2012 New Intersectional Peony Foliage

After quite a long hot and dry spell with 90-100 degree days, it has been nice to get some rain from summer thunderstorms and a bit cooler temperatures. I'm sure my peonies have appreciated it as well. The foliage on my newly planted intersectional peonies seems to be progressing nicely. All four of them have nice green foliage now three weeks after planting them. The foliage is a mix between a tree peony's foliage and an herbaceous peony's foliage since intersectional peonies are a cross between these two types. Tree peonies have woody stems that generate new growth each year while herbaceous peonies have soft stems that grow anew and die back to the ground each year. It is recommended to cut back the intersectional peony foliage to the ground each year, but I have found in my southern climate that some of the woody stem can be left over the winter and will generate new growth and blooms the next year. See my post on 2011 Peony Experiments - Intersectional Blooms for more information and pictures.

Peony 'Canary Brilliant'	Peony 'Lemon Dream'
Peony 'Old Rose Dandy'	Peony 'Scarlet Heaven'

2012 Peony Reference Site - Web Project Paeonia

So you've always wondered if the peony variety you have is labeled correctly? Or maybe you want to know the hybridizer for your peony. Or perhaps you want to know the bloom season for a peony you saw and are interested in. Well, I'll tell you what. There's this site I really like. It is the best peony reference site out there. No, it's not the Wikipedia. (Although there is some interesting information there, it definitely leaves something to be desired.) The site is Carsten Burkhardt's Web Project Paeonia. I have used this web site for years for peony identification and information. It is really an awesome resource for the peony community. I hope you find it as useful as I have. So go look up your favorite blooms. Oh, and be careful. You can get lost in there!!! :)

Carsten Burkhardt's Web Project Paeonia

2012 Intersectional Peony New Growth

The new intersectional peonies I just planted a week and a half ago are growing nicely. One of them seems to be having a bit of trouble, but it is still growing. The pink growth on Peony 'Scarlet Heaven' has a bit of brown/black on the end of it. It also seems to be a bit slower growing and turning green than the other three. Here are a few pictures of some of the new growth on these intersectional peonies. I think they are happy in their partly sunny, moist spot near my deck. These peonies were originally purchased on Ebay, and they are definitely intersectional peonies. The new growth and the foliage on these is exactly the same as my other intersectional peonies, and quite different than the new growth on herbaceous peonies. Whether the cultivar names are accurate is yet to be determined, but I think they will probably be correct.

Peony 'Canary Brilliants'	Peony 'Lemon Dream'
7/1/2012	7/1/2012
7/7/2012	7/7/2012
7/11/2012	7/11/2012

Peony 'Old Rose Dandy'	Peony 'Scarlet Heaven'
7/1/2012	7/1/2012
7/7/2012	7/7/2012
7/11/2012	7/11/2012

2012 Growing Weed Free Peonies

The weeds in my peonies have been greatly reduced this year, thanks to a new layer of mulch. However I have still gotten a few weeds. Most of them have either been at the edge of the peony bed or right next to the peony crown, where the layer of the mulch is the thinnest. It is not good to put a thick layer of mulch right on top of the peony crown (where the stems grow from the plant). In my climate I do not put any mulch right in the center of the peony plant. It is best to side dress the peonies with mulch to keep their small feeder roots cool and moist. A couple of weeds have surprised me this year, though, growing right from the crown hidden by the peony foliage, and were able to develop into quite large weeds. I was really surprised by this one in particular. This weed grew bigger and taller than my 5 year old peony in a couple months! Needless to say, it has now been extracted! :)

Peony 'Firelight' with Giant Weed

2012 First Peony Planting

I got my order of Peonies on Ebay planted today. I figured since we got a small break in the 100°+ heat wave it would be a good time to get them in the ground. Since some of the peony seedlings in my seedling test bed almost looked like toast, I decided I should probably plant these new peonies, that are going to be stressed with no roots and no leaves in the middle of summer, in a different location. I planted them next to my deck instead which seems to have more moist soil and only about a half day of sun. So this will hopefully be a better location. As you can see I planted these intersectional peonies with their sun starved pink shoots showing just above the mulch. Hopefully they will survive our harsh summer and develop some substantial roots this fall.
Peony 'Canary Brilliants'


Peony 'Scarlet Heaven'