2022 Happy Mother's Day with Peonies!!

Southern Peony Mother's Day Bouquet
Mother's Day! What better day to celebrate our Moms (and those of us that are Moms) than with a vase full of beautiful peonies? I can't imagine a better gift!! This year I have actually been cutting more peonies than I usually do. Most of the time, I want to keep them in my garden so I have something beautiful to look at when I walk around outside.


Southern Peony Mother's Day Bouquet
Peony 'Paul M. Wild' (top)
Peony 'Vivid Rose' (left)     Peony 'Douglas Brand' (right)
Peony 'Dinner Plate' (bottom)
This year I decided I need to cut any peonies that start to fall over (instead of staking them up). Wow, was that a great idea!! I have had bouquets for weeks in my office now, and the scent is just heavenly. The peonies perfume the whole room! Whenever I leave the room and come back to it, I can smell their sweet scent that just makes me want to float!


Southern Peony Mother's Day Bouquet
So of course today I had to surprise my Mom with a bouquet of beautiful peony posies, filled with love, grown by the person she grew. First I want to wish all of the Mothers out there a VERY HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! (as I know first hand how much work goes into being a Mom). I also hope that each of you takes time to remember your own Mom and give thanks for the magic and beauty of life on this very special day!


Happy Mother's Day! 💗

Southern Peony Mother's Day Bouquet & Card

2022 Planting Intersectional Peony 'Belle Toulousaine'

From my order of 2022 Spring Hill Nursery Sells 2 New Intersectionals - Peony 'Belle Toulousaine' & Peony 'Symphone Pourpre', one of the peonies arrived a couple of weeks ago, Peony 'Belle Toulousaine'. The other one did not come, as I got an out of stock notice for it, which was a bit disappointing, but I am grateful that one of them arrived at least (and from the photos, it looks like it might be the prettier one!)


Box from Spring Hill Nursery
with Intersectional Peony 'Belle Toulousaine'

Bagged Intersectional Peony 'Belle Toulousaine'
The plant was nicely boxed with breathing holes to prevent it from overheating. Inside the box, the plant was bagged, which surprised me, as the intersectional peonies that I've ordered from Spring Hill Nursery have usually been potted in previous years, 2019 Spring Hill Nursery Peony Order Arrives and 2020 Intersectional Peony 'Duchesse de Lorraine' Arrives from Spring Hill Nursery. However upon opening the bag, I could tell that this plant had recently been potted.


Unbagged Intersectional Peony 'Belle Toulousaine'

Intersectional Peony 'Belle Toulousaine' Roots and Stems
The roots were still in the shape of the pot it had been in. It looked as if this plant had been growing in a pot for quite some time, and it was removed from its pot and sealed in this bag just before shipping. I guess it saves them money on pots. Perhaps they will reuse them, which is fine with me, as I will just recycle the pot anyway. As long as the plant grows just as well, I suppose it doesn't matter. The bag also had some information about the peony printed on it:

BELLE TOULOUSAINE ITOH PEONY PP26908
Paeonia itoh 'rtpiv789-06

Light: Full sun to partial shade      Height: 36-40"
Depth: Crown 1-2" below soil line      Spacing: 4'

Intersectional Peony 'Belle Toulousaine' Bag Info

Planting Intersectional Peony 'Belle Toulousaine'
After I got it unbagged, I planted it right away. I dug a nice hole, added some organic flower fertilizer to the hole, and mixed it in. After I got the peony into the hole, I added part of the dirt around it. Then I added water to the planting hole. Adding water to the bottom of the hole will help the plant and roots retain some moisture deeper into the ground, which will help your new plant get a good start! Always remember to put water into the hole before you put all of the soil back!

Planting Intersectional Peony 'Belle Toulousaine'

Planting Intersectional Peony 'Belle Toulousaine'
Add Water to the Planting Hole
After the roots and surrounding dirt were thouroughly soaked, I added more dirt to the hole, then I added more water. Making sure to give your plant a good drink when it is first introduced to its new home is essential. As you can see on the first watering, the roots were still exposed, and on the second watering only the foliage was exposed. Then when I added the final layer of dirt, all of the peony was covered except the tip of one of the tiny foliage shoots (the other shoot was just barely under the dirt).


Planting Intersectional Peony 'Belle Toulousaine'
Add More Dirt to the Planting Hole

Planting Intersectional Peony 'Belle Toulousaine'
Add Even More Water to the Planting Hole

Planting Intersectional Peony 'Belle Toulousaine'
Add Even More Dirt to the Planting Hole
Now that my Intersectional Peony 'Belle Toulousaine' is fully planted, I can't wait to see how it grows (and blooms)!! It might still be a couple of years before I get a bloom on this one. It definitely won't bloom this year, and the plant may still be too small next year as well. The peony needs to reach a critical mass size to bloom. This can really depend on the peony variety (and it's growing conditions of course), but I'm sure it will be worth the wait! Come on, grow, grow! :-)


Planting Intersectional Peony 'Belle Toulousaine'

2022 Southern Peony Bloom Season

I must say this has been one of the weirdest bloom seasons I've seen in a while, and I am learning to be grateful for what and however Mother Nature decides to unfold herself...


2022 Southern Peony Bloom Season
Our early season hebaceous peonies and tree peonies experienced a late frost, which did abort several in process bloom buds, even large ones, which was quite dissappointing.

Although our drought levels here in my county are considered normal, No Drought, some counties directly to our east are in Abnormally Dry, Moderate Drought, and Severe Drought conditions. I would say that it does seem a bit drier here than usual this spring, which I feel like has decreased the number of above ground stems the peonies have decided to send up. This dryness has also however prevented almost all botrytyis blight - which is a good thing!


2022 Southern Peony Bloom Season
We've gotten a couple of heavy rains after extended dry periods, which seemed to spur a few peonies into sending up a late stem or two. On some of these late stems, we got some blooms that opened on plants long after all of their other buds were completely finished blooming.

The late freeze we experienced aborted many main buds on plants, leaving some side buds undamaged. The absence of the aborted main buds and subsequent development of these side buds really impacted the initial bloom dates of these peonies. The remaining side buds bloomed much later than the normal bloom date for these peonies, causing a mixup of bloom dates with peonies all around the spectrum. This main bud damage was noted in all 3 forms of peonies - tree peonies, herbaceous peonies, and intersectional peonies.


2022 Southern Peony Bloom Season
We've also experienced some interesting temperatures as well. The beginning of the season started out with mild/normal temperatures. The middle of the peony bloom season was very hot, a couple of weeks of 80 degree temperatures, which really shrivels blooms quickly! The end of the peony bloom season seems to be leveling out in temperatures again, back to the mild/normal pattern, with temperatures back in the 70s most days, which is gorgeous weather here for this time of year!!

This lowering of temperatures at the tail end of our peony season has really made it nice for the mainstay and late herbaceous peonies. I can't wait to continue to see how they unfold! I hope your peony bloom season is going well, no matter your location, and don't forget to stop and smell the peonies!