2012 Peony Viruses

A couple of my peonies have been affected by viruses. The virus seems to affect the same peonies every year. I don't think there is anything you can really do to get rid of it. Viruses in humans are not curable by any medicine, the symptoms can be controlled or suppressed, but the immune system of the body is the only thing that can actually defeat the disease. So either the peony would have to fend it off on its own or find a way to live with it. It seems that most of the time peonies can live with a virus without the plant being too adversely impacted. Also I've noticed that several of the peonies I have planted in shade have a virus. So it seems like peonies that are stressed because they are not planted in ideal conditions are more susceptible to viruses. Those virus infected peonies that I have seem to bloom just fine and are able to increase as well. Most of the time, the foliage of the entire plant is not affected. Sometimes only a portion of the plant is diseased. I'd be curious to see if you divided the plant and threw away the infected portion if the plant would be virus free or if the virus would come back the next year. That may be an experiment for another day...
Peony 'Duchesse de Nemours' with Mosaic Virus


Peony 'Laura Dessert' with Mosaic Virus

2012 Peony Questions and Topics

I received a question on growing peonies as a comment on one of my posts. I would like this site to be as helpful to others as possible. So to that end, I would like to invite you to send me your peony questions, concerns, or topics you'd like me to cover. It doesn't matter how crazy or silly it might be, as long as it pertains to peonies, send it in! I will also creating a permanent link for Questions on the front page. So if you've got some burning question, that you'd love to have answered, please send it in. I'd be happy to answer any questions I know the answer to, try to research it for you if I don't have the data, and possibly even do some experiments to get an answer! You can contact me by email Send Your FAQ to Southern Peony. Also if you'd like to subscribe to this blog, you can do so here Subscribe to Southern Peony by Email.

2012 Peonies on Ebay

I decided to buy some intersectional peonies on Ebay this week. I ended up paying about $40 each with shipping. So the prices were reasonable for intersectional peonies, since they are usually much more expensive than herbaceous peonies. I am curious to see them when they arrive. I've purchased peonies on Ebay before in the past, but never Itoh Intersectional Peonies. It will be quite obvious when the peony roots arrive if they are actually intersectional peonies or herbaceous peonies. I've actually had pretty good luck getting the correctly labeled peony varieties on Ebay (better than Wild's). :) I'm sure it depends on the vendor, though. So hopefully these will be the correct varieties. I'm wondering if they are tissue culture peonies or actual root divisions. Also I'm curious to see how they perform, grow, and bloom. The varieties I got were: Peony 'Canary Brilliants', Peony 'Lemon Dream', Peony 'Old Rose Dandy', and Peony 'Scarlet Heaven'. All but one of them were hybridized by Roger Anderson and registered in 1999. Peony 'Old Rose Dandy' was hybridized by Laning and registered in 1993. I'm really looking forward to receiving these intersectional peonies and hope to get them into my new intersectional peony garden bed soon!

2012 Intersectional Peony Bed Preparation

Since I decided to create a new bed for my intersectional peonies, my mind has been busy thinking of all the things I need to do to complete the project. Last weekend I started the process by laying out a clear plastic tarp over the section of ground where I will plant the new peony bed. I placed bricks on the edges of the tarp to keep it in place. The sun will heat up the ground and the plastic will prevent the heat from escaping. So it will get really hot under there to kill the current grass, weeds, unsprouted seeds, even bugs and plant pathogens such as viruses and bacteria! This process is called soil solarization, and the best time to do this is in the summer. So now is a good time to start if you'd like to prepare some peony beds for fall planting! If you're leery of chemicals, this is a good organic way to prepare the soil since no chemicals are needed to kill weeds. After the soil has been sterilized, I am planning to get a truckload of pro-mix and garden soil delivered. I usually just plant my peonies in the ground as is with a bit of lime and organic fertilizer mixed in. However the soil in the site for my new intersectional peony bed is not very good since this is a section of my yard that used to be forest and was scraped clean with when my house was built. So there is little to no top soil in this area. The grass and weeds don't even really want to grow here. Since I want to make sure my intersectional peonies are successful, I am going to do a little more advance preparation this time.

Intersectional Peony Bed Soil Solarization

2012 Intersectional Peony Order

Sometime last week I got the idea that I wanted to put in a new bed for intersectional peonies. I currently have my intersectional peonies planted in various sunny spots in the garden, and one bed that I think has too much shade (see my post on 2012 Peony Experiments - Sun vs. Shade ). So I decided I would move the plants that are in too shady of a location and create a new bed for them in a sunnier spot. And since I was creating a new intersectional peony bed, it seemed only logical that I needed to add a few more to my collection to help fill up this new bed. :) So it seemed to be good timing that I got an email from Song Sparrow advertising 15% Off All Container Plants! Their sale lasts until June 20, 2012. So I decided to get a couple of intersectional peonies from them, and a couple from Swenson Gardens as well. I've never placed an order with Swenson Gardens before. So I'm curious to see their shipment and plant quality. I'm also excited to get this new intersectional peony bed planted! :)

Peony 'Lafayette Escadrille'	Peony 'Little Darlin'