2020 Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' Dies of Root Rot?

Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory'
Most of you probably know that 2020 Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' Dies!!. You probably also know that I've ordered a replacement as well, 2020 Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' from Hirt's Gardens on Ebay. So the next thing to do was to dig up the dead one to see what happened to it. As you can see there wasn't much left of the peony when I dug it out of the ground this week. It was actually quite disappointing. Judging by the barely attached limp shell of a root, it seems this peony suffered from some kind of root rot.


Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' Before Digging
I know that I've had peonies to rot over the winter that are brand new roots and never get established, but this is the first time I've had an established 6 year old peony plant die from root rot. We did have record-breaking rainfall in 2018. So I'm not sure if that could have caused it, being 2 years ago, but maybe it could have started then and finished it off now? Who knows...


Digging Up Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory'
As you can see I started digging far away from the plant, but finding nothing, had to go to the center. I couldn't find much anything of substance or weight to dig. There was really nothing left but a few chunks of the crown, with not much root to speak of at all. Really the above ground stems left from previous years attached by a small bit of crown was really all that was left. I was kind of hoping to find a bit more. I took the three chunks I could find and washed them off on a some cement with the garden hose. Whatever it was that go it, got it good.


Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' Crown Chunks
This makes me think about sanitation a bit more for sure. I wonder if it could have been caused by conditions and or fungal infection from the original grower. I don't currently soak any of my peony roots in a bleach solution, but this makes me wonder if I should. I also wonder if it could be something in the native soil that just multiplied with our extensive rain in 2018. Regardless there's most likely something in the soil now. So I think my next project for that area will be solarization to help sanitize the area just in case. I actually did my first solarization project to create this intersectional peony bed originally back in 2012 Intersectional Peony Bed Preparation, and I was happy with the results. Now it's time for a refresh!


Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory' What's Left