2018 Straight Line Winds Flatten Tree Peony 'Koukamon' 皇嘉門 (Floral Gate)

Tree Peony 'Koukamon' 皇嘉門 (Floral Gate) Flattened
Wow! We had a doozy of a storm last night. It definitely could have been much worse. There were tornadoes maybe an hour west of here. The worst damage I found in my garden was that my Tree Peony 'Koukamon' 皇嘉門 (Floral Gate) had been flattened. When I first saw it from afar, I was really worried that it had snapped off, but it didn't! That was really lucky. It was laying pretty much flat on the ground. Somehow it just bent over without breaking. The weight of the water in the flower combined with the straight line winds was just too much for it.
Tree Peony 'Koukamon' 皇嘉門 (Floral Gate) Righted
I was able to right it, and stake it up with a bamboo stake and some twine. I think it will be okay, but we'll see. I can't wait to see the bloom open on this tree peony. Having just saved it seems to make it all the more special. This will be the first time this tree peony has bloomed for me. I planted it in 2017, and it seems to be happy and growing well. This particular plant also appears to be the correct variety, which several of my tree peonies are not. I will try to publish a post on that later about peonies and which ones have been true to name. This Tree Peony 'Koukamon' has a dark purple maroon color bud on it right now. I expect it will open fully tomorrow. I can't wait!
Tree Peony 'Koukamon' 皇嘉門 (Floral Gate) Bloom

2018 I'm in Love (Again!) with Tree Peony 'Fuchsia Ruffles'

Tree Peony 'Fuchsia Ruffles'
I don't know how it's happened, but yet another tree peony from Solaris Farms has stolen my heart! Last year it was 2017 In Love with Tree Peony 'Angel Emily'. This year it's Tree Peony 'Fuchsia Ruffles'. Purple is most definitely my favorite color, and this tree peony has quite a bit of purple. It is a lovely, deep shade of fuchsia, a dark pinky-purple. It appears to be RHS Purple 71A on the RHS Color Chart. Let's just say this flower is aptly named, with loads of deep fuchsia petals, all with a ruffled, frilly edge.
RHS Purple Color Chart with
Tree Peony 'Fuchsia Ruffles' Just Opening
I think Solaris Farms is trying to make all of the die-hard herbaceous peony fans into tree peony fans, and they're doing a fantastic job of it! For years I tried to grow tree peonies, but was unsucessful - and growing tree peonies shouldn't be that hard to do here. It was likely low quality bare root tree peonies (from less reputable sellers) and maybe a bit of inexperience (okay maybe a lot!) that caused several of my first tree peonies to fail. However Solaris Farms sends huge, beautiful roots, well adapted and ready to take root in your garden. I can't say enough good things about the tree peonies I've purchased from them. Now I can't wait to see what's next!
Tree Peony 'Fuchsia Ruffles' Up Close

2018 Peony Blooms - Week 1 Very Early

Well, I think the peony bloom season has gotten off to a pretty good start this year, despite the extended period of cold weather we've been having this year. The bloom season did not start at the end of March (which it sometimes does). April has been shaping up to be pretty cool too so far. If you don't have any very early peony blooms in your garden, I'd definitely recommend looking up one of these varieties to purchase. It just make you feel so happy seeing these first early peony blooms begin to open! I think my favorite of this week's blooms has definitely been the Paeonia Rockii tree peony that I grew from seed. I just love the color, and the nice dark purple flares radiating from the center. The red fernleaf hybrid peony and Peony 'Roy Pehrson's Best Yellow' are both pretty reliable very early bloomers for me here. Tree Peony 'Yao's Yellow' bloomed for me for the first time this year, and it smells heavenly! Which bloom is your favorite???

Tree Peony P. Rockii Seedling


Peony 'Yao's Yellow'


Red Fernleaf Hybrid Peony


Peony 'Roy Pehrson's Best Yellow'

2018 Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' Arrives

Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' Potted Up
My intersectional peonies from 2018 Tulip World Offers Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' for $12.95! arrived this past Friday, and I immediately potted them up. The foliage had already been growing in the bag for some time. Whenever I've gotten roots like this and planted them out in their spot in the garden in the past, the foliage seems to burn up in the sun and die. I think they've been in the bag in the dark too long, and started growing in almost no light or completely no light. That's why the foliage growth is so pale. Then when I plant them out in their full sun location, the intensity of the sun's rays are just too much for the immature foliage that has been growing in the dark. So this time I decided to try potting them up and putting them in the shade for a little while, until I'm satisfied that the foliage is growing well and will live. It's kind of like hardening off plants that you've been growing indoors or in a greenhouse that are used to a warmer more even air temperatures. You have to kind of ease them into living outside again.
Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' in Bags
I'm hoping by easing these plants into the light, they will have a better chance of survival. I'm just lucky I had a couple of pots and some top soil. Usually I recycle all of my pots right away, and I don't usually have top soil. I had been keeping a few pots on hand in case I wanted to share some plants, and I was using the top soil to try to fix some bare spots in my lawn and improve the soil around some underperforming plants. I kept these intersectional peonies in the shade all day on Friday, and on Saturday we had an entire day of rain. So a nice, cloudy sky to help these immature intersectional peonies to get on their way - growing! I'm just curious to see if they actually have intersectional peony foliage. We'll see... ;-)
Intersectional Peony 'Scrumdidleyumptious' Roots

2018 Peony Companions Daffodils

Peony 'Soft Lemon Kisses' with Daffodil 'Sunlight Sensation'
I'm sure many of you have daffodils as a companion with your peonies. If you don't then you should definitely consider planting some daffodil bulbs this fall. Daffodils can be an entertaining distraction while you are waiting for those peony blooms to open. They are also super easy to grow. Just dig a hole, mix in some fertilizer, put the bulbs in the bottom of the hole (spaced out), and then replace the dirt. These beautiful and easy bulbs are very reliable and will come back year after year.
Peony 'Color Magnet' with Daffodil 'Cheerfulness'
If you get lucky enough, you may even have some daffodils and very early peonies or tree peonies to bloom at the same time. There are some summer blooming varieties of daffodil like 'Summer Cheer' that will bloom later than other daffodils as well. Daffodils nowadays are not just the yellow flower that your great-grandma grew. There are so many forms, shapes, sizes, and colors to choose from now - from lemon yellows, to white, to yellow with orange, to white with pink and double daffodils, butterfly daffodils, miniature daffodils, to daffodils with multiple blooms per stem. Have fun picking out some early spring colorful cheerfulness!
Peony 'Pehrson's Violet Frisbee' with Double Daffodil 'Tahiti'