2020 Peony Damage from Severe Thunderstorms During Level 3 Storm Threat

Intersectional Peony 'Bartzella' Damage from Severe Thunderstorms
I had several peonies that were damaged by severe thunderstorms yesterday. These two Intersectional Peony 'Bartzella' and Tree Peony 'Renown' were the worst. Intersectional Peony 'Bartzella' has been growing there for a while and has never been "knocked over" before. However this storm really did bring lots of strong wind (and rain and lightning). Tree Peony 'Renown' is actually a fairly new peony. It was planted in late 2018. So this is only its second growing season. I don't think anyone's stems were snapped completely off, but both of these looked like someone had stepped on the branches. Both of these peonies' stems were bent over from the base.


Tree Peony 'Renown' Damage from Severe Thunderstorms

Intersectional Peony 'Bartzella' Staked Up
So as you can see, I staked them up right away with a short 2 foot bamboo stake and some twine. Neither one of these peonies has had a chance to bloom yet this year. My early intersectional peonies have started blooming, but Intersectional Peony 'Bartzella' has not yet come into bloom. Tree Peony 'Renown' actually has 3 buds on it this year! It must really like its location, as it is growing foliage and blooms at an astounding rate. Last year it didn't have any buds or blooms on it! This year it has 3 big fat buds waiting to burst!! :-)


Tree Peony 'Renown' Staked Up

2019 Severe Thunderstorms Damage to Peonies

Peony Damaged During Severe Thunderstorms
Luckily there wasn't much damage to the peonies here in the severe thunderstorm we had this weekend. I guess you could say we got off lucky. Two of our neighbors had large pine trees come down. One of them crashed through a standalone garage and really busted it up. Luckily no one was hurt. The worst we had here were some small sticks and dead branches that fell, nothing major. This is really the only damage to a peony that I found, and I'm sure that this peony will be fine. The peony stem was not broken, only smashed to the ground. So really all we needed to do was some minor cleanup, pick up an overturned potted tree, blow off the deck and driveway, and pick up lots of sticks!


Tree Peony 'Angel Choir'

Tree Peony 'Angel Choir'
Also it was nice to see this beautiful peony bloom after the storm was over. This is the first time this peony has bloomed for me. I planted it in 2017, as a fairly small division. I'm glad the "Angel" came out to sing after the storm. :-) I can't wait to see how this peony will look as it matures. It was my favorite peony in bloom when we toured Kris Casey's garden during the 2016 American Peony Society Convention. It looks like I never wrote an article about that garden tour. Perhaps I'll get back to it one day! You can tell from this photo how beautiful the plant looks when mature, with nice foliage cover, the blooms held high above the bush, and covered in huge, gorgeous white blooms!


Me with Tree Peony 'Angel Choir'

2018 Southern Peony Affected by Hurricane Florence

Southern Peony Affected by Hurricane Florence
We've all been hunkered down for the past few days hoping Hurricane Florence will pass us by with as little damage as possible. Even before that we've been prepping for a week or more, buying supplies, washing and drying as much as possible, preparing coolers, freezing bottled water, bringing in everything we could from outside. I would say we've been lucky. Today my little boy and I took a walk outside to survey for damage. We found one tree top down in our back yard. (It honestly looks like a small tree down, which is what I thought it was when I first saw it.) The tree top is right on top of the very first peony garden I planted here. Luckily this was the only damage we found, and it shouldn't be too hard to clean up. Also lucky it is the tree top from a sweet gum ball tree, my least favorite tree of all because of the spiky sweet gum balls it drops every fall/winter.


Tree Branches Smash Peony Garden

Tree Branches Cover Peony Garden
Now I feel a bit ancy to get out there and start cleaning it up. It looks like it knocked a small obelisk I have a little sideways, and I'm worried about what peony flowers it might have damaged as well. There are branches everywhere in that garden, and I want to get them picked up so they're not smashing any peony growth buds for next year. It's not over yet. More rain is coming. We still have a flash flood watch until 8pm tonight. Our power has been off once, but luckily it's been restored. Let's hope the soggy ground doesn't take down any more trees. However in the scheme of things, I'm sure this is really, really small. The damage that is still to come in the days and weeks ahead from flooding all across our state is sure to be devastating. I can only hope that we will overcome all of this together. The sun will shine again.


Sweet Gum Tree Branches Cover Peony Garden

Green Sweet Gum Balls Hand from Fallen Tree Top

2018 Straight Line Winds Flatten Tree Peony 'Koukamon' 皇嘉門 (Floral Gate)

Tree Peony 'Koukamon' 皇嘉門 (Floral Gate) Flattened
Wow! We had a doozy of a storm last night. It definitely could have been much worse. There were tornadoes maybe an hour west of here. The worst damage I found in my garden was that my Tree Peony 'Koukamon' 皇嘉門 (Floral Gate) had been flattened. When I first saw it from afar, I was really worried that it had snapped off, but it didn't! That was really lucky. It was laying pretty much flat on the ground. Somehow it just bent over without breaking. The weight of the water in the flower combined with the straight line winds was just too much for it.
Tree Peony 'Koukamon' 皇嘉門 (Floral Gate) Righted
I was able to right it, and stake it up with a bamboo stake and some twine. I think it will be okay, but we'll see. I can't wait to see the bloom open on this tree peony. Having just saved it seems to make it all the more special. This will be the first time this tree peony has bloomed for me. I planted it in 2017, and it seems to be happy and growing well. This particular plant also appears to be the correct variety, which several of my tree peonies are not. I will try to publish a post on that later about peonies and which ones have been true to name. This Tree Peony 'Koukamon' has a dark purple maroon color bud on it right now. I expect it will open fully tomorrow. I can't wait!
Tree Peony 'Koukamon' 皇嘉門 (Floral Gate) Bloom