2013 Spring Peony Catalogs

I was sad to receive an email this year saying that Klehm's Song Sparrow will no longer be publishing a print catalog. The internet, that I love and with which I publish this blog, has created a different & cheaper way of communicating with customers. It is with great sorrow that I let go of these printed catalogs that I could read at my leisure, without having to pay an electricity bill to view them! I hope all of the other peony catalogs do not go this way. The only catalogs I've received this year were from Adelman Peony Gardens, Gilbert H. Wild, and Homestead Farms. Also I just received my American Peony Society bulletin last week, and in it there was a letter stating that Hollingsworth Peonies was sold and they will no longer be mailing a print catalog either. It seems they will only be publishing their catalog online now too. How sad. I hope the nursery continues to offer great peonies as it has in the past. I have gotten some great peonies and some great advice from Hollingsworth Peonies.

2013 Peony Experiments - Peony Seeds in Bags

After ordering some Peony Seeds from Hirt's Gardens, I decided to grow the seeds in plastic bags based on some interesting instructions the seeds came with. I've never grown any peony seeds in bags before. So I decided to give it a try to see what would happen, whether they would sprout, and what the germination rates would be following this method. It has been three weeks now, and as you can see, there are no peony seeds sprouting in any of my plastic bags. In fact the only thing sprouting in my plastic bags is mold. As you can see in the second picture below, the two P. ludlowii seeds are both covered in mold. The rest of the bags appear to be mold free, but they are also root free as well. I am still going to plant these seeds in the ground, and hopefully some of them will still sprout anyway. For me this method did not work. I'd be curious to know if anyone else has been successful with this method, and if they have any tips. Sometime I think keeping things simple is the best way, let Mother Nature work her magic...
Peony Seeds in Bags with Moist Vermiculite


Mold Growing on Peony Seeds in Bag

2013 Half Price Peony at Local Nursery

Wow! Did I get lucky! I went to get my oil changed this week, and I always take my car to a place that's near one of my favorite local nurseries. I usually walk over there to check to see what they have on sale while my car is being worked on. Well yesterday when I went there I found a Peony 'Coral Sunset' that had an orange sale sticker on it, and all of their sale items were 50% off. The original price was $24.99. So that made it only $12.50! Yes, I already have Peony 'Coral Sunset', but who could resist another one for 50% off? So of course I bought it, and I got it planted today. So keep your eyes open when shopping at your local nurseries. They may have some peonies from last year's stock on sale! Since this Peony 'Coral Sunset' was growing in a pot, I actually planted it more shallow in the ground than it was growing in the pot, as evidenced by the whitish color at the base of the stems. This portion of the stem was previously under the soil when it was growing in the pot, but due to our climate here, I knocked off a bit of the soil from the top of the peony root, and planted the roots close to the surface. This way the peony roots will get the chilling hours required to generate bloom here.
Half Price Potted Peony 'Coral Sunset'


Planted Peony 'Coral Sunset'

2013 Springtime Peonies are Coming!

Wow, I go away for 10 days, and when I come back, the peonies are sprouting! I guess spring must be coming soon now. The peonies think it is already time. I took these pictures today. The coral peonies always seem to be the first ones to sprout foliage, even though they are not the first ones to bloom. Some of the coral peony shoots are already 6 inches high! Bloom season will be here before you know it. It will be another busy season keeping track of the Bloom Dates, determining Bloom Color, collecting more data, and most of all enjoying the sights and smells of all the beautiful peonies. I'm hoping to see some new varieties bloom for the first time this year as well. It is always exciting to meet a new flower in your own garden! I hope all of you have an awesome bloom season this year too, and perhaps are lucky enough to meet some new peonies in your garden too! :-)
Peony 'Coral Charm' Shoots

2013 Questions - Container Grown Peony Plants

I received this question from Karen in Zone 8:
"I've seen several container grown peony plants for sale in nurseries here in the spring. Is this advisable to purchase a plant rather than bulbs. If buying the plant is okay, should I grow it in the same container over the summer and then plant in the ground in the fall? I'm leery of planting a peony plant here in April as it normally has gotten quite warm by then and think the stress of summer wouldn't be good for it."

The question of whether to purchase a plant or a bulb is answered in the previous post 2013 Questions - Purchasing Peony Plants Versus Roots. As for the question of when to plant the container peony, that depends on how well you take care of your container plants. If you are like me, and you take care of your container plants when you have time, I would recommend planting your peony in the ground as soon as you buy it. However perhaps you are very meticulous and experienced container gardener, and you tend to your containers better than your garden. Then I would say that it would be fine to wait until fall to plant your peony in the ground.

Pink Single Peony in Pot on Deck
However I would not recommend growing your peony in the container permanently. I myself purchased a peony in a nice container years ago, thinking perhaps that it would be nice to have a peony blooming on my deck every year. Even with special care (peonies are my favorite flower after all), it continued to decline each year until it died. I'm quite sure that the peonies for sale in beautiful containers each spring are not grown to blooming size that way. They are most likely grown in super ideal conditions in the ground until they are full of buds and then stuffed into a beautiful pot, which may look nice on the outside, but it makes a sad home for a peony! Peonies actually grow very large roots underground which are needed to fuel those huge blossoms each spring. Zone 8 is actually a good zone for growing peonies. I would just make sure to plant the peony crown and eyes even with the soil level. You may want to check out my post 2012 How to Plant an Herbaceous Peony for pointers! Good luck!!!