2015 Cut First Stems for APS Peony Exhibition

Well, I did it. I read up on this article on the Canadian Peony web site by Don Hollingsworth about Cutting and Storing Peony Flowers for Later Use, and I cut my first peonies for exhibition. It actually hurt a little bit, knowing I'd be missing several peonies from my garden this year. However I suppose lots more people will get to see them this year instead of just me (if all goes well)! Plus I guess it is kind of like giving someone a bouquet of peonies from my garden as a gift, only I had to cut the plants back a little more than I normally would for a vase since you need to allow for these peony stems to be recut later. This allows you to cut off a couple inches of the stem at the bottom that has dried out during storage. Then hopefully the recut peonies will be able to take in some fresh water and open up the day before they are to be exhibited.
Peony Stems Cut for APS Peony Exhibition
As you can see I cut several different varieties of peonies. Since I'm not a professional grower/peony seller, I don't have fields full of rows of the same varieties of peonies. So I can't just cut 10 or 20 stems of one variety. That would probably kill my plant (if they even have that many stems)! So I just cut 1 or 2 stems from several different peony varieties. If a flower doesn't open well, then I will probably not be able to show that variety since I will only have 1 or 2 cut stems of each variety to choose from. Also as you can see from the photo, I cut the stems in varying stages of bud progress. Some of the buds are tightly closed, and others are partially open. This is due to the advice I found in the article that said single petaled peonies should be cut more closed and double petaled peonies should be cut a bit more open. Supposedly double petaled peonies open slower than single petaled peonies. So cutting them in different stages is in hopes that the double peonies will be able to fully open for showing, and that the single peonies don't age too much in storage or when they open. So cutting peonies for showing sounds like quite a game that definitely rewards experienced players. Since I don't have much (any) experience, I guess I'm hoping for a little luck! :-)

Cut Peony Stems
Waiting to be Wrapped, Bagged, and Refridgerated

2015 Free Peony Seeds from APS Seed Program

I got my free seeds from the American Peony Society Seed Distribution Progam this week! The APS has a benefit that allows seed donors to select a free packet of peony seeds for every 2 varieties of peony seeds you donate. I donated seeds last fall to the program, which allowed me to pick out Free Seeds for Peony Seed Donors when the seeds are distributed in the spring. Last year was the first year I donated seeds to the program. In previous years, I have purchased seeds from the program. So it was nice to get free peony seeds this year! I got every variety I requested, except one that was sold out. I ordered p. clusii, p. ludlowii, p. mascula subsp. bodurii, Zi Die Ying Fen- (Purple Butterfly in the Wind), and Jack Nordick’s Lactiflora Mixture. Apparently p. mascula subsp. bodurii was already sold out. So p. delavayi was substituted. I ordered these seeds only about a week after the peony seed list was posted to the web. So popular seeds sell out quickly. If you haven't gotten your order in yet, now's the time to do it before all of the best varieties are sold out!
Free Seeds from the APS Seed Distribution Program
I planted the seeds in my peony seedling bed a couple days after I received them. There was a space in the bed where several species peony varieties never sprouted for me. These were seeds I'd purchased from the APS Seed Program and planted in 2010. I think 5 years is long enough to wait to see if they will sprout. So some new species seeds have their spot now, and we'll see next spring if any of these seeds germinate!

2015 Peony Experiments - Herbaceous Divisions Grow

Peony Experiments - Herbaceous Divisions Grow
Remember those outcast herbaceous peony root stumps I had left over last fall after dividing my peonies? Each of these pieces had an eye on it, so I decided to plant them as Peony Experiments - Herbaceous Divisions. It seems like they are growing (well, most of them)! Both of the Peony 'Scarlet O'Hara' stumps are growing. The unknown white double peony stump is growing. It is labeled in the photo as Peony 'Top Brass' since that's what it was sold to me as (unfortunately that cultivar name was incorrect). The only one that didn't grow was the white and yellow anemone peony, which is labeled as Peony 'Rushlight' in the photo. This peony too was labeled incorrectly. Originally I divided these peonies to give them away at the plant swap. Now that these divisions have grown, I can give away or donate even more peonies in the future. I guess the moral of this story is, no matter how small a peony division you end up with after dividing your peonies, plant even the smallest pieces if they have eyes on them. They may just grow for you and make a new plant!

Peony 'Scarlet O'Hara' Root Stumps Grow


White Double Peony Root Stump Grows


White and Yellow Anemone Peony Root Stump Does Not Grow

2015 Peony Blooms Week 1 - Very Early

The very early peony season this year had only a few contributors. We had a very late cold winter, and it apparently harmed many of the early blooming peonies. Peony 'Early Scout', usually one of the first peonies to bloom in my garden, didn't even make an appearance this year. The buds developed about half way, and then stopped, never to open. The only two tree peonies that had buds this year both bloomed. (My tree peony garden is very immature, and most of the plants are still very small.) So apparently the Tree Peonies in Ice with the foliage and buds exposed to freezing cold didn't bother them at all, but hurt the early herbaceous peonies quite a bit. Tree Peony 'Kamata-fuji' was a New Peony Color Light Violet 76B in my garden, and Tree Peony 'White Phoenix' was the First Peony Bloom of the Year! Near the end of the week Peony 'Roy Pehrson's Best Yellow' opened, which is always a delight. Peony 'Coral Fay' also joined the party, and no, that photo is not upside down. This bloom was nodding quite a bit, so much so that it looks upside down! :-)

Tree Peony 'White Phoenix'	Tree Peony 'Kamata-fuji'
Peony 'Roy Pehrson's Best Yellow'	Peony 'Coral Fay'

2015 New Peony Color Light Violet 76B 'Kamata-fuji'

Tree Peony 'Kamata-fuji'
The second peony of the year bloomed in my garden today, and it was another tree peony, Peony 'Kamata-fuji'. As soon as I first saw the petals emerging from the swollen bud, I was in love with its color! And what a beautiful color it is - the most wonderful color of lavender - unlike any other peony in my garden so far. According to the RHS (Royal Hortircultural Society) Colour Chart it is a Light Violet 76B. Lavender is my favorite color, and I am so happy to have a tree peony blooming in this color. It is also exciting to be able to add another color category to my Peony Colors page where I track all of the bloom colors of the peonies I grow according to the RHS Mini Colour Chart.
Comparing Tree Peony 'Kamata-fuji' to the RHS Mini Colour Chart