2015 Tree Peony Moon Garden Progress

Of all the tree peonies in my tree peony garden, only one of them has a bud on it! It is also a peony that has never bloomed for me before. It is Peony 'Kamata-fuji', and I am excited to see its blossom. Last year two of them bloomed, Peony 'Fragrant Jade' with one flower and Peony 'Li Yuan Chun' with three flowers. Neither of those two tree peonies has a bud this year. I guess they spent quite a bit of their energy on those blooms last year, and are spending this year spreading their roots, and getting used to their new home. I hope next year I'll have more blooms on my tree peonies.

Chinese Tree Peonies from Ali Express	Peony 'Black Lotus'

Also as you can see in the first picture, of the 8 original Chinese Tree Peonies from Ali Express, only 3 of them are still living. However the three that are still alive are growing larger and increasing in size. So this seems like a good sign for their future survival. Peony 'Black Lotus' is growing taller.

Herbaceous Root Stock of Peony 'Fragrant Jade'	Peony 'High Noon'

Unfortunately it looks like Peony 'Fragrant Jade' has died, at least the top tree peony portion of the plant. It looks like the bottom herbaceous root that was grafted onto the tree peony stem is still living and has now sprouted. Perhaps I didn't plant this one deep enough? Peony 'High Noon' is still living and is a little larger than it was last year, but not much. Perhaps I'll put a little Black Kow composted around it to encourage its growth.


Dead Peony 'Kamata-nishiki'
Peony 'Kamata-nishiki' appears to be dead, both the top tree peony portion and the bottom herbaceous graft. I'm not sure why this one didn't make it. We did have a very cold winter, and this one did have some competition last year - some herbaceous peonies that I didn't get around to moving until last fall. The only thing left is a small violet growing in its place.


Peony 'Kamata-fuji' with Bud
Peony 'Kamata-fuji' is the only tree peony with a bud on it in my garden this year. So it will definitely be the star! Also this tree peony is supposed to have lavender purple flowers on it, and that is my favorite color. So this bloom is especially exciting!


P. Rockii
This P. rockii plant came from Ebay, and I am quite disappointed in it. I'm not sure if the seller just decided to sell of one of his most diseased plants or if this peony is just not adapting well to my climate. I am not happy with my Ebay peony purchases right now. I will tell you all more about that later...


P. Rockii Foliage
As you can see from the second P. rockii picture, the close up view of the foliage is very sad. I have a couple other P. rockii plants, and their foliage doesn't look this bad, especially this early in the season. I also have lots of P. rockii seedlings whose foliage is awesome compared to this one. If I ever get a bloom on this one, and they aren't spectacular, this tree peony may be headed for the trash bin!

Peony 'Li Yuan Chun'	Peony 'Kinkaku'

Peony 'Li Yuan Chun' is growing much larger this year. When I received it, I was tempted to divide it into two plants since it was so large, and it seemed to have a natural place to divide it. However considering my inexperience with tree peonies, and the fact that a few of them didn't make it through this past winter, I'm glad I didn't divide it. Since it had three blooms on it last year, I'm hopeful to see several of them next year since the plant seems to be growing well. Peony 'Kinkaku' is also growing much larger this year.


Peony 'Tria'
Peony 'Tria' is growing a tiny bit this year, but not much. This tree peony is at the back of the tree peony moon garden. So it receives a bit more shade than the rest of the other tree peonies. Perhaps I will add a little Black Kow compost to this one as well to try to give it a boost.