2013 Tree Peony P. Rockii Seeds on Ebay

I've been wanting a P. rockii tree peony for quite some time, but I have yet to acquire one. So I decided to buy some of the P. rockii tree peony seeds that I found for sale on Ebay. They were kind of expensive ($7.50), but not as expensive as the plant itself (which is usually $50+). So I decided to give them a try. Plus the $7.50 price did include the shipping. So I guess it's not too bad. I've purchased some P. rockii and P. rockii hybrid seeds from the APS Peony Seed Sale before, but they have yet to germinate. I'm hoping these will do something since they're advertised as USA grown and fresh. We shall see...

2013 Soaking Peony Seeds

I knew these little bowls would come in handy when I bought them at Ross a while ago. I haven't used them until now, but I think I've found a pretty good use for them. Now I wish I had bought more! I have 15 different varieties of Chinese Tree Peony Seeds that I need to soak, and I want to keep them separate while I'm soaking the seeds so that I can keep track of the peony variety. These mini bowls are the perfect size, and the colors are so bright, they just cheer me up. (Which is good since with the cold late winter / early spring we've been having, none of my peonies have bloomed yet!) I usually soak my peony seeds overnight to let them soften up a little and absorb some of the water. I ordered 100 of these Chinese tree peony seeds, about 7 of each of the 15 different varieties. They ended up sending me about 8 seeds of each of the varieties. That was nice of them to send a few extra seeds. Hopefully that will increase the chance of getting some of the seeds to successfully germinate! After these peony seeds soak for a day, then I will plant them out into my seedling test bed and let Mother Nature take over!
Soaking Peony Seeds

2013 American Peony Society Medal on Etsy

I finally got a protective case a couple of weeks ago for the American Peony Society Silver Medal I found on Etsy. Wow, what a great find! It looks really nice in its case. I'm planning to bring it to the 2013 American Peony Society convention with me this year. So if you'd like to see it, and also be in the company of lots of other peony enthusiasts, please come join us at the 2013 American Peony Society Convention at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA in this year. This particular APS Medal was issued to Marvin Karrels in 1975. This medal is older than me! :-) It would be nice to earn one of these one day. It might be kind of funny to be a Mr. Peony, though. I wonder if they've ever issued a Mrs. Peony! LOL!

American Peony Society Silver Medal Front
Medal Reads:
AMERICAN PEONY SOCIETY INC. JULY 2, 1904


American Peony Society Silver Medal Back
Medal Inscription Reads:
MARVIN KARRELS
Master Showman
Enthusiastic
Connoisseur
Gentleman Deluxe
MR. PEONY

2013 Peony Experiments - Intersectional Divisions

I am happy to report that 5 of the 6 Peony 'Bartzella' root divisions that I planted last fall, in the 2012 Peony Experiments - Intersectional Divisions, have come up! Even one of the divisions with no roots sprouted. I didn't apply any rooting hormone or fertilizer, and I gave them very little supplemental water. Mother Nature did her thing! Some of the peony divisions even have multiple stems sprouting from the base! The only one that didn't sprout at all was the division that had no roots and the stem was old wood. The other division that had no roots came up, and that one had new wood. So it seems that the intersectional peony divisions can generate roots when there aren't any, if the division is a new stem. So get out there and start dividing your peonies! Fill up your yard, and then fill up your friends and neighbors yards too! :-) Share the love!

Peony 'Bartzella' Division with Small Roots Sprouting
Peony 'Bartzella' Division with Tiny Roots Sprouting
Peony 'Bartzella' Division with No Roots Sprouting (New Wood)	Peony 'Bartzella' Division with No Roots Not Sprouting (Old Wood)

2013 Ali Express Chinese Tree Peony Seeds

I got the Tree Peony Seeds from China a couple weeks ago that I ordered from Ali Express, but I finally got them all translated and labels made for them today. It certainly helps to have a Chinese husband who can read the characters and translate them for me, since they didn't come with any English names. I ended up getting 7 seeds of each of 15 different varieties. Here are the names in English of the Chinese tree peonies that I received: Black Bouquet, Black Sea Scattered Gold, Blue Field Jade, Champion Dark Jade, Colorful Bell, Dark Black Purple, Entangled Golden Jade, Green Fragrant Ball, Fledgling, Golden Attic, Red Clouds in Hundred Garden, Red Guardian, Smoky Dragon's Purple Jewelry Plate, Splendid Dark Gold, and Wei Purple. Now I just need to soak them and get them planted! I'm guessing that most of these will not germinate this year since it is already spring here now. So I guess I'll be waiting until next spring to see if any of them sprout. My husband said that Wei Purple is supposed to be named for a famous family in China, and he said he couldn't wait to see what that one looked like. I can't wait either since purple is my favorite color! :)

Chinese Tree Peony Seeds from Ali Express