2019 Intersectional Peony Blooms Week 4 Mid

The intersectional peonies really came out in force this week. The quick rise in temperatures created quite the show, with many different colors opening this week. Most of these are peonies that have bloomed for me in the past, but it is always nice to see them reliably each year. Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma Blessing' is one of the intersectional peonies that bloomed for me for the first time this year, and it was a blessing to meet such a unique flower. Intersectional Peony 'Magical Mystery Tour' is another peony that bloomed for me for the first time, and it was quite a surprise to see how rich the color is upon opening. The blooms fade over time leaving multi-colored blossoms on the plant over time. Peony 'Berry Garcia' actually bloomed for me for the first time last year while I was gone to China. So seeing it for the first time this year, I really fell in love. Something about the complementary pastel color scheme just really excites me. The blooms are like a lovely shade of yellow cream with pink picotee edges, really charming!


Intersectional Peony 'First Arrival'

Intersectional Peony 'Takara' 慈悲 (Treasure) -
'Smith Opus 2'

Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma Blessing'

Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma by the Bay'

Intersectional Peony 'Yumi' 由美 (Possess Beauty) -
'Yellow Doodle Dandy'

Intersectional Peony 'Kopper Kettle'

Intersectional Peony 'Callie's Memory'

Intersectional Peony 'Morning Lilac'

Intersectional Peony 'Magical Mystery Tour'

Intersectional Peony 'Berry Garcia'

2019 Peony Blooms Week 4 Mid

It was a really nice week for peony blooms this week, and I finally got some sunny time on the weekend to take some gorgeous pics!!! We had several days in the 80s. So our spring weather is disappearing quickly. Let's hope we get a few cool temps back so the peonies don't all melt/wilt on opening! There were several new peonies that opened for me for the first time ever this week. Well, Peony 'Pastelorama' technically bloomed last year, but I was on my China peony trip at the time. So this was the first year I actually got to see it bloom. Peony 'America' is a dependable stand by, and Peony 'Faithful Dream' actually did bloom for the first time ever this year. Peony 'Many Happy Returns' had a hard time with all of the rain this year, making its stems even more wavy/diseased than usual, but it was still able to open a few nice flowers. Peony 'Red Red Rose' bloomed for the first time ever as well, and I was very happy to see how much substance these bright red flowers have. The vivid colors of Peony 'Skylark' and Peony 'Lustrous' are just attention grabbing. Both Peony 'Coral Sunset' and 'Coral 'N Gold' each have their own enchanting shade of coral. Peony 'Zuzu' has been quite floriferous for me so far, and it is interesting to look at some of the shorter pointy petals on the interior of the bloom.


Peony 'Pastelorama'

Peony 'America'

Peony 'Faithful Dream'

Peony 'Many Happy Returns'

Peony 'Red Red Rose'

Peony 'Skylark'

Peony 'Lustrous'

Peony 'Coral Sunset'

Peony 'Coral 'N Gold'

Peony 'Zuzu'

2019 Herbaceous Peony 'Lake o' Silver' Achieves Explosive Growth From 8 to 40 Buds!

Peony 'Lake O Silver' Achieves Explosive Growth
It's hard to believe how fast this Peony 'Lake o' Silver' has grown! It went from 8 buds in 2018 to 40 buds this year in 2019! I first purchased this peony during the 2016 American Peony Society Convention. We went on several tours during the convention, and this peony was one of my 2016 Peony Purchases from Klehm's Song Sparrow Tour. Going from 8 buds to 40 buds is a 400% growth rate!!! I don't think I've ever seen any other peony in my garden grow quite that fast! If you are looking for a peony that will grow well in the South and grow fast, I would definitely check this Peony 'Lake o' Silver' out! I can't wait to see it in full bloom!


Peony 'Lake O Silver' Achieves Explosive Growth

Peony 'Lake O Silver' Achieves Explosive Growth

Peony 'Lake O Silver' Achieves Explosive Growth

2019 Peony Experiment - Little Darlin' Intersectional Root Pieces Grow!

I guess you could say this experiment was also a success. All of the Intersectional Peony 'Little Darlin'' root pieces that I planted last fall, 2019 Peony Experiment - Planting Little Darlin' Intersectional Root Pieces have all grown (except one). And I must say that this experiment was not totally controlled since it seems that a dog or some other animal dug up several of these roots, and they had to be replanted. One of them was dug up multiple times, even after it was replanted. My guess is the one that didn't grow is probably a root that was dug up multiple times, and that perhaps affected its ability to grow and thrive.


Intersectional Peony 'Little Darlin'' Root Pieces Grow (4/19)
Also the one root that didn't grow was also on the left. According to the original experiment, I planted them in order of least root (on the left) to most root (on the right). The root on the far most left side, which was really just a nub with an eye on it, really had no roots. Actually there was one other nub with eyes on it, just a slight larger nub, that did grow. Basically this experiment seems to confirm the success I had with the Intersectional Peony 'Bartzella' in a similar previous experiment, 2013 Peony Experiments - Intersectional Divisions Grow (4/25). It seems that intersectional peonies have a great propensity to regenerate.


Intersectional Peony 'Little Darlin'' Root Pieces Grow
Taking some new photos almost a week later, it seems that the bud tips (one of them actually looked like it might bloom!) of the tallest plant have started to dry up and die back a bit. I'm guessing it overgrew it's root capacity. It will probably be just fine next year. All of the other smaller divisions still look green and healthy. The other reason it could be drying up a bit could also be due to the heat we've experienced this week. We didn't get much of a chance to experience weather in the 70s so far this year (they may get skipped). It has been in the 80s for several days now, accelerating our bloom season, and perhaps causing this stress to these new intersectional peony plant divisions. Hopefully the weather will even out soon! A few more slightly cool, slightly warm spring days would be nice before summer!

2019 Peony Pollen Collection Tubes

I finally found something decent to put my tree peony pollen in, as I mentioned in my hybridizing article, 2019 Peony Hybridizing Season is Here! I bought these plastic tubes with screw on lids on Amazon last year. I didn't actually use them last year, though, as I purchased them right after tree peony season was over (and I decided I needed something better than just aluminum foil to save and store my pollen in). I have really been putting them to good use this year. I have collected 7 types of tree peony pollen so far this year - 'Angel Choir', 'Angel Emily', 'KC Red', 'Lavender Hill', 'Lavender Grace', 'Sahohime', and 'Shimadaijin'. I am so glad I purchased them, as they have really come in handy. I take them out into the garden when I want to pollinate some flowers, and then return them to the fridge when I am done.


Tree Peony Pollen in Plastic Tubes
I have been keeping them in the fridge with the lids off, but I plan to put the lids on and freeze them when I'm done with my hybridizing season for use in future years if I need them. At first I just put a little piece of tape on the lid with the pollen name on it, but then I also labeled the bottles too (so I will know what the pollen is when the lid is off). Also having the name on the lid and the bottle makes sure I don't intermix the pollen by putting the wrong lid on the wrong bottle. I also plan to write the year on them before I put them in the freezer, so I can keep track of how old they are, in case I need to throw some out in the future. If you'd like to get your own tubes for pollen collection, just search for "dime coin tubes". Yes, these are actually meant to hold coins! If you want to adjust the size to fit your needs, just look for the coin size you would prefer for your bottle circumference. Happy Pollinating!