2018 Peonies and Digging Dogs Do Not Mix!

Herbaceous Peony 'First Lady' Dug Up and Severed
I had just moved a couple herbaceous peonies that were not getting enough sun into a bed with much more sun. The next day this is what I find! Terrible! This newly replanted peony root had been dug up, flung from its planting hole, with several of the large storage roots severed, and one pink eye severed as well. I did manage to get what was left of this peony replanted again, dispose of the severed storage roots, and replace the mulch on it. Then I gave it a good watering. I don't think this peony will be able to bloom this year. If somehow it does, I will let you know.
Peony 'First Lady' Replanted
(and Trying to Regain Her Dignity)
This is just no way to treat a 'First Lady'! We do have leash laws here, but unfortunately many people let their dogs loose to do as they please and destroy other's property. Very unfortunate. I hope this peony will come back, but it may take a couple extra years now. This seems to be just yet another loss after several other disappointing losses this year. The stems on several of my tree and intersectional peonies have been broken by some wildlife as well, it seems. How do you protect your peonies from animals and wildlife?


Broken Stem on
Intersectional Peony 'Smith Family Yellow'

Broken Stem on
Tree Peony 'Li Yuan Chun' 李园春

Broken Stem (with Bud!) on
Tree Peony 'White Phoenix' 鳳丹白 (Feng Dan Bai)

2018 Southern Peony Hits 250,000 Pageviews!!

Wow! Southern Peony has just hit two hundred and fifty thousand pageviews, thats 250,000, that's a quarter of a million!!! Thanks to all of you - we've made it this far. I appreciate all of the likes and shares on social media. We've also reached over 250 likes/followers on Facebook. :-) I also enjoy reading and responding to the comments you leave here. It's also great when you tell your friends about us and help us share the peony wealth! That is the goal - to spread the love of peonies far and wide. To that end we are hosting another giveaway, just like our last one, 2015 Southern Peony Giveaway - Itoh Peony 'Bartzella', except this time, we are giving away a different Intersectional Peony...
Southern Peony Reaches 250,000 Pageviews
Intersectional peonies really do grow so well here in the South. I recently heard from our last winner, and she said her Peony 'Bartzella' plant is doing well and developing buds again this year. How exciting! The winner of this year's peony will be drawn from our email subscriber list on March 31, 2018, and the peony root will be shipped this fall. So if you'd like to join us, please do. We just got a new email format too, 2018 Southern Peony Gets New Email Format. The name of the intersectional peony will be announced later this month. Stay tuned!

2018 Peony New Growth Foliage Colors

I've been wanting to do a survey like this for a long time. Foliage Color has been an item on my Surveys page for years, with no activity under it. Finally, I am able to starting recording something here. I've always thought it was neat how the new foliage of herbaceous peonies varied so much. I don't really see this kind of variation in the new foliage of intersectional peonies or tree peonies. So this article will focus mostly on herbaceous peonies. If you've not yet noticed the beautiful color variations in the new peony foliage, I'm about to open your eyes. Growing peonies to see the blooms is only part of the fun. Watching their new stems unfurl each spring, with bright neon green, scarlet red, or a lavender-tinted pink new foliage is just so exciting.

Herbaceous Peonies New Foliage Colors
Below you will find a sampling of some of the new peony foliage colors in my garden. The deep foliage colors of the chocolate peonies is so titillating. The bright neon green of the golden herbaceous peonies is so surprising. The red stems of the coral peonies seems so fitting. The lavender-pink foliage of the lavender peonies is so sweet. If you don't have peonies with a range of new spring foliage colors, now might be the time to start thinking about which peonies you'll add to your garden this fall to excite and entertain you next spring.

New Foliage Colors Peony 'Horizon'	New Foliage Colors Peony 'Golden Wheel'
New Foliage Colors Peony 'Lavender'	New Foliage Colors Peony 'Roselette's Baby'
New Foliage Colors Peony 'Many Happy Returns'	New Foliage Colors Peony 'Perfect Princess'
New Foliage Colors Peony 'Grace Root'	New Foliage Colors Peony 'Flame'
New Foliage Colors Peony 'Rose Garland'	New Foliage Colors Peony 'Lustrous'
New Foliage Colors Peony 'Paula Fay'	New Foliage Colors Peony 'Great Lady'
New Foliage Colors Peony 'Sarah Bernhardt'	New Foliage Colors Peony 'Paladin'
New Foliage Colors Peony 'Coral Charm'	New Foliage Colors Peony 'Coral Fay'
New Foliage Colors Peony 'Do Tell'	New Foliage Colors Peony 'Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt'
New Foliage Colors Peony 'Martha W.'	New Foliage Colors Peony 'Dark Chocolate'
New Foliage Colors Peony 'Gay Paree'	New Foliage Colors Peony 'Lake o' Silver'
New Foliage Colors Tree Peony 'Fuchsia Ruffles'

2018 Peony Companions Hyacinth Bulbs

I must say when I saw these pale pink hyacinths playing so nicely together with the new burgundy colored foliage of my Intersectional Peony 'Bartzella', I just had to snap a photo. I must admit that hyacinths are my favorite spring bulb, ever. (***So I'm not biased at all here.) But I really do think that hyacinths make great companions for peonies. It doesn't hurt that deer (or most any other animal) won't touch hyacinths. Hyacinths bloom a bit earlier in the season than peonies. So you get some nice candy colored blooms before your peonies are ready to flower, and the flower clusters of the hyacinths get a chance to play with the up and coming peony foliage. What a beautiful combination.
Pale Pink Hyacinth with Peony 'Bartzella' New Foliage
Hyacinth bulbs only last a few years for me here in the South. So you will likely have to replant them after a few years, but to me they are worth it! There are so many colors of hyacinths to choose from - all shades of pink, lavender-blue, deep purple, coral, pale yellow, white, purple-black. The color options are almost endless. If hyacinths aren't your thing, there are many other spring bulbs to choose from to get your garden flowering long before the peonies pop! If you'd like to see some of our other ideas for peony companions, check them out here: Peony Companions.

2018 Southern Peony Gets New Email Format

Southern Peony is getting a brand new email format. We are moving away from the Feedburner service and are now starting to use the Mail Chimp service. It offers much more flexibility when it comes to customizing and designing the email layouts. Our new email layout has links right in the email that allow you to like and share our articles on social media. We appreciate all of the likes, shares, and comments on our content. We hope you all continue to share our page and our articles with your gardening friends. The format also works well on mobile devices, such as phones and tablets too. I hope you all enjoy the new look, and if you haven't signed up for our email newsletter yet, you can do so on the left side of our page under "Subscribe via Email". We are on track to hit 250,000 pageviews this month, and we will be doing another giveaway like the one we did in 2015 to celebrate 100,000 pageviews, 2015 Southern Peony Giveaway - Itoh Peony 'Bartzella'! The winning name will be drawn from our email subscriber list. So now's the time to sign up if you're not already on our mailing list!

Southern Peony New Email Format