2016 Peony 'Nova' Buds Snaking Out of the Ground

With over two weeks of weather in the 70s, all of my peonies are popping up. Even Peony 'Nova' is snaking its way out of the ground. With all of this warm weather those 2016 Very Early Peony 'Nova' Buds Emerge First are still alive. Only that one bud was blasted last month. The rest of them are fine. Now three more buds have emerged to join those early two. One of them is snaking its way up out of the ground and another one is about to bloom before it even grows up out of the ground. It is really exciting to see them make so much progress in the last two weeks! However, the last couple days have turned colder (just in time for the start of spring!), and the overnight temperatures for last night and tonight are in the 30s. Tonight's overnight forecast is 35 degrees. So it should stay above freezing. Let's hope so, I am eager to see these beauties in full bloom!
Peony 'Nova' Snaking Out of the Ground

2016 Peony Experiment - 2 Year Old Root Grows

Peony 'Silver Dawn Mix' Sprouted
It's alive! Peony 'Silver Dawn Mix' has sprouted!!! Yay! It's not a very large sprout, but it is still alive. Since this peony did at least come up, I think I'll be able to nurture it to maturity. It might take a while to get a bloom on it, but I'm sure that it will get one eventually. This peony seems like a survivor! Even though I left this peony in a box for 2 years before planting it, which turned it into a 2015 Peony Experiment - Planting 2 Year Old Root, and it still came up, I would not recommend doing the same thing. I'm sure this peony degraded over time and lost quite a bit of energy and moisture, which would have helped it send up a much larger sprout and get a much better start in my garden. Also it lost two years of growing time and potential increase. So you'd be much better off planting your peonies right away. However, if you do happen to find one that's been sitting around for a while, it's worth a shot to plant it out and see it if grows! I'll be very curious to see what color blooms this peony has on it when it finally does bloom. Since this peony is from the 'Silver Dawn Mix', it could be a range of pale yellow to peach to pink colors. I guess only time will tell...

Peony 'Silver Dawn Mix'

2016 Peony 'Coral Charm' Goes to Grandma's House

I went to visit my Grandma on Friday and took a look around her garden while I was there. I asked her if she already had a coral peony, and she said she did not. So I just couldn't resist giving her one of my 2016 Peony 'Coral Charm' Has Many Adventitious Roots plants. This time I was really careful digging out the root. Since it had already been severed when I originally divided the plant, it was really easy to dig her up a division. I made sure to get the whole piece of root to hopefully keep the plant from experiencing too much shock, and also to make sure I don't end up with another Peony 'Coral Charm' plant even farther away from the mother. I pretty much got the whole thing. It looks like I only lost a tiny piece of one very small side root.

Peony 'Coral Charm' Division
So this peony went to stay at Grandma's house. Who doesn't love going to Grandma's house? I dug this division up Saturday morning and took it to her house right away. I helped her plant it just 4 hours later. So hopefully the plant will grow well and thrive for her. Inside those red foliage shoots I can see that this Peony 'Coral Charm' plant already has small buds developing on it. I am excited and hopeful that it will bloom for her this spring too!

2016 Peony 'Sarah Bernhardt' for $1.69 at Aldi's!

I think it was as much curiosity as it was a love for peonies (and a great deal) that prompted me to buy this 'Sarah Bernhardt' peony at Aldi's. This peony is priced at only $1.69! I couldn't believe it! I thought the price was $4.99 (and I was going to try one even for that price), but the price was actually just $1.69! That is not a markdown price. That is their original price. I have never seen a peony sold for that low of a price before!
Gardenline Peony 'Sarah Bernhardt' from Aldi's
Of course I know, you get what you pay for. Of course the root on this peony is very small, and I'm sure it will take a long time for it to become an established plant. Also it may not even be the variety advertised. However, for only $1.69, I don't think I'll be complaining too much. The root is very small, but it looks very healthy with two large growth buds on it. There is no mold, and it seems to have been kept moist enough so that it didn't dry out. So if you're interested in getting a small, but healthy peony for $1.69 run over to your local Aldi's store (if you're lucky enough to have one) and pick up one (or three) of these very low price roots!
Gardenline Peony 'Sarah Bernhardt' Root from Aldi's
Aldi's does have more than one variety of peony available for the $1.69 price point. The dark pink peony 'Karl Rosenfield' is the same price. They are also selling several types of glads, dahlias, and lilies priced at $1.69 too. So if you'd like to round out your garden with a few other types of bulbs, you should definitely check out their selection. I picked up a couple bags of lilies for myself and my grandmother as well. If you are new to peonies or know someone who is new to peonies, these would be great to get someone interested in peonies. Once they have one, they will need more! These would also be wonderful gifts for friends or neighbors that have always wanted to try growing peonies!

2016 Peony 'Coral Charm' Has Many Adventitious Roots

In my 2016 It's Starting... Tree Peonies are Waking Up! post, I mentioned that my coral peonies were starting to wake up too. Well, one of them, Peony 'Coral Charm', is waking up in a big way - all over the place! This peony loves to multiply and spread. It apparently also has the feature of developing growth buds on its roots, called adventitious roots. Another peony of mine also has this feature - 2013 Peony 'Grace Root' Adventitious Bud Stem Flower. I hadn't really noticed this feature in Peony 'Coral Charm' until last year when it started to get one side shoot. I think this all started when I divided this peony to donate a large piece of it as a part of the 2013 APS Peony Donation to JC Raulston Arboretum. Apparently all of the severed roots that were left in the ground have now decided to regenerate and grow their own buds and crown to create lots of new plants. So now this year it has lots of side shoots (at least 15)!!! I think I'll be giving one of these to my grandma for sure. I may donate one for the American Peony Society convention or fall auction as well. :-)


Peony 'Coral Charm' with Adventitious Shoots