2016 Planting First Intersectional Peony Seeds

First Intersectional Peony Seeds from
Peony 'Lemon Chiffon' and Peony 'Martha W.'
I have been mulling over where and how to plant these seeds. I am sure I am putting way too much thought into this. I'm also sure that Mother Nature would likely take much better care of these tiny seeds than I could or would have the time to. So I definitely want to plant them outside somewhere, just where is the question. I have been considering planting them with mulch, without mulch, or maybe even in a peat pot planted in the ground to try to protect it from bugs and critters. I am leaning toward the latter, and even have a few peat pots sitting in my Amazon shopping cart waiting to be checked out.
First Intersectional Peony Seeds Planted in Peat Pots
I did end up ordering the peat pots from Amazon, deciding that I'd try a mix of Mother Nature with (hopefully) a little extra protection from the peat pots. There were 7 seeds total from my 2016 First Intersectional Peony Seeds! harvest this year. There were 2 seeds from Peony 'Lemon Chiffon' and 5 seeds from Peony 'Martha W.' So I got them all lined out and planted. I filled the peat pots with composted cow manure and a bit of soil. I dug a small trench and sunk all 7 peat pots into the ground. Then I pressed one seed into each pot with my finger, and I sprinkled a half a teaspoon of Eco Scraps Organic Fresh Start Plant Food over each peat pot. This fertilizer's N-P-K ratio is 2-14-0 and it designed for "optimum root growth". I'm hoping that this fertilizer will help these baby peony seedlings grow strong roots whenever they sprout!
Eco Scraps Fresh Start Organic Plant Food
and Peony Seeds in Peat Pots

After I sprinkled a little bit of the fertilizer over each peat pot, I firmed the soil up, around, and over the pots. Then I pushed a bit of mulch over the soil covered pots. Lastly I watered them in a bit to make sure they are moist. This particular spot near my house usually is pretty moist already. So hopefully I won't have water them very much. I may pull a bit of the mulch back in the spring just in case there is too much mulch cover. I can't wait to see how many of these will sprout in the spring! The outer casing of one of the Martha W. seeds had already cracked open. I'm not sure if that one will sprout. I put it at the top of the row so I can keep track of it and find out later whether it actually sprouts. We'll see!
Peat Pot with Peony Seed, Compost, Soil, and Plant Food