2013 Mother's Day Peonies at Juniper Level

This year for Mother's Day, my daughter and I went to Juniper Level Botanic Garden. We've been there several times before, but it is always nice to see how things change and grow each year and in different growing seasons. They are only open 8 times per year, two weekends per season. I thought some time at the botanic garden would be a nice way to spend Mother's Day. We had a great time. They always have all kinds of paths, bridges, waterfalls, gazebos, ponds, garden benches, streams, rocking chairs, garden art, and of course all kinds of plants! We did find a peony or two. I did find one solid pink outer and center anemone type peony they had planted that was labeled Paeonia 'White Cap', and it is nowhere near the correct color of a 'White Cap' peony. I guess small gardeners are not the only ones to get mislabeled peony plants! Also they did have the Plant Delights Nursery greenhouses open as well. However all of the choice peony varieties had already sold out since this was the last day of the 2nd weekend of their spring weekend open house. I guess you have to go early if you want to buy something specific. I was happy just to walk around, traverse the trails, and watch my daughter happily spin her skirt and lead the way in the gardens! Happy Mother's Day!

Juniper Level Botanic Garden

2013 First Peony Seedling Develops Immature Bud

Sorry to say that the First Peony Seedling with Developing Bud grown from seed in my garden has become an immature bud. This also happens sometimes on divisions that don't have quite enough energy saved up in their storage roots to develop a mature bud. This may have been the case for my new seedling as well. As you can see the bud has turned from green to red, and will gradually shrivel and dry up. Developing buds will stay green and slowly increase in size. Sometimes you just have to wait another year to see your peony's beautiful face. However with another year of growth, your peony should hopefully have the chance to develop even stronger roots in order to grow even larger the next year with (hopefully!) a nice blossom. :-)

Peony Seedling with Immature Bud

2013 Peony Single White Best Performer - Week 3

I don't think I can say enough about this peony to convey its value in the garden. However it's true identity remains a mystery to me. I originally purchased it from Gilbert H. Wild in 2007 as Peony 'Seraphim'. However after doing some research, it is definitely not 'Seraphim'. I took a look at Gilbert H. Wild's current catalog, and they only have 3 single peonies offered this year. It's definitely not Peony 'Isani-Gidui' or Peony 'Krinkled White', as these are mid and mid-late season peonies. This unknown variety is definitely early. So the only one it might be from this year's offerings is Peony 'Silver Shell'. I am tempted to order one of these roots for comparison purposes, but I'm quite sure that Gilbert H. Wild would just send me yet another mislabeled peony. I think they just pull their plants at random to fill orders! I will have to check out their catalog in future years for other possible identities. Anyway this particular peony is just stellar. It blooms for weeks, with a multitude of blossoms that are long lasting and gorgeous. The foliage is a lovely dark green, very tall and full. It is also very fertile, producing lots of seed. This peony has loads of buds per stem. So the blooms just keep coming and coming! If you have any ideas about this peony's true identity, I'm open to suggestions! :-)
Peony - Single White (Unknown)
Southern Peony Best Performer

2013 Peony Blooms Early Mid - Week 3

Early Mid season Week 3 blooms are becoming more interesting than the Peony Blooms Early - Week 2 with some anemone types blooming as well as the intersectional (Itoh) types beginning to bloom. The weather has been much more cloudy this week and a little wetter. The temperatures have cooled and normalized back to spring as well, from their brief encounter with summer. However the lack of sunshine has made getting some gorgeous sunlit photos challenging at best. It looks like it is going to be rainy and cloudy for the better part of next week too. The foliage on all of my peonies has been pretty much disease free so far this year. I'm curious to see how the rain will affect the foliage and the spread of foliar diseases next week. I'm sure the blooms will be gorgeous anyway!

Peony 'Rose Garland'	Peony 'Pastel Splendor'
Peony 'White Cap'	Peony 'Morning Lilac'

2013 Questions - Marvin Karrels' 1975 APS Peony Medal

I received this question from Tracy in zone 5:
"Hello Adriana, I ran across your blog regarding the metal you found on Etsy which was awarded to Marvin Karrels in 1975. My husband and I purchased Marvin Karrels' house last year in Greenfield,WI. This house he grew all of his award winning peonies at. We still have the garden today. We have yet to identify the many different kinds available and have been told there are many exotic and genetically altered peonies. We have never taken care of this beautiful flower before so we are trying to research care info before spring arrives. Our neighbors have talked so highly about the flowers Marvin grew and made it clear that these 75 yr old flowers need to be taken care of and need to remain on the property. :) We are very excited to see what blooms and how beautiful this will be. We have approx 50 some plants! In addition to caring for the peonies, we have intentions to maintain and restore what we can in this beautiful house he built his family back in 1937. I have been researching Marvin and his family to learn more. Finding the award metal on Etsy is amazing and I'm very curious to know if you found out how this person had the coin to sell? According to the Society, Marvin won 7 metals for his amazing peonies. I would love to put this metal where it was earned. If you are interested in parting from this metal, please let me know."


Marvin Karrels' 1975 American Peony Society Medal
How exciting to purchase the home of a great former peony enthusiast, Marvin Karrels. You must be enthralled in watching his peonies grow and bloom this season. I would love to see some pictures and would be happy to publish some of them on my blog if you'd like to send some in. At this time I am not interested in parting with the APS Medal, but I will keep your information in case my plans change in the future. I am a member of the American Peony Society and intend to preserve the medal for the club, as well as take it to the convention for display. If you are interested in attending the 2013 APS Convention to learn more about peonies and the APS in general, I would love to meet you and learn more about Marvin Karrels and his peonies and fine home. If you have some pictures of the restoration work you've been completing, I would love to see those too! Also I did ask the Etsy seller if the coin was real and how he had come to acquire it. This was his response: "Hi Adriana- it is real, I bought it at a coin and token estate. That's about all I know about it. Thanks! Bill" Good luck with your home and peony garden restoration plans!!!