2011 Peony Fall Foliage Colors

The fall colors on the peonies this year are amazing! We've had a bit of a late fall, and the foliage has lasted a little longer than usual this year. Several varieties have long since gone dormant for the year, but there are so many more that are still going and keeping me entertained with their colors this season. From golden bronzes, to brilliant reds, and bright green to lime green, the peonies seem to have all the beautiful colors of fall. Here's a small sampling of the beauty of peonies in the fall...

Peony 'Sequestered Sunshine'	Peony 'Morning Lilac'
Peony 'Seashell'	Peony 'Queen of the Dawn'

2011 Fall Peony Bloom

What to my wondering eyes did appear, but a golden bloom on an intersectional peony! In November! Wow, that's definitely a first for me. I had noticed that this particular intersectional peony (Peony 'Yellow Crown') would send out new foliage in late summer for the past couple years, but this year it sent out new foliage and a bloom! Could this be just one of nature's flukes or perhaps the future of a new line of reblooming peonies? This is really exciting. Here's a picture from the plant today, November 8th. I will have to monitor this plant to see what happens with it next year! As you can see below, Peony 'Bartzella' (planted on the left) is nearing the end of its season, and its foliage is starting to look a bit ratty. However the foliage on Peony 'Yellow Crown' (planted on the right) looks brand new because this is its second set of foliage for the season. Its first set of foliage for the year has already died back. More pics to come...Peony 'Yellow Crown'
Peony 'Bartzella' & Peony 'Yellow Crown'

2011 Peony Kincaid Garden Markers and Labels

I planted my peonies a week ago, although I realized I had run out of plant markers for them. For the last few years I have been using Kincaid Gardens 100% Stainless Steel Plant Markers, and they have been awesome. They don't rust, are very sturdy, and definitely last longer than any other plant markers I've tried. So last week I put temporary labels on the new peony plantings, and today I'm replacing them with the Kincaid Gardens plant markers that I just received in the mail this week. They are definitely more expensive than other plant markers, but they also last! Here's a link to their site if you're interested... Kincaid Gardens I also use Brother P-Touch Extra Strength Adhesive Tape for printing the peony labels, which also last for years. I haven't had any of those fade or peel yet, and I've been using those for a few years now as well. Happy planting!

2011 Fall Peony Orders

Last minute! I guess you get whatever's left when you order last minute. There were several varieties I wanted to order, but have now sold out. I think there was only one variety sold out of those I was interested in when I looked last month. So I thought it would be okay to wait another month. I guess everyone else did too! So these are my final selections for my fall peony order this year. I really like the color and center on Peony 'Ann Berry Cousins'. Peony 'Carina' and Peony 'Nova' are both selections from hybridizer A.P. Saunders and will go in my Saunders peony garden. Peony 'Border Charm' and Peony 'Cream Delight' are both somewhat yellow in color which is a rare color for peonies. Peony 'Buckeye Belle' is an American Peony Society Gold Medal Winner. So all of these flowers should make excellent additions to my collection...

2011 Fall Is For Peony Planting!

So I got a copy of the Fall 2011 Creative Ideas magazine in the mail from Lowe's home improvement store. There was a page about fall being the optimum time to plant, and peonies were listed as one of their suggested plants (which I think is awesome). However they described peonies as "old-fashioned flowers". I can't decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing as far as publicity for the flower is concerned. There are many varieties of modern peonies and loads more colors to choose from than what people think of as the traditional "old-fashioned" peony varieties i.e. pink, red, and white double style herbaceous peonies. I guess "old-fashioned" could also mean that they can stand the test of time, but I'm not sure that's the idea most people would get from that adjective. The magazine also suggests that peonies be planted in "rich soil with the crowns 2 inches below the soil." However if you plant your peony like that here in NC (which interestingly enough is where Lowe's home improvement is based) you may not get any blooms. I plant all of my peonies with the crowns right at soil level. When I first tried to grow my own peonies, I followed the directions on the box that my peony came in. (I know, I know, the box was a bad sign, but I didn't know that back then.) The box said to plant the root 3-4 inches below the soil. That poor peony. There was never even a chance it would create a bud. It was fighting just to get leaves up to the light! It grew several years and the number of stems slowly increased, but never a bud! Anyway, I guess it's good that peonies are being advertised as one of "the" plants to plant in the fall. I guess I should get busy...