2018 Song Sparrow Peony Root Sprouting in the Fall

Newly Planted Peony 'Glowing Candles'
Sending Up an Fall Sprout
Awww, man. A peony I ordered from the 2018 Fall Peony Sale @ Song Sparrow and just planted three weeks ago is already sprouting. Of course it looks like a nice sprout that probably would have produced a bud and flower next spring. When this happens it seems like these peonies take so much longer to become established here. It seems like they are just confused, but what is confusing to me is why is this root really sprouting? I have ordered peonies from other vendors in Wisconsin, without this issue. I used to think it was sprouting just because it came from a cooler region of the country, but now I am wondering if it is because this root has already been in some kind of cold storage, and it thinks it has already experienced winter. Now that it has arrived here in my Southern garden, it thinks our temperate autumn days feel like spring (and they probably do).


Peony 'Glowing Candles' Sign
This problem has occurred a several times in the past, but it looks like I've only recorded it here two other times, 2012 Newly Planted Peony Sprouting in Fall and 2016 New Peony Breaking Dormancy Too Early. I seem to remember this happening several times with roots from Song Sparrow, I guess I will have to record this whenever it happens in the future so I can keep a better record of which vendors this happens with. Of the two listed above, one of those was from Song Sparrow (2012), and the other one was from Ebay (2016) - which who knows where that peony root came from originally? The problem with these early sprouts is that they are quickly killed by the cold winter temperature, and the root has just wasted quite a bit of energy sending up this sprout. I never really know what to do with these sprouts, cut them off, let them grow. I worry that if I snap them off, another bud on the same root will try to sprout, wasting another chance for the peony to grow in the spring. I usually end up watching this small, lonely sprout grow as much as it can before winter's cold comes and makes it wither into limp nothingness. :-( What do you do with your fall peony foliage "sprouts"?

2018 Dismal Seed Production Year

Empty Peony 'Martha W.' Seed Pods
It was a very dismal year for seed production, especially for the intersectional hybrids I'm working on. I actually got zero seeds! (Zero!), which is very disappointing considering I used so many different varieties of tree peony pollen this year, many frozen and several fresh too! I'm guessing it must have something to do with the weather, since the seed production on many of my other lactiflora peonies was almost nil as well. When I look back at the weather history for April of this year - 2018, it looks like most nights were in the 40s and 50s, but we did get a few 30s later in the month. On 4/17 it was 33°, on 4/20 it was 34°, on 4/21 it was 37°, and on 4/30 it was 36°. Even my Peony 'Green Lotus' and Peony 'Pink Spritzer' (which are usually loaded with seeds) produced nothing as well. The seed pods on my Peony 'Martha W.' plants grew and swelled normally (as if they were incubating lots of fresh black seeds), but when they popped open there was nothing inside but tiny, black failed seeds. Oh well, I guess there's always another opportunity next year, and there's still hoping some of the seeds from previous years (2016 First Intersectional Peony Seeds! and 2017 Intersectional Peony Hybridizing Efforts) will germinate this spring. We shall see...

2018 Beautiful Fall Burgundy Peony Foliage Colors & Coral Drift Rose

I couldn't help but snap a picture of this gorgeous deep burgundy fall peony foliage with the contrast of the bright coral colored drift rose blooming nearby. I've been cleaning up the garden this fall, cutting back my peony foliage for the year, and I couldn't keep my eyes off of this pretty pair. These two fall friends gleamed in the sun from across the garden. As I came in for a closer look and to snap a photo, the leaves of the peony plant rustled, and I noticed a small lizard happily using the peony leaves as a perch. I snapped a photo of him too. He was a little scared of me, and jumped back onto a peony stem a bit farther away, but he didn't run away. He let me take several shots of him, and even looked right at me on one of the shots! What a cutie. I hope that you too are taking a little time to enjoy autumn's colors and our wildlife friends out in the fall garden! Happy Fall!


Coral Drift Rose & Peony with Burgundy Fall Foliage

Burgundy Fall Peony Foliage

Coral Drift Rose

Lizard on Fall Peony Foliage

2018 $1.69 'Sarah Bernhardt' Peony Not True to Name

$1.69 Peony from Aldi's - Not 'Sarah Bernhardt'
This seems like an appropriate story for Halloween. Is the $1.69 'Sarah Bernhardt' Peony a Trick or Treat? I guess that depends on how you look at it. This peony I purchased in 2016 Peony 'Sarah Bernhardt' for $1.69 at Aldi's! did not turn out to be the correct variety, Peony 'Sarah Bernhardt'. It look more like Peony 'Paula Fay' to me (hot pink in color instead of light pink and single to semi-double in nature instead of fully double), but who knows what cultivar it really is, if it is even a named cultivar. I originally planted and purchased 3 bags of this peony. The first one bloomed this year. I'm guessing the other two will bloom next year. I did see it fully open, but I didn't get a picture of it. This was right before my trip to China, 2018 Southern Peony Visits China National Flower Garden 中国国花园. So I guess I was just busy getting ready for the trip and missed taking the open bloom photo. Hopefully I will get a picture of it this coming spring when the rest of them bloom. As for whether this was a Trick or a Treat, I guess it could really be both. It was definitely a Trick since it was not the correct cultivar, but it could also be considered a Treat since the peony was so cheap, just $1.69 and the one of the plants bloomed on its second spring! Happy Halloween!


Sign for Peony 'Sarah Bernhardt'

$1.69 Peony from Aldi's - Not 'Sarah Bernhardt'

2018 Peony Growers Root Size Comparison

I haven't really compared peony vendors since my 2009 Fall Peony Orders article. So it has been almost 10 years! Since I ordered a couple peony roots from so many different vendors this year, I thought it would be nice to do another comparison to see what people are sending out nowadays and how they stack up. Also a couple of caveats here. Different peony cultivars could have larger or smaller roots, so this is just a general guide - although some vendors do routinely sent much larger roots. (HINT: Check the box sizes - they usually correspond to how large or small the peony growers trim their roots.) Also the length of the peony roots is measured, but not the width (which does matter too). Perhaps next time, I will weigh them to see how "much" peony you're actually getting -- too late now since most of these have been planted. I think most people have measured peony roots on the number of eyes they have, but the more root they have to go with it, the better they will grow!

* These peony growers are listed in alphabetical order.

Adelman Peony Gardens

Adelman Peony Gardens - 10.5" Root Size
Size of Root: 10.5 inches Packing Material: Peat Shipping Carrier: USPS Priority Mail (1-3 Days) Box Size: large, 12 x 12 x 6 Large Flat Rate Box Shipping Cost: $12.95 Peonies in Box: 2 (1 APS Auction root shipped free in the same box)

Brooks Gardens

Brooks Gardens - 9" Root Size
Size of Root: 9 inches Packing Material: Peat Shipping Carrier: USPS Priority Mail (1-3 Days) Box Size: small, 10 x 7 x 5 Regional Rate Box A Shipping Cost: $8.00 Peonies in Box: 2

Fina Gardens

Fina Gardens - 8.5" Root Size
Size of Root: 8.5 inches Packing Material: Peat Shipping Carrier: USPS Priority Mail (1-3 Days) Box Size: small, 10 x 7 x 5 Regional Rate Box A Shipping Cost: $14.00 Peonies in Box: 2

Hidden Springs Flower Farm

Hidden Springs Flower Farm - 8" Root Size
Size of Root: 8 inches Packing Material: Wood Chips, Shredded Newspaper Shipping Carrier: USPS Priority Mail (1-3 Days) Box Size: small, 10 x 7 x 5 Regional Rate Box A Shipping Cost: $18.00 Peonies in Box: 3

Hollingsworth Peonies

Hollingsworth Peonies - 11" Root Size
Size of Root: 11 inches Packing Material: Peat Shipping Carrier: USPS Priority Mail (1-3 Days) Box Size: medium, 11 x 8 x 6 Medium Flat Rate Box Shipping Cost: $18.50 Peonies in Box: 2

Solaris Farms

Solaris Farms - 7" Root Size
Size of Root: 7 inches Packing Material: Peat Shipping Carrier: USPS Priority Mail (1-3 Days) Box Size: medium, 11 x 8 x 6 Medium Flat Rate Box Shipping Cost: $18.00 Peonies in Box: 4

Song Sparrow

Song Sparrow - 7" Root Size
Size of Root: 7 inches Packing Material: Sphagnum Moss Shipping Carrier: UPS Ground (4-7 Days) Box Size: small, 8 x 8 x 8 Shipping Cost: $27.25 Peonies in Box: 4