2017 Intersectional Peony Hybridizing Efforts

I meant to keep better records this year, I really did, but I didn't. Oh, well. I'm just lucky I got them in the ground! I know I had three types of intersectional peony crosses that were successful in producing seed this year: Peony 'Martha W.' X Tree Peony 'Angel Emily', Peony 'Martha W.' X Tree Peony 'Wisteria Reflections', and Peony 'Martha W.' X Nate Bremer's Rainbow (Tree Peony Pollen Mix). I wasn't able to get any seed from my Peony 'Lemon Chiffon' this year. It didn't have a good year for blooms. I can't remember if it was the cold or the rain, but Mother Nature got the blooms this year, and I wasn't able to hybridize with them. Hopefully better luck this coming spring...

Intersectional Peony Seed Harvest
I also can't remember how many of each seed I got/planted. I know the intersectional peony seed harvest count was much higher this year than last year. Last year I had 7 seeds with my first ever First Intersectional Peony Seeds!. This year, there were probably more than 30 seeds (20+ from Nate Bremer's Rainbow, 5+ from 'Angel Emily', and 5+ from 'Wisteria Reflections'). I harvested them at the end of July, but I didn't get them planted until about a month ago (late November). I think I waited a bit too long to plant them, as some of them had cracked open already. (Maybe those weren't the viable seeds anyway. Who knows???) The Tree Peony 'Wisteria Reflections' pollen and the Nate Bremer's Rainbow tree peony pollen were frozen from the 2016 APS Peony Convention Tour of Solaris Farms. The Tree Peony 'Angel Emily' pollen was fresh from my own tree peony that I've been growing since 2014. I'm guessing the turnout won't be great, but I still can't wait to see what comes up this spring. Maybe some of my 2016 intersectional seeds will sprout this year too! Happy New Year, everyone!
Intersectional Peony Seed Planting

2017 Southern Peony Flower Photos

Well, it's hard to believe that another year is drawing to a close. This year has been busier than I'd like, but still a good one for the most part. Hopefully most of you can say the same, and each of us can find something to be thankful for. Since I've not had much of a chance to make many updates here lately, I'm quite a bit behind on my yearly goal of getting out a new photo each month, so 12 per year. You may have noticed that I've put a couple out in the last few days. I'm still trying to meet my 12 photo goal, so you will likely continue to see a flurry of photos in these last few days of the year. You might have seen Peony 'Misaka', Peony 'Yellow Emperor', and Peony 'Sweet May' go up in the last week. Keep your eyes open, there will be a few more coming before year end! You can find these and the rest of our peony photos on our Photos Page. I hope you all enjoy. :-)
Peony 'Misaka' 美 (Beautiful Blossom)
Smith Opus 1


Peony 'Yellow Emperor'


Peony 'Sweet May'