2015 Lavender Ruffles Peony Seedling Becomes Double

Lavender Ruffles Peony Becomes Double
It looks the like my Favorite Peony Seedling a Semi-Double Pink Violet that I had from my peony seedling garden last year has become a double. It was a semi double lavender pink peony in my peony seedling bed that I nicknamed Lavender Ruffles last year. I Transplanted Lavender Ruffles Peony Seedling last fall to a less crowded peony seedling bed so I could keep a better eye on it. It is a seedling of Peony 'Lavender Princess'. This peony has bright green foliage and multiple buds per stem. However I'm not sure if the plant has enough energy to open more than one bloom this year. Perhaps next year I'll get multiple blooms. Oh how exciting to grow a brand new unique plant with unique genes! I can't wait to see how many petals this royal beauty has next year!

2015 Peonies in Their Party Hats

The peonies in my garden put their party hats on yesterday. They have yellow hats, blue hats, and hats wih polka dots. No, it's not the Peony Kentucky Derby. However the 2015 American Peony Society Convention is in Louisville, Kentucky this year - in just a few short days no less! We just did miss the actual Derby. Instead of horses, we'll be racing peonies.
Peonies in Their Party Hats
Peony 'Miss America'
Actually those hats are colorful bags protecting the crosses I am trying to make this year. They are sitting above the stems on Peony 'Miss America'. Seems like a good person to have for a mother right, Miss America? With a title like that her children should be beauties! I am trying to hybridize her with pollen from my tree peony garden. We'll see if it works or not. I am more determined this year. The last time I tried this I got nothing - no children (seeds) at all. This time instead of putting the pollen on just once and covering it up, I am putting it on there like every morning hoping to get the timing on the fertility just right this time. We'll see if it makes any difference or not. I am a little worried about the pollen, though. I didn't get it into the fridge right away. It took me a couple days. So I'm not sure if it is still any good or not. I hope so. It seems like it would be good for a couple days outside. So maybe there will be a few in there that are still alive! I hope so.

2015 Peony Blooms Week 3 - Early Mid

The number of blooms are definitely reduced this year, even in the early mid season week 3 group of blooms. Peony 'Garden Peace' was one of my Early Peonies Suffered Frozen Bud Blast. This peony did, however, manage to bloom with its surviving side buds. 1/3 of Peony 'Lovely Rose's buds were blasted in the cold, and 1/4 of Peony 'Great Lady's buds were blasted as well. Peony 'Cream Delight', Peony 'Ludovica', and Peony 'Soft Lemon Kisses' buds seemed to be unaffected by the late cold snap. I'm hoping the mid and late season peonies will be putting on a nice show this year since it feels like I missed out on a lot of early blooms!

Peony 'Lovely Rose'	Peony 'Garden Peace'
Peony 'Cream Delight'	Peony 'Great Lady'
Peony 'Ludovica'	Peony 'Soft Lemon Kisses'

2015 Peony Donation for Carolina Plant Swap

Yesterday I was so excited to be able to bring three blooming peonies to the Carolina Plant Swap. These three peonies are all unique peonies I grew from seed. They are all single blooming peonies that bloom early. Two of these peonies, a light pink one and a dark pink one, came from seed from Peony 'Pink Princess'. The other dark pink peony came from seed from Peony 'Lady Alexandra Duff'. I hope these peonies will increase in bloom and size each year and the recipients of the peonies will enjoy them for years to come. Peonies do not generally like to be moved in spring. So these need to be planted right away. These peonies may sulk a bit this year. Don't worry. Don't fertilize them or overwater them. They just need some time to get established and settled into their new homes. Next year they should come back bigger and even better! :-) Enjoy!
Peony Donation for Carolina Plant Swap

2015 Early Peonies Suffered Frozen Bud Blast

Despite the gorgeous photos of my 2015 Peony Blooms Week 2 - Early, my early peonies suffered quite a bit of bud blast this year from our late winter weather and overnight freezing temperatures. During March we had 4 nights with freezing weather where the temperatures dipped into the 20s at night. The average night time temperatures for this area in March are in the 30s and 40s. The first three nights with 20° temperatures were on March 1st, 6th, and 7th. The peony buds probably would have been okay at this point, but on March 29th, we experienced a 22° low, after the lows had been in the 30s and 40s subsequently. There was even a low of 57° only three nights prior. All of this adds up to damaged buds on peonies that were preparing to bloom in early April. However the late freeze not only stopped the bud growth in its tracks, it even wasted a few stems on some early herbaceous peonies as well.

Peony 'Lemon Chiffon' Main Bud Blasted, Side Bud Grows	Peony 'Roy Pehrson's Best Yellow' Main Bud Blasted, Side Bud Grows
Peony 'Lemon Chiffon' Main Bud Blasted	Peony 'Roy Pehrson's Best Yellow' Main Bud Blasted

The photos of these two peonies, Peony 'Lemon Chiffon' and Peony 'Roy Pehrson's Best Yellow' both show an example of something I noticed on several early peonies this year that usually have multiple blooms per stem. The main (and most developed) bud suffered bud blast, while the later developing side buds were not affected and were able to continue developing. So the stage of bud development definitely has some bearing on whether the buds will survive such cold weather. The more developed the bud when the cold hits, the less chance it has of surviving. There are also lots of examples of peonies whose main buds were blasted, leaving no survivig buds on the stem. These are usually on peonies that only have one bloom per stem like Peony 'Nova' and Peony 'Honor'.

Peony 'Nova' Main Bud Blasted	Peony 'Honor' Main Bud Blasted

Peony 'Lustrous' Main Bud Blasted	Peony 'Early Scout' Main Bud Blasted

Peony 'Firelight' seemed to suffer the most from the late freeze in my garden this year. Although it did manage to get a few blooms open, the majority of the buds on this plant were blasted by the freezing cold weather. Its foliage growth was even stunted by the cold air. On a couple of stems on this plant, not just the buds were blasted, but the actual stem was wasted by the frigid temps. You can see a couple of these wasted stems in the photo hanging limply with their blasted buds upside down. This tough peony was not to be defeated though, as it sent up and extra latecomer - a replacement stem with a bud ready to bloom on it!


Peony 'Firelight' Buds Blasted, Foliage Stunted, and Stems Wasted


Peony 'Firelight' Sends Up a Replacement Stem