2010 APS Peony Seed Planting

I actually got all of my seeds planted that I purchased at the American Peony Society Convention this June. Usually the seeds I plant are from peony cultivars. I don't usually buy seeds, but this year I purchased several varieties of species peony seeds. I made plant labels for each seed type. I decided to plant them in a grid instead of rows, which is how I usually plant my seeds. I ordered them alphabetically in the grid in case the plant label is lost (hopefully not). These are the varieties that I planted: P. brownii, P. caucasica, P. mascula, P. mlokosewitschii, P. ostii, P. peregrine, P. rockii, P. tenuifolia, and P. veitchii. I don't currently have any of these except P. tenuifolia, which hasn't bloomed for me yet. So I am curious to see how these different species peonies will grow here in my southern climate.

2010 Fall Peony Planting

Today was a beautiful fall day. It went from burning hot summer to nice fall weather in one week. It will probably be winter next week! So it goes. I was actually able to plant my peonies today in the nice fall weather. I like to use Espoma Organic fertilizer and lime in my planting holes. The soil here is generally a bit acidic. So I add the lime to try to balance the PH of the soil. I am excited about the peonies I planted today. I'm not sure if any of them will bloom next spring, but the varieties are all ones I've had my eye on for quite some time. I didn't get any award winners this year, but I did get some nice varieties that have unique characteristics. Peony 'Rose Heart' is supposed to have a darker pink center. I am curious to see how that one will bloom here. Peony 'Goldilocks' is supposed to be a yellow herbaceous and Peony 'Etched Salmon' is supposed to be a salmon, which are not very common colors. I also planted Peony 'Pink Derby', which was awesome as a cut flower when on display at the APS convention this year, and Peony 'Athena', which is a replacement because the first one I had died out. I am hoping Peony 'Athena' will survive and thrive this time. Only time will tell...

2010 Live Plants - Peonies!

Wow! Guess what I got in the mail today. Live Plants! The order from one of the vendors came really fast. I guess I'll be planting peonies this weekend. I'm so excited. I can't believe how quickly the first order arrived. I just placed the order 2 weeks ago! I was able to get some fresh top soil put out to expand the peony seedling bed today. So I'll be planting seeds from the APS convention soon. Now I need to finish creating the garden labels for the plants. I just printed the labels for the peony variety names. Next I'll need to print labels for the seedlings. It is still raining here. Hopefully it will let up soon in time to plant peonies and peony seeds this weekend.

2010 Peonies in the Rain

Wow! It's raining. September was shaping up to be the driest on record because we'd had little to no rain all month. I think the official measurement is 0.13 inches for the month. It looks like we've had 0.80 inches so far today, and it's still raining. I hope this helps the peonies. I don't really know what this drought is going to do to next year's blooms. Next spring the bud and stem counts are likely to be lower than they would have been. I was also hoping to plant peony seeds, but have delayed that since it has been so dry. Maybe now we'll be getting a steady supply of rain, and the seeds would actually sprout instead of dry up!

2010 Fall Peony Orders

It's that time again, and I've waited a bit late this year. I'm sure I've missed some choice selections from some vendors. So I'm putting in my fall peony orders today. Here's a sampling of some of the varieties I'm ordering this year. I'm replacing Peony 'Athena' since the first one I had died out after a couple years. I'm going to pay a little closer attention to this one to see how well it grows in our climate. Peony 'Goldilocks' and Peony 'Etched Salmon' are both new to me and have both been on my 'Want' list for a while now. Peony 'Pink Derby' is also new to me. This one, though, I saw for the first time this year at the 2010 American Peony Society Convention in Janesville, Wisconsin. It was entered in several of the competitions, and it was just such an eye catching variety. I just had to have it! I'm also ordering a couple peonies for my Saunders' peony garden. I have a collection of peonies from Professor A. P. Saunders. I guess I'm partial to his hybrids.