2013 Peony Disease Stem Wilt

Peony Stem Wilt
This poor bud was so close to opening, but unfortunately it was affected by a fungus causing the peony stem to wilt. This stem was infected with botrytis blight which can affect the plant in several ways like stunted growth, Bud Blast, Spotty Foliage, and stem wilt. As you can see from the close up photo below, the infected stem is covered with small reddish black sores or spots. These spots will turn darker as they age and the infected tissue rots. These spots are the evidence of the botrytis fungal disease on the stems. Unfortunately the only thing that can be done for this problem is removal, and the sooner the better. The botrytis blight needs to be removed from the plant as soon as possible to interrupt its reproductive cycle and prevent it from creating spores that will infect next year's foliage. The stem should be pruned back to remove all of the visible blight to just before the next clean leaf on the stem. Once the infected stem segment has been removed from the peony plant, it is imperative that the diseased tissue be removed from the area by trashing it and never composting the infected foliage. Careful, consistent, and timely sanitary practices should improve the health of your plant over time. Good luck!
Close Up of Peony Stem Wilt

2013 Intersectional Peony Garden in Bloom First Year

This is an update on the progress of my newest intersectional peony garden. My original intersectional peony garden is in partial shade/partial sun. This new one is in full sun. Last summer I first started with Soil Solarization. Then I added lots of New Dirt underneath. In the fall I Planted the intersectional peonies. Since several of these peonies were moved from partial shade to full sun, it didn't take long for them to get Toasted. However all of them came back this spring, except two of the Intersectional Peonies on Ebay I'd purchased. That was kind of disappointing, but that's a lesson on trying to buy things cheap! Anyway as you can see I did get some blooms in my intersectional peony garden this year, with the star of the show being Peony 'Sonoma Amethyst' that I'd purchased from an actual peony grower, Adelman. Another beauty near the back of the bed is Peony 'White Emperor' with which I was also quite impressed. As you can see it wasn't much to look at this year, but I'm very hopeful for next year. We have had so much rain this summer, it's just amazing. I think our rainfall this is going to break a record or come close! I just checked, and our local weather report says we are more than 10 inches ahead of last year's rain totals. So it has really been wet this year so far. I don't think the plants have had any opportunities to be thirsty this year at all! So hopefully that translates into bigger and better peony plants next year!
Intersectional Peony Garden in Bloom (May 2013)


Intersectional Peony Garden in Bloom (May 2013)

2013 Southern Peony Milestones & Popular Topics

It wasn't all that long ago that I was writing about our first 1,000 visitors in one month back in January in my 2013 Southern Peony Milestones post. Well you all have done it again. Last month we had over 2,000 views in one month and this month the site has had over 20,000 views since Southern Peony's inception! Since then we've added a program to recognize the best peony performers in the southern climate, Southern Peony Best Performer. I am so happy about how far this site has come, and how it continues to grow and be a resource to the peony community everywhere. It looks like my efforts to reach out to readers all over the world by adding a translation tool to view 2013 Peony in Other Languages has certainly helped lots of people the world over find this site. I am still interested in getting questions from all of you in the US and all other countries. So if you have a Peony Question please Contact Me! Check out the current list of the Top 10 Most Popular Topics of All Time in the table below, and you can check out the Popular Topics page for an up to date list of our most popular peony topics!

Top 10 Most Popular Topics of All Time (as of 6/30/13)

1	2009 Fall Peony Foliage
2	2012 Peony 'Bartzella' Best Performer - Week 5
3	2012 Peony 'Angel Cheeks' Best Performer - Week 6
4	2012 Peony Blooms Mid Season - Week 4
5	2012 APS Peony Court of Honor Winners
6	2012 Peony Blooms Very Early to Early Mid - Weeks 1-3
7	2012 Peony Disease Bud Blast
8	2013 Intersectional Peony Catalog Price Comparisons
9	2013 Questions - Container Grown Peony Plants
10	2010 APS Grand Champion Peony - Flying Pink Saucer

Top 10 Countries by Pageviews

1	United States	11834
2	Russia	1388
3	Canada	1366
4	China	572
5	United Kingdom	476
6	Poland	387
7	Germany	245
8	Latvia	219
9	Japan	175
10	Ukraine	170

2013 Questions - Source for Peony 'Uncle Tom'

I received this question from Karen in Zone 8:
"I see that you have Auten's Uncle Tom Peony in your inventory. Can you tell me where you purchased this peony? I have been looking for a source for this peony but could not find anywhere. Thanks"

I actually purchased this peony from Gilbert H. Wild several years ago in 2008. This may be one of the few varieties I received from them that was actually labeled correctly. I no longer purchase plants from this vendor due to their rampant mislabeling of varieties (or perhaps it may be more accurately described, unannounced substitutions, who knows?). Anyway they are notoriously known for sending plant material that is not true to name. However their prices are very reasonable, read cheap, and if you are looking for sheer quantities of peonies, not caring about the variety or even color, they can definitely help you with flowers in numbers. Or perhaps you may want to place an order for just excitement to find out years later what color and peony flower type you actually received. I, however, did not find this to be an exciting game, and am still pruning my collection of mislabeled varieties they've sent me. I'm sorry I don't have a more reliable source for you since you are looking for a specific variety, I'm guessing you'd want it to be true to name. It doesn't look like Gilbert H. Wild is even offering Peony 'Uncle Tom' this year or season. However most peony growers do not offer all of their varieties every year. They rotate them in their catalogs according to their available stock (and perhaps to keep things interesting). Hopefully some other vendors will offer this peony to the public again in the near future!

Peony 'Uncle Tom'

2013 Double Peony Vs. Single Peony

The peony on the left is a double form peony. The peony on the right is a single form peony. If you think you love double peonies, wait until you grow a single! Sure double peonies have lots of petals, sure some of them smell nice, but what happens to them as soon as a rain storm comes along? On the ground. Sure you could stake them, tie them up, and threaten them. But why? You could just grow a single peony as well. I'm not saying to give up on doubles. I love them too! However single and semi-double peonies are often overlooked in favor of the large puffy bomb and double flowered peonies, and they (single form peonies) should definitely be given a second look. Apart from holding up better during rain storms, single peonies often have an earlier bloom season, allowing for an extension of your peony bloom enjoyment! They are also more likely to be fertile and bear seed, in case you're ever interested in growing new varieties - babies! Single form peonies also come in a wider range of colors - from pale lavender to hot coral! So who wins this debate, double vs. single? You do! Having peonies of all shapes, sizes, and colors available multiplies the benefits of growing peonies. So grow them all!!!

Double Peony vs. Single Peony