the Etsy/ExoticseedsLatvia root in the two larger purple pots, and I put the smaller Ebay/Hirt's Gardens root in the smaller 3.5" pot. It looks like that one came out of the same size pot any way since its roots were a little bent/square. It should be able to survive another couple seasons there.


Potted Up Intersectional Peony Roots for Fall Planting
I mixed some bagged top soil with the peat that came with these roots to create the soil for the pots. I also made sure to put some pot saucer trays underneath each of them to make sure they don't get too dry. I usually water things with rain from my rain barrel, which I keep mosquito dunks in. So the water from those rain barrels will keep the mosquitos from multiplying in the trays. So these should be good to go until fall! :-)


Potted Up Intersectional Peony Roots for Fall Planting

2020 Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' Dies of Root Rot?

Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory'
Most of you probably know that 2020 Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' Dies!!. You probably also know that I've ordered a replacement as well, 2020 Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' from Hirt's Gardens on Ebay. So the next thing to do was to dig up the dead one to see what happened to it. As you can see there wasn't much left of the peony when I dug it out of the ground this week. It was actually quite disappointing. Judging by the barely attached limp shell of a root, it seems this peony suffered from some kind of root rot.


Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' Before Digging
I know that I've had peonies to rot over the winter that are brand new roots and never get established, but this is the first time I've had an established 6 year old peony plant die from root rot. We did have record-breaking rainfall in 2018. So I'm not sure if that could have caused it, being 2 years ago, but maybe it could have started then and finished it off now? Who knows...


Digging Up Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory'
As you can see I started digging far away from the plant, but finding nothing, had to go to the center. I couldn't find much anything of substance or weight to dig. There was really nothing left but a few chunks of the crown, with not much root to speak of at all. Really the above ground stems left from previous years attached by a small bit of crown was really all that was left. I was kind of hoping to find a bit more. I took the three chunks I could find and washed them off on a some cement with the garden hose. Whatever it was that go it, got it good.


Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' Crown Chunks
This makes me think about sanitation a bit more for sure. I wonder if it could have been caused by conditions and or fungal infection from the original grower. I don't currently soak any of my peony roots in a bleach solution, but this makes me wonder if I should. I also wonder if it could be something in the native soil that just multiplied with our extensive rain in 2018. Regardless there's most likely something in the soil now. So I think my next project for that area will be solarization to help sanitize the area just in case. I actually did my first solarization project to create this intersectional peony bed originally back in 2012 Intersectional Peony Bed Preparation, and I was happy with the results. Now it's time for a refresh!


Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' What's Left

2020 First Intersectional Peony Bloom of the Season, Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma Amethyst'

Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma Amethyst'
It is always exciting to me when the first peony of the season opens 2020 First Tree Peony Blooms of the Year!, but it is even more exciting when the first intersectional peony bloom opens in the season. Intersectional Peonies have quickly found their way into my heart for sure. I think they may be my favorite type of peonies (at least at this time anyway)! The first one opened in my garden yesterday - Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma Amethyst', with a definite hint of lavender/purple - my favorite color! These peonies are especially great in Southern gardens, and there are several on our Southern Peony Best Performers list, including this one 2016 Peony 'Sonoma Amethyst' Best Performer - Week 4. If you don't yet own an intersectional peony, I definitely recommend trying one in your own garden. You'll quickly fall in love! :-)


Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma Amethyst'

2020 Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' from Hirt's Gardens on Ebay

Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' from Hirt's Gardens on Ebay
Well, my first Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' came from Tree Peony Garden in 2013, a nursery that used to grow tree peonies and is now closed for business. As you know this peony died this past winter, 2020 Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' Dies!! I just couldn't wait to replace it. So I decided to purchase it from Hirt's Gardens on Ebay, as I have had pretty good luck with Hirt's Gardens in the past.


Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' from Hirt's Gardens on Ebay
I kept this box in isolation for 3 days before opening it as well, just like when 2020 Ordering Peonies on Etsy from ExoticseedsLatvia, and this peony root too seems to be just fine, healthy, plump, with five obvious eyes on it ready to grow. This plant definitely appears to be a tissue culture plant, as it is small, with no obvious signs of division, which actually makes me feel a lot better about its potential authenticity. They even sent a nice little garden tag for it, with "Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory'" and a photo of the flower on it. Nice!


Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' from Hirt's Gardens on Ebay
For now I am just soaking this root, to help rehydrate any moisture it has lost. Next I will find a good spot to plant it - likely the same spot the old one was in - which means I'll probably be doing an autopsy on that old Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' (to the best of my abilities) to see if there is any visual evidence of what might have caused its demise. (Stay tuned for an upcoming article on that.) Then I'll fix the soil, add some lime and organic fertilizer and get it planted out. :-)


Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' from Hirt's Gardens on Ebay

2020 Ordering Peonies on Etsy from ExoticseedsLatvia

Itoh Peony 'Jazz' on Etsy
Yes, it's a little odd, but I just had to try it out. There was an ad on Etsy for an Intersectional Peony that I didn't have, "Itoh Peony 'JAZZ'. I'd never bought a peony on Etsy before, so I just couldn't resist. I also bought 5 daylilies from another seller on there while I was at it, but that's a different story... Anyway I placed this order on March 6, and it actually arrived at the end of last week. I've been isolating my packages and mail for 3 days before I open them (due to coronavirus COVID-19).


Latvijas PASTS Box from Etsy
The box came with "Latvijas PASTS" tape all over it, which I at first thought was the company name, but Google helped me confirm that this is actually the name of the Latvian Post Office. I don't think I've ever gotten anything from Latvia before. Anyway I finally opened this box on Sunday, and I actually found two roots inside the box, "Peony Root 'Jazz'" and "Peony Root Yellow". They both appear to be quite healthy and ready to grow (definitely not dried up/dehydrated). So they did appear to make the international trip just fine.


Itoh Peony 'Jazz' & Peony Yellow Gift
from ExoticseedsLatvia on Etsy
I am curious to see if these peony roots or authentic or not. They do not appear to be cloned tissue culture plants. They definitely seem to be divisions, albeit small ones. The Peony 'Jazz' root has 3 small eyes, and the yellow peony gift just has one. However they both have about the same amount of root (just a small one). I'm just hoping they're both not a very unattractive yellow Itoh peony like a dishonest seller on Ebay was sending a few years ago. Only time will tell, at least the truth will be revealed here. :-)


Itoh Peony 'Jazz' from Etsy

Itoh Peony 'Jazz' from Etsy

Peony Yellow Gift from Etsy

Peony Yellow Gift from Etsy

2020 Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' Dies!!

I guess it must have been a rough winter this year. I can't say I remember it being that bad. Mostly likely it was a rather mild winter, with a sudden drop in the overnight low temperature. I don't remember anything too drastic, but I'm guessing there must have been a sizeable temperature differential. As I'm watching things come back to life this spring (or not come back to life), I've noticed that I've lost 2 blueberry bushes that I've had for years, a small dogwood tree, and that my 3 other larger dogwood trees were killed back by about half! This is all very surprising.


Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' Dies!
I guess the biggest surprise of all is the big blank spot in my intersectional peony garden where Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' used to grow. I must say I've never had an intersectional peony die before, and I've been growing intersectional peonies for 13 years now! I've been growing this Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' since 2013 - so 7 years now. Luckily that is the only plant that was killed. I guess I will have to order a replacement for Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory'.


Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' Dies!

Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' Dies!
However it was not the only plant that was affected. The Intersectional Peony 'Cora Louise' which I've had since 2008 - so 12 years - was also damaged. It was a huge plant last year, and now this year it only has 2 very short, one leaved shoots on it. I really do hope it can recover. I have also noticed several other peonies with blasted buds on them or no buds at all. I'm not sure whether that is due to this same winter kill freeze or some spring frost damage. Boy, Mother Nature sure can be cruel sometimes. I guess as they say, only the strong survive.


Intersectional Peony 'Cora Louise' Damaged
As you can see this Intersectional Peony 'Cora Louise' has been loaded with stems in the past. Now it sadly has just 2 very tiny foliage shoots. Those shoots are very immature and will not grow large enough to support a flower. I suppose I should just be grateful that this one is still alive! I guess this is a lesson to me to check my peonies for exposed roots in the fall that may be in need of some additional soil covering and to check for winter heaving during the winter to make sure that roots and crowns are protected. I've never seen quite this kind of winter devastation before for my peonies.


Intersectional Peony 'Cora Louise' Damaged
If a peony dies here, it is usually from lack of liking their growing conditions in the warmer months - not enough sun (bad planting location, location became shady), not enough water (too dry in summer). I have also seen a new peony rot overwinter from too much water (soggy soil & lots of rain during winter), that kind of thing. I have never seen winter freeze death and/or damage to an established peony, especially an intersectional. Also those reason for dying are usually affecting herbaceous peonies. Intersectional peonies are usually much more impervious to those kinds of things. I guess this winter kill for these intersectional peonies points to their tree peony qualities and heritage, since I know that tree peonies can have those issues during winter.

2020 Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' Grows Intersectional Foliage

Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' 3/22
Well, I am excited to report that I finally have intersectional peony foliage on my Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious'. I purchased this Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' from K. Van Bourgondien this time, 2020 Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' Arrives from K. Van Bourgondien. Unlike the first time I tried to purchase it from Tulip World, when I actually got herbaceous peony foliage, 2018 Tulip World Offers Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' for $12.95! You can see how this peony foliage is already showing hints of the intersectional peony foliage in the first photo with the pointy cut leaf edges already starting to poke out.


Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' 3/30
I have both the Tulip World (fake/herbaceous) peony and the K. Van Bourgondien (presumably correct intersectional) peony planted side by side now, and it looks like the herbaceous peony (fake 'Scrumdidleyumptious') may actually bloom this year. I will have to post a picture of the flower if/when it does bloom this year. The price on these two was a bit different - $12.95 vs. $35.00, which goes along with the saying, you get what you pay for! I am just relieved to have intersectional peony foliage this time. It makes me feel a lot better on the accuracy of this Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' identity. Now just to wait to see it bloom!!! :-)


Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' 4/1