2018 Second Peony Bloom of the Season - 'Yao's Yellow' 姚黃 (Yao Huang)

Tree Peony 'Yao's Yellow' 姚黃 (Yao Huang)
The second peony bloom of the season opened today, and it was a tree peony! It is also the first time I have seen this tree peony bloom. So that's nice. I planted this tree peony in the fall of 2016, and it developed its first bud this year. I must say for being called 'Yao's Yellow', it certainly is a bit white. I guess you could call it cream or creamy white. It does seem to match the photo on Cricket Hill's website for 'Yao's Yellow', though. So maybe this variety is just not that yellow. It also seems to have the same double form, a bomb type double, with a nice yellow ring of stamens. It hasn't fully opened yet so I'll be curious to see what it looks like tomorrow. It has a nice scent too.


Tree Peony 'White Phoenix' 鳳丹白 (Feng Dan Bai)
Tree Peony 'White Phoenix' also bloomed today. I thought it might wait for tomorrow, but at the very end of the day, it just started to open. So I guess you could say there was a tie for the second peony bloom of the season here, but technically Tree Peony 'Yao's Yellow' did open first, earlier in the day. This Tree Peony 'White Phoenix' is actually a very good grower here in the South. This is my largest tree peony of any I grow (and the oldest). It is probably about 3 feet tall. I planted it in the spring of 2013. So it is 5 years old this year, and it has 8 buds on it. This was the first of the 8 buds to open this year.

2018 First Peony Bloom of the Season - Red Fernleaf Hybrid

Very Early Red Fernleaf Hybrid Peony
The first peony bloom of the season finally opened to day! It was a red fernleaf hybrid peony, big surprise! This is most often the first peony to bloom in my garden. Sometimes another very early peony will open first, but not this year. The red fernleaf hybrid wins again. I took this photo around lunch time, but didn't have the chance to go out to take another photograph later in the day. There was a huge red ant working on this one, though. So I'm sure the bloom was much more open by the end of the day. What's all that yellow powder all over the peony, you ask? Pollen, and lots of it! Pine tree pollen is what creates the most mess, and my neighbors have lots of pine trees. If you live in the South, you probably know exactly what pollen season is all about. We practically swim in it for a few weeks! Here's hoping for the next rain shower to come quick!

2018 Southern Peony Intersectional Peony 'Hillary' Winner Selected

Intersectional Peony 'Hillary'
Well, many of you made guesses as to what intersectional peony the lucky winner would be receiving (to celebrate our latest milestone - 2018 Southern Peony Hits 250,000 Pageviews!!), and many of you guessed right! It is Intersectional Peony 'Hillary', a gorgeous double flowering peony with many shades of pink, hybridized by Roger Anderson and registered in 1999. If you don't grow this peony, I highly recommend it. The flowers on this peony are huge, with so many petals, and of a color that is not too common in intersectionals. The winner of the lovely peony has already been emailed. The winner has 3 days to respond, and if no response, another name will be selected. Congrats!!!

2018 The Wasp and The Ladybug (on the Peony)

The Wasp and The Ladybug
Today was the first 70 degree day we've had since February (when we oddly had an entire week of 70s). With all of this warm weather the peonies continued to grow, and all of the bugs decided to come out today as well. There were so many wasps on and flying around my peonies today, searching for and finding plenty of sweet nectar to eat off of my peony buds. They were doing the peonies no harm, and as long as they found no threat in me, did me no harm either. Wasps are definitely not my favorite flying insects, especially since I just got stung by one last year that was underneath my deck. However I'm sure they just get a bad rap, and are most likely needed, just like bees, to aid in pollination. So unless they are making nests on my front or back porch, I'm inclined to leave them be.
Peony Nectar, The Ladybug's Afternoon Snack
When I spotted this wasp trying to land on the same peony bud as this bright red ladybug, I couldn't resist taking some photos. "The Wasp and The Ladybug"... It sounds like some sort of fable, like I need to make up an entertaining story about these two. Well, the real story was that this ladybug had already found its afternoon snack, and the wasp came along and tried to take it from the ladybug. The wasp was quite persistent, but the ladybug maintained its ground, and eventually was the victor of this food battle. This bright red ladybug is just too cute. I don't remember if I've ever seen one on one of my peony buds before. Ladybugs are supposed to be good luck. Let's hope that means the peonies will be blooming well this year. With all the cold weather we've had this March (until today), you can probably imagine that I'm getting a little impatient waiting for the peony buds to start opening... Let's hope they bloom soon!
The Ladybug "Cleaning" the Peony Bud

2018 Well-Priced Peonies for Sale at Hardware Store - Lowe's

Herbaceous Peonies Offered For Sale at Lowe's
It's not exactly the best season to plant them, but if you need herbaceous peonies and you need them right now, then now might be a good time to stop into your local Lowe's Home Improvement store to grab some of these well-priced peonies. What especially caught my eye wasn't just the price, but also the selection. Yes, they have some of the well known and widely distributed standard varieties - Peony 'Dr. Alexander Fleming', Peony 'Felix Crousse', and Peony 'Sorbet', but they also have a coral peony for sale - Peony 'Coral Sunset'. This is the first time I've seen a coral peony offered as a bare root bagged and carded peony in a big box store. If you don't yet have a coral peony, this might be your opportunity to snag one for a great price!
Peony 'Coral Sunset' for $6.98 per Root!