2014 Enjoy Fall Peony Foliage Colors

Fall Peony Foliage beneath Magnolia 'Susan'

I am really enjoying the fall colors on my peony foliage this year. The beautiful greens, golds, oranges, and burgundy colors of the changing peony foliage and contrast of the bright green grass and trees leaves particularly delight me. Usually fall is not one of my favorite seasons, but I am learning to appreciate it more and more. Even though the trees are losing their foliage and the peonies are starting to die back, fall is still a time of renewal. It is just another part of the cycle of living things and without it, we would not be able to enjoy the anticipation of seeing those first peony sprouts creeping up from the ground in the spring.
Fall Peony Foliage Contrasts Nicely with Green Fescue
I am also really amazed this year by the bi-tone colors of some of the fall peony leaves. I was particularly impressed with Peony 'Paul M. Wild's orange and golden petals and Peony 'Belleville's green and red petals. Also if you are looking for a great late season bloomer, Peony 'Paul M. Wild' was named a Week 7 Southern Peony Best Performer because of its late season blooms that last late into the peony season unlike any other. So if you're looking to extend your peony bloom season and would like some fall season entertainment as well, Peony 'Paul M. Wild' may be the peony for you!
Peony 'Paul M. Wild' Golden & Orange Fall Foliage

Peony 'Belleville' Green & Red Fall Foliage

2014 Southern Peony NC State Fair Ribbons

I was so excited to see the ribbon I won at the NC State Fair this year! In the first flower show I won 4 1st place blue ribbons, 1 2nd place red ribbon, and 2 3rd place white ribbons! I didn't enter the second flower show, and in the third flower show I won 1 1st place blue ribbon, 2 2nd place red ribbons, 4 3rd place white ribbons, a green honorable mention ribbon, and one giant orange Award of Merit ribbon! This is the first year that I entered more than one flower show. Usually I just enter the first show, and that's it. This year I decided to enter more than one, and I am really happy with the results! Winning all of these ribbons in the NC State Fair this year really makes me want to win my first peony ribbon. So I am going to try to enter at least a few flowers into the American Peony Society peony exhibition this year. I'll let you know how it goes... :-)
Southern Peony NC State Fair Ribbons

2014 Itoh Intersectional Peonies on Ebay

Intersectional Itoh Peony Roots from Ebay

I did order a few Itoh peonies from Ebay this year. They arrived this past week, and I must say they were mostly decent size roots. Three out of four of the roots I received were fairly large divisions, unlike some divisions I received from Ebay a couple years ago, in my 2012 Ebay Peony Order - American Greenhouses. However these were from a different vendor, which can make all the difference. Also I ordered these peonies in the fall, and the previous ones I ordered were purchased in the summer and were already sprouting. This was probably because these roots had been dug the previous fall and had been sitting around for almost a year. Unfortunately two out of four of the roots from that 2012 order died, and the other two that did live, suffered and are still small.

Intersectional Itoh Peonies on Ebay
Fall is definitely a much better time to order and plant peonies. Since peony roots are typically dug in the fall, this is when you'll get the freshest roots that can be planted quickly, to give the plant the most time to settle in (and hopefully sprout more roots) before spring. The roots I got this time are Peony 'Berry Garcia', Peony 'Canary Brilliants', Peony 'Love Affair', and Peony 'Yellow Heaven'. I can't wait to see how they do in the spring!

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