Today I planted the
P. Rockii Peony Plant that Arrived last week in the mail from Edelweiss Perennials. I decided to keep in in the pot for a short while to make sure it had plenty of water this week, and it looks like it helped it a lot. The leaves are no longer wilted looking, and it seems like it even grew a bit. I guess I planted it in the correct place as well. I planted it where it will receive some afternoon shade. From what I just read, it seems that the P. rockii tree peonies generally go into early dormancy in places that have hot, dry summers. It sounds like this guy is in for a challenge in this southern climate. Luckily I planted it in a location that will give the plant a bit of relief from our long and hot summers here.
P. rockii Peony Planted
I also got the P. ludlowii peony plant I ordered from Ebay planted today as well. This one looks like a nice plant except it looks like it already has botrytis blight on its stems. This worries me since the seller of this plant calls it a P. delavayi var. lutea ludlowii. The other P. delavayi plant I have with red flowers on it has not done very well here and is always diseased. I hope this yellow P. delavayi variety does not have the same poor performance here. We shall see...
P. ludlowii Peony Planted
One of the reasons I prefer to have them in pots the first year is so they can be planted into the soil horizontally/ diagonally without hurting the root ball. I make sure most of the woody stems are covered with soil.
ReplyDeleteThis allows more stems to emerge from the ground which will in turn root out, making a much more stable plant that doesn't rely on the nurse root sooner.
Those look like they should be OK. if they can't handle the heat down there, you could always put buckets of water around them to cool them down for the first summer.
Steve,
ReplyDeleteThe buckets of water are an interesting idea. I've never heard doing that before. However I guess you could say I've not done much research into getting plants acclimated. My garden is usually kind of a "do or die" kind of place, and I have had some die!
I also like the idea of allowing the tree peonies to grow more branches. That sounds like a great idea too. If you check out my Inventory page, you'll see I don't really have that many tree peonies. I do grow hundreds of peony varieties, but most of them (over 99%) are herbaceous and intersectional peonies. So I don't have much experience growing tree peonies, yet! (I may be getting some soon if some of those Chinese tree peony seeds I planted decide to sprout!!!) :-)
Adriana
Has this P. Rockii have any flower? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteBin,
DeleteActually, I'm sad to report that this peony just died this past winter. We did have quite a cold night this January 2018, it went down to 4 degrees Fahrenheit on the 7th. I'm guessing that must be why it didn't come back this spring. It was growing and increasing each year (very, very slowly, though), and I thought this peony is never going to flower, and it never did. Unfortunately it died before it ever flowered.
So actually I don't recommend buying any species peonies as plants. I would recommend growing them from seed. I would purchase a large packet of seeds, and grow them out. Then you can select the best and most vigorous of the bunch (and most adaptable to your climate) to grow in your garden.
Adriana
Thanks, What a pity.
DeleteBin,
DeleteYes, I know. :( I would have loved to see it flower.
Adriana