2014 Peony Blooms - Late - Week 6

As the peony season winds down, the color range and peony types certainly decrease. As you can see there are mostly pink and white, double and bomb type peonies blooming now. Peony 'Candy Stripe' bloomed for the first time for me this year and was a welcome addition to the otherwise similar late season blooms. Its bright markings give it a distinct appearance in the garden. Peony 'Eden's Perfume' and Peony 'Doris Cooper' are both very full bomb type peonies, and Peony 'Eden's Perfume' does have a nice scent. Peony 'Moonstone', Peony 'Kelway's Glorious', and Peony 'Elsa Sass' are all nice double peonies, with Peony 'Elsa Sass' being an American Peony Society Gold Medal winner from 1943. So if you are looking for a late season, award winning peony to add to your collection, Peony 'Elsa Sass' may be the peony you're looking for.

Peony 'Candy Stripe'	Peony 'Eden's Perfume'
Peony 'Moonstone'	Peony 'Doris Cooper'
Peony 'Kelway's Glorious'	Peony 'Elsa Sass'

2014 American Peony Society Convention in Ohio

It's only 2 weeks away, and I wish I could attend! If you're going to be in the Ohio area the weekend of June 6-8th, you should definitely plan a stop at the Kingwood Center in Mansfield, Ohio. The 2014 American Peony Society Convention will be held there, and if you've never been before, what a sight to behold! There are endless tables of peonies, the likes of which you'll only see once a year in the United States. If you want to see more peony varieties in one room than you'll ever see blooming at once in any garden, you should definitely make a plan to be at an APS convention. Peony growers and home gardeners from all over the country bring peony blooms they've either freshly cut or held in cold storage for weeks to the convention. So there are 7 weeks of peony blooms in bloom all at once at the annual APS convention. The information for the 2014 APS Convention is also listed on the American Peony Society Facebook page under Events.
American Peony Society Facebook Page

2014 Intersectional Peony Blooms - Late Mid - Week 5

Well, it seems the late season intersectional peonies were dominated by yellow this year. Peony 'Cora Louise' was the only non-yellow intersectional peony blooming this week, and those lovely pink purple flares in the center of her blossom really stood out. Yes, that photo of Peony 'Yellow Crown' that looks like it is upside down is really not. That's how most of the flowers bloom. The blossoms on Peony 'Yellow Crown' are just so loaded with petals that the heavy bloom is just too much for the stems to bear! Peony 'Garden Treasure' is actually a bit floppy too. However I was still able to get a few good pictures of its blooms. Peony 'Bartzella' is definitely the most upward facing full petalled yellow intersectional in my garden. What a beauty!

Intersectional Peony 'Cora Louise'	Intersectional Peony 'Garden Treasure'
Intersectional Peony 'Bartzella'	Intersectional Peony 'Yellow Crown'

2014 Southern Peony Best Performers By Week

In case you were hoping to expand your blooms season, and were wondering what varieties would do best in a southern climate, I've added a table to my Southern Peony Best Performers page to help you find what you're looking for. This table is a handy reference of the peonies that do well for me here in my climate and whose individual flowers look good alone and together on the bush. I select the most impressive bush each week of my growing season (if there is one), and give them this designation to help all of you select the best varieties for your growing climate. I hope you find this information helpful. If you have any Questions, please send them in!

2014 Peony Blooms - Late Mid - Week 5

The weather was quite harsh for peonies this week. We had our first 90 degree day since September. So the peony blooms really started to suffer. It had been a couple weeks since it had last rained, and before that it had been raining about every week. So we really needed the rain. We finally got 2.5 inches on Thursday night. However the rain came all at once pouring down and pushing the heavy double peony blooms to the ground. The storm also came with lots of wind to blow around those heavy, rain-laden peony blooms, further damaging their appearance. So it was challenging to get some good peony photos this week. However I did manage to get a few before the rain and a couple that opened after the rain was finished. Peony 'Topeka Garnet' first bloomed for me this year, and it was also selected as the APS Gold Medal winner in 2012.

Peony 'Topeka Garnet'	Peony 'Kansas'
Peony 'Pink Derby'	Peony 'Raspberry Sundae'
Peony 'Myra MacRae'	Peony 'Old Faithful'