2018 Late Snow and Freezing Temps on Popped Peonies

You know that most recent Nor'easter? Well, it seems this one went more east than north. I guess this year will be another opportunity to see which early peonies' buds get blasted (like in 2015 Saunders Peony Varieties Frozen Bud Blast) by yet another round of extremely cold weather after weeks of above freezing temperatures. This was the scene last night as I arrived home after picking up my daughter - snow covering peonies that were already growing, some over a foot and a half high!
Southern Peonies Popped & Covered in Snow
After about another hour of heavy snow, the snow-covered sprouted peonies looked like this - leaning stems, sad looking and hung over by the loads of icy precipitation. Let's hope the damage is temporary. The snow should melt well tomorrow, but it looks like those stems and buds are going to have another challenge facing them. Now the weather forecast is calling for 4 out of the next 5 nights to have below freezing temperatures, with 3 of those nights in the 20s! Yikes!
Southern Peonies Covered in Snow with Hung Over Stems
Most of the intersectionals are not quite as high as some of the herbaceous peonies, but they have already started to pop up too. I'm hoping they will not be as affected as the early peonies, but I know from experience that a late freeze can definitely have an effect on them, 2016 Intersectional Peonies Suffered Frozen Bud Blast. Many of my intersectional peonies are much more mature this year, so if we do get a bud killing winter blast, I should be able to rate many more of them this year.
Southern Intersectional Peony Covered in Snow

2018 Southern Peony Ribbons Won at Last Year's 2017 APS Convention

While I actually won more ribbons last year at the 2017 APS Convention, I'm pretty sure I didn't do as well as my first time showing 2 years prior, 2015 American Peony Society Southern Peony Winners. I actually received more ribbons total in 2017 (25 ribbons), but the peony flowers themselves just weren't as good as they were in 2015 (18 ribbons). The flowers were smaller and the petals on several of the varieties were krinkled. My garden had a rough year last year, weather wise. Plus the APS flower show was 2 weeks later in May in 2017 than it was in 2015. That's 2 more weeks for my flowers to sit in the refrigerator (which is not a professional flower cooler). Aside from all of that, I actually won a Court of Honor ribbon in 2015, 2015 APS Southern Peony Court of Honor Winner - 'Keiko'. However none of my show flowers from 2017 seemed to be of that caliber. I was basically trying to get as many varieties into the show as I could for the public to see.

Peony 'Sonoma Amethyst' First Award	Peony 'Little Darlin'' Honorable Mention	Peony 'Julia Rose' First Award
Peony 'Yellow Emperor' First Award	Peony 'Cora Louise' First Award	Peony 'Cora Louise' Honorable Mention
Peony 'White Emperor' Honorable Mention	Peony 'Canary Brilliants' Second Award	Peony 'Canary Brilliants' Honorable Mention
Peony 'Bartzella' Third Award	Peony 'Takara' Second Award	Peony 'Keiko' Third Award
Peony 'Many Happy Returns' First Award	Peony 'Coral Charm' Honorable Mention	Peony 'Topeka Garnet' First Award
Peony 'Top Hat' First Award	Peony 'Angel Cheeks' First Award	Peony 'Topeka Garnet' Second Award
Peony 'Candy Stripe' Second Award	Peony 'Paul M. Wild' Honorable Mention	Peony 'Raspberry Clown' Third Award
Peony 'Raspberry Clown' Second Award	Peony 'Bowl of Cream' Third Award	Peony 'Festiva Maxima' Second Award

Also there are 24 flowers pictured here that were awarded some sort of ribbon. I won 25 ribbons, so apparently I missed photographing one more peony bloom entry. It was a 2nd place ribbon for another entry of Peony 'Many Happy Returns'. As for the counts on the ribbon types, in 2017 there were 8 First Place, 4 Second Place, 3 Third Place, and 6 Honorable Mentions. In 2015 I earned 4 First Place, 9 Second Place, 3 Third Place, and 2 Honorable Mentions. So they really gave out many more Honorable Mentions in 2017. I'm not sure when I'll have a chance to show flowers again. It looks like they may not have a convention within driving distance for me for several years...

Looking over the photos of all of the peonies I entered in 2017, Peony 'Yellow Emperor', Peony 'Canary Brilliants', Peony 'Many Happy Returns', Peony 'Top Hat', Peony 'Angel Cheeks', and Peony 'Bowl of Cream' are my favorites. There's just something about a nice, round, symmetrical peony you just can't beat. Which ones are your favorites?

2018 Top 5 Herbaceous Peonies by Stem Count

Southern Peony Top 5 Herbaceous by Stem Count
Now here we go to round out the rest of our Top 5 by stem count list, this time for herbaceous peonies. If you missed our 2018 Top 5 Intersectional Peonies by Stem Count article yesterday, you should definitely check that one out. So the herbaceous peonies have been growing much longer in my garden than my intersectionals, but the intersectionals have much higher stems counts. So while herbaceous peonies do grow here, intersectionals seem to grow much better! I only started my main intersectional peony garden bed in 2012, 2012 Intersectional Peony Garden Planting, but it has really taken off!

Back to the topic at hand, Top 5 Herbaceous Peonies by Stem Count... Just like I had a few caveats for my Intersectional Top 5 by Stem Count, I also have a few caveats for this list as well, but they are mostly to the credit of the peonies on this list. All of the herbaceous peonies on this list were started bareroot. These were not babied and grown in a pot. These were roots in a bag, in a box, through the mail, etc. And they have all grown into quite fine specimens.

Also two of these peonies have been divided before, and have now grown back in size to be in this Top 5 by Stem Count list. A section of my Peony 'Do Tell' was donated in the 2013 APS Peony Donation to JC Raulston Arboretum. Also a section of my Peony 'Coral Charm' was donated to the same arborteum in 2013 as well. So not only are these two peonies great at growing here in the South, they are also great plants that divide well and grow back to a large size in just a few years. Peony 'Coral Charm' seems to grow up from any pieces you've left in the ground (adventitious roots). So the more you chop this one up and divide it, the more plants pop up around it!

2018 Top 5 Intersectional Peonies by Stem Count

Herbaceous Peony	Stem Count	Year Acquired
Peony 'Coral Charm'	30	2008
Peony 'Do Tell'	21	2007
Peony 'Gilbert Barthelot'	21	2005
Peony 'Coral Fay'	20	2004
Peony 'Paul M. Wild'	20	2005

So what does all of this mean for you? Well, some of these are the oldest peonies in my garden, yes. So they've had a long time to grow to obtain this size. However 2 of them have been divided and have still been able to regrow enough to be in the Top 5, Peony 'Coral Charm' and Peony 'Do Tell'. Peony 'Coral Charm' and Peony 'Do Tell' are also Southern Peony Best Performers, 2015 Peony 'Coral Charm' Best Performer - Week 2 and 2012 Peony 'Do Tell' Best Performer - Week 4. If you want reliable herbaceous peonies, that will come back year after year for you in the South, these peonies are definitely it.