2014 Peony Experiments - Herbaceous Divisions

After dividing a few of my peonies to give away Free Peonies at Gardenweb Carolina Plant Swap, I had a few casualties - pieces of herbaceous peony crown with buds attached but not much root. With little to no root on these pieces, I didn't want to give them away at the plant swap, possibly disappointing people with very little peony experience. These pieces are mostly just a piece of the crown with some growth buds. It is possible these may not grow at all, and if they do grow, it will likely take them a while to catch up to a standard division that contains the peony's storage roots. So I decided to plant them in one of my test beds to see if they would grow. I will be adding this experiment to the Experiments page, and will add updates about these peony pieces in the spring.

Herbaceous Peony 'Scarlet O'Hara' Divisions with Very Little Root


Unknown White Double Herbaceous Peony Division with Very Little Root


Unknown White & Yellow Anemone Herbaceous Peony Division
with Very Little Root

As you can see I tried to plant these peony pieces a bit deeper than I normally Plant an Herbaceous Peony. I wanted to give these little pieces a chance to grow and stay as moist as possible since I probably won't be watering them much. I'm curious to see what they can do on their own. If any of the peony divisions are successful in the spring, these will probably be contributions to share at future plant swaps!

Plant Herbaceous Peony 'Scarlet O'Hara' Divisions
with Very Little Root


Planted Unknown White Double Herbaceous Peony Division
with Very Little Root


Planted Unknown White & Yellow Anemone Herbaceous Peony Division
with Very Little Root

2014 American Peony Society Fall Auction

The preview for the American Peony Society 2014 Fall Auction is now available on their web site. The bidding is for two days only and starts this Saturday, October 11th at 12 noon. There are several hard to find and collector varieties this year, including several intersectional Itoh peonies like Peony 'First Arrival', Peony 'Garden Treasure', and Peony 'Pastel Splendor' and tree peonies like Tree Peony 'Baron Thyssen Boremisza' and Tree Peony 'Right Royal'. There's even a red double fernleaf peony, P. Tenuifolia Rubra Flore Plena. If you're not yet an APS member, now is a great time to join. The APS Fall Auction is for APS Members only, and this is one of the exclusive member benefits! Good luck and happy bidding!
American Peony Society Fall Auction

2014 Free Peonies at Gardenweb Carolina Plant Swap

Here it is fall already. The semi annual Gardenweb plant swap took place this past weekend, and I decided to bring 8 peony roots to trade at the plant swap. You should have seen the people arguing over those peonies! I guess I didn't bring enough of them! There were quite a few people there. I'd say at least 50. So not everyone got one of my peonies, and there were several people that weren't too happy about that! I guess that's a good sign. It seems there is quite a bit of interest in peonies here. Hopefully I'll convert a few people from just garden people with a casual interest into peony lovers! It's not too hard to get addicted to them. Once you get your hands on one peony, and it starts to bloom for you, you just can't wait to get another one! :)
Free Peonies for the Gardenweb Plant Swap

2014 Peony obovata willmottiae Red & Blue Seed Pods

Wow! I said it once about this peony when it bloomed, First Bloom on Peony P. obovata var. willmottiae, and I'll say it again! If you want a peony that's going to brighten up your shade garden in spring and in fall, then Peony P. obovata var. willmottiae is definitely the peony for you! The white blooms with a burgundy and gold center really brighten up the shade garden in the spring, but the eye-popping fuchsia, red, and blue seed pods are like watching a brightly colored fireworks display in early fall! So if you were thinking you needed another reason to grow this shade loving beauty, then you've definitely got one!
Peony obovata var. willmottiae Seed Pod

2014 Questions - Brown Peony Leaves in Late Summer

I received this question from Kay in zone 7:
"My hybrid peony (I only have one so far) is looking scorched and burned. Is this typical this time of year??? I guess it could be rust. Not sure. Here is picture and it is a hybrid Keiko (adored) Itoh Peony. It has been in the ground since early spring. Please give me some guidance as to what you think. It is appreciated."
Kay's Peony 'Keiko' (Adored) with Browned Foliage
Actually late summer is just the time of year that the foliage gets a little tired and starts to die back for the winter. Some varieties do die back earlier than others. It looks like the foliage on your Peony 'Keiko' does have a little bit of blight as well as some die back on the foliage. However I wouldn't worry about it too much. It really is a personal gardening preference of how you'd like to deal with it. I try to stay as natural and organic with my peonies as possible. So I don't usually apply any chemical fungicides. As long as your plant is increasing in size and blooms each year, I wouldn't worry about it. Peonies are a special type of plant that only get one set of leaves per year. So as the year progresses, the foliage naturally tends to get more ragged, bitten, browned, and spotted. Some peony varieties are more resistant to disease than others. Also some peony varieties experience foliage die back at earlier times in the year. For example all of the foliage on my coral peonies has died back by this time of the year, while the foliage on most of my other herbaceous peonies is still alive. It is important to leave the foliage on the plant in the fall since the roots store the energy from the leaves to help the plant survive the winter. Also these storage roots generate the energy needed for the plant to grow and bloom next spring. So fall is a great time to fertilize peonies. I would recommend an organic fertilizer around the plants drip line or a thin layer of compost. I do see you have an automatic watering system. If the foliage on the peony stays wet all the time, the leaves will be more susceptible to the blight, as the wet conditions create a favorable environment for the blight to multiply. So deeper, less frequent waterings are recommended. Once the leaves are completely brown, you can remove them and throw them away in the trash. Do not compost them or leave them on the ground over winter to prevent the blight from multiplying. I hope this information helps, and good luck with your peony!