2014 Peony Sale with Free Shipping at Brooks Gardens

I just couldn't resist putting in one last peony order for the year. Especially when the peonies are on sale with free shipping! I checked out all of my favorite peony vendors to see who was having a good sale and if they had what I was looking for. After moving a few things around this year and giving away a few peonies, I had a couple open spots in my peony gardens that I needed to fill. I was looking for a really good double red peony to fill a spot near my deck where I grow mostly red colored flowers, an A. P. Saunders hybridized peony to fill a spot in my Saunders peony garden, and a multi-layer / multi-color very full bomb type peony to fill a spot in my drain field garden where I grow lots of other multi-color bomb peonies.

Brooks Gardens Peonies Sale
15% Off & Free Shipping
When I came across the Brooks Gardens web site, it said they were having a sale with 15% off all peonies and free shipping. I love free shipping! I found a nice double red peony, Peony 'Henry Bockstoce' and a Saunders peony named Peony 'Skylark'. However I didn't see any multi layer bomb peonies that caught my eye, but I did find Peony 'Prairie Moon', which I have, but I feel sure it is mislabeled. So I'd like to get the correct plant. After filling my cart with 2 out of 3 must haves and another nice to have, I checked out! I got all three of the peonies 15% off and free shipping as well! So if you're looking for a new peony or a few peonies to fill some spots in your garden with beautiful colors, be sure to check out the sale at Brooks Gardens Peonies!

2014 Transplant Lavender Ruffles Peony Seedling

Peony Seedling Test Bed
This is a current picture of my peony seedling test bed. I wanted to transplant my Favorite Peony Seedling - Semi-Double Pink Violet (which I have nicknamed Peony 'Lavender Ruffles') from this peony seedling bed to a place where it will have more room to grow. The Peony 'Lavender Ruffles' is the peony with the light green foliage to the right of the peony with the powdery mildew. Considering its close proximity to the other peonies affected by the powdery mildew and the fact that it has not totally succumbed to the disease, it seems fairly disease resistant.

Peony 'Lavender Ruffles'	Peony 'Lavender Ruffles' Fall Foliage

The foliage of Peony 'Lavender Ruffles' has an interesting pattern in the fall. It appears to be green edged in gold. The plant is also fertile as well. As you can see from the empty seed pod, it produced seeds in its first year of bloom. After digging up the peony plant, the roots and crown appear to be neat with long storage roots emanating from the crown.

Peony 'Lavender Ruffles' Seed Pod	Peony 'Lavender Ruffles' Dug Up

Next I removed the foliage with some pruners before replanting the roots. I moved this peony from my peony seedling bed to my peony seedling test bed. It will have much more room to grow in its new location, and allow me to evaluate it more closely. I also added a garden label beside the roots so that I can find it next spring. When replanting the peony, I accidentally broke off one of its storage roots. I hope it will still bloom again next year. If it does it will have overcome an extra challenge! I can't wait to see how its ruffled lavender blooms look next year!
Peony 'Lavender Ruffles' Pruned and Replanted

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!