2018 Peony 'Yellow Crown' on Front Cover of k. van Bourgondien Catalog

k. van Bourgondien Catalog Cover Spring 2018
Peony 'Yellow Crown'
It was nice to receive an 8X10 full color glossy catalog in the mail with a photo of a yellow intersectional peony on the front of it. I have ordered from k. van Bourgondien in the past, but have unsubscribed from their catalog. I guess they decided to send me one more, and when I received this one with its huge, yellow intersectional blooms on the front, I couldn't help but smile. I know that it may be a gamble to order from them, and the prices are temptingly low $35 each or 3 for $80 (for most varieties), but you may not get the varieties you are hoping for. If nothing else, hopefully this will get people more interested in peonies. Intersectional peonies are such great growers, even if we just get one mislabeled variety into the hands of more gardeners, it will pique their interest in peonies and make them hungry for more! Then hopefully we can point them in the direction of more reliable, direct from the peony farm growers. :-)
k. van Bourgondien Spring 2018
Intersectional Peony Offerings

2018 Technology in the Peony Garden

Today being the first day of February, and my dead peony stems having not been cut down yet, well, it seemed like the right day to do it. Spring will be here before we know it - no matter what Sir Walter Wally, the groundhog, says tomorrow. The weather man said that today's high of 59 would be the warmest day in the next 7 days. So it seemed like a great day to take advantage of the nice weather and get caught up on a gardening chore that I am exceptionally behind on. Being so behind, at first I just started to cut the stems to get it done as quickly as possible, intentionally skipping the recording of the number of peony stems, but then I had an idea...

Technology in the Peony Garden
Voice Dictated Memo Recording Peony Stem Counts
I decided to use my phone as a way to dictate the data, saving myself the trouble and time of printing out a chart, carrying a clipboard and pen into the garden, and taking the time between each plant to make the record (and trying to find my pen!) I once dreamed of bringing a tablet into the garden during my 2015 Peony Clipboard Data Entry, but now modern mobile phones are basically mini tablets. The smaller size made it even more convenient because I could just stow my phone in my pocket between clips, eliminating the need to carry and keep up with a tablet. Using the voice record feature in the Memo app, I just spoke all of my notes, and the phone typed them for me. Now that I've seen the light - the ease of using technology in the garden, I may never look back. Plus I'll be saving some trees and money in the process by eliminating the need for paper. It feels good all the way around. Have you used technology to help in the garden? If so, in what ways have you used technology in the garden and how has it helped you?

2018 OMG!!! We're Going to Luoyang China for the Biggest Peony Festival in the World!!

I have been waiting for this for a long time. I'm not sure how I got here, but I finally did! The travel is booked, the flight and the hotel. My whole family is going to visit Luoyang, China to take part in the biggest peony festival in the world!!! I am so excited. :-D Now I just need to get the documents in order, passports, visas, etc. My husband's parents are going to come from Shanghai to meet us there as well. I am really looking forward to everyone meeting together in such a beautiful and happy environment amongst all of the gorgeous peonies in bloom.
Peony Festival in Luoyang, China
Don't worry. I will bring you a complete review and of course lots of photos of all of the gardens I visit. There will be more tree peonies than I've ever seen before in one place, and this time they will be in bloom, unlike my trip to see 2013 Peonies in Beijing, Shanghai, and Suzhou China when they were all dormant. I can only imagine it now, and I will do my best to capture everything I can to memorialize and share all of the colorful peony blossoms with the everyone!

2018 Planting Peony Seeds (Late!) ((Again!!))

The peony seeds I planted today are pretty important seeds actually. I purchased them from the APS Seed Distribution Program last year, and some of them are seeds from a really great peony hybridizer that I just missed my opportunity to interview. I had spoken with him by phone just a few days before he passed, and I think he wasn't feeling well. He told me to call him back another time, but unfortunately that "another time" never came. His name was Bill Seidl, and I had the extreme pleasure of visiting his garden after the APS Convention in 2016, where I was able to meet him, hear a few of his stories, and collect 2016 Peony 'Dreamtime' Pollen from Bill Seidl's Garden.
Bill Seidl and Nate Bremer 2016
Some these seeds I ordered are also from Nate Bremer's garden since the seed packs start with "NB-" and appear to be hybrids of some of Bill's and Nate's introductions. I did have the pleasure of interviewing Nate in 2016, and you can read the results of that interview here, 2016 Peony Hybridizer Interview - Nate Bremer. I am very excited to plant these seeds from both of these very successful hybridizers that are helping to create future peony hybrids. In honor of both of them, I thought I'd share a photo of them together and a group photo we took in Bill's garden during my visit in 2016. Most of the seeds I ordered last year were hand pollinated by these two gentleman, for which I am very grateful.
APS Members in Bill Seidl's Garden 2016
So it looks like this is what I ended up with:

2017 APS Seeds
Dreamtime	5 seeds
Dreamtime X Seidl Super	5 seeds
Dreamtime X Vanilla Gorilla	5 seeds
Lemon Chiffon	12 seeds
NB-???? (Captain Kate X MRV-11)	5 seeds
NB-SH79 (Captain Kate X Angel Emily)	5 seeds
NB-SH82 (Angel Emily X MRV-11)	5 seeds
NB-SH88 (Rockii hybrid X Captain Kate)	6 seeds
NB-SH89 (MRV-11 X MRV-4)	5 seeds

Let's see what sprouts!!!

2018 5+ Inches of Snow on Southern Peonies!

5+ Inches of Snow
Well, I'm not sure how we went from 5+ inches of snow cover 4 days ago to no snow and temperatures in the 60s today and tomorrow, but that is definitely North Carolina winter weather for you. We are still experiencing a "Moderate Drought" period right now. So we can definitely use the moisture from the melted snow. I decided to take the opportunity during these couple of warmish days to plant some seeds that I didn't get a chance to plant this past fall. I know the germination rates will probably not be as good planting them now, as they would have been if I'd planted them in the fall, but hopefully they'll all still be okay. I took a small opportunity to get the peony seed garden markers ready for planting, and I am really excited about getting an extra chance to get these special peony seeds in the ground!
Peony Seed Garden Markers