2012 Peonies in the Landscape

Growing peonies is great because of the flower size, colors and forms available, and lots of them even have a nice fragrance. Their bloom period can be short, but it can be extended with different varieties of peonies that bloom in different periods. Some people may find it challenging to integrate peonies into their landscape, but peonies can be used everywhere! They are great in mixed perennial beds with other flowers that bloom at different times. Their foliage is quite sturdy and makes and excellent backdrop for other flowers and even bulbs, and the foliage will usually last until frost. Peonies can be planted alone as accent plants or en masse in a large bed or border. However and wherever you decide to plant your peonies, you can look forward to years and perhaps even generations of flowers from a sturdy and long lived plant. :)

Peony 'Morning Lilac'	Peony 'Scarlet O'Hara'

Peony Landscape Beds

2012 Peony Colors

So far this year I seem to be on top of things for the most part. I have missed recording the colors of some of my early peonies in the past couple of years. It seems like by the time I remember to do it, the early peonies are finished blooming. However this year I have gotten the chance to record the colors of several of my early blooming peonies, including one of my favorites, Peony 'Lavender'. I still missed Peony 'Early Scout' this year. Perhaps I will get that one next year! I plan to update my Inventory page with the RHS colors and bloom types data from my surveys soon, and I plan to add the bloom season eventually, when I collect enough data for the bloom seasons for my growing zone.
Peony 'Honor'


Peony 'Roy Pehrson's Best Yellow'


Peony 'Firelight'

2012 Peony 'Lavender'

I had a feeling that another one of my peonies had bloomed today. Good thing I checked them this morning before work (and took my camera with me). :) My favorite color is purple, and of course my lavender peony, Peony 'Lavender' bloomed today, and how beautiful it is! This is only the second year I've had this plant bloom for me, but it is just as lovely as last year, although I think there is one less bud. It bloomed much earlier though. Last year it was April 18th, and this year it bloomed today, April 2nd. I think it may have more stems than last year, though. I just checked my data and I don't have the RHS color for it or 2 of the other 3 (Early Scout, Chalice, Ludovica) peonies that are also in bloom now. So I just got out my color chart so that I can get an accurate color for the Peony 'Lavender'. It has such a beautiful and unique color to it.

Peony 'Lavender'


Peony 'Lavender'

2012 First Peony Bloom of the Season!

I can hardly believe it! My first peony bloom opened this week on Monday, March 26, 2012. It was Peony 'Early Scout', a single red peony of short stature. Many of the single peonies bloom first, and 'Early Scout' is usually one of the first peonies to bloom here for me. I knew it had been an extremely warm spring, and that it could have been any day for the peony blooms to start opening, but somehow I still feel like it snuck up on me. I hope this year will be a good one for the peony blooms. It has already rained quite a bit right before the bloom season, so maybe it will be a bit dryer this year during the bloom season. Last year it was so wet during our peony bloom season that most of the flowers turned to mush which didn't allow for very many pictures taking opportunities. So hopefully this year the rainy weather will be a bit more even tempered instead of continuous! I've volunteered to host a family gathering next weekend. So I'm hoping that several peony varieties will be in bloom then because my mother and grandmother (who was a big influence in my love of gardening) also love peonies. Spring has sprung! :)
Peony 'Early Scout'

2012 Peony Mulch

Wow! What could be better than freshly mulched peonies? What about FREE freshly mulched peonies? (Well I suppose it did require a bit of time and some elbow grease on my part, but I didn't pay any money for it!) I just happened upon a tree service truck that was about to dump some freshly mulched trees, and they were more than happy to dump their truck load of mulch in my back yard! Yay! Here are a couple of pictures of my freshly mulched peonies. The first one is of my Saunders Peony Garden. Many of the varieties in that garden are early, and as you can see they are finding their way out of the ground! Also Peony 'Coral Charm' in my Gold Medal Peony Garden is up tall and early as usual. The mulch should help to prevent weed growth and prevent the growing peonies from drying out too much this summer. They are all getting ready to burst open. I can hardly wait! :)

Saunders Peony Garden
Peony 'Coral Charm'