Monday, April 20, 2020

2020 Peony 'Green Lotus' Southern Peony Best Performer - Week 4

This Peony 'Green Lotus' is like a machine! It is always, always full of blooms every single year. It is a very, very reliable bloomer. The blooms will just stay on the plant and stay on the plant. They are wild and unique and GREEN! I just love this plant!! The blooms like literally never fall off. They will open over time, but eventually every bloom on the plant will be open at the same time. Peony 'Green Lotus' was hybridized by Klehm and registered in 1995. If you want to add a unqiue peony to your garden that's sure to be something different, Peony 'Green Lotus' is it! :-)

Peony 'Green Lotus'
Southern Peony Best Performer

Sunday, April 19, 2020

2020 Intersectional Peony Blooms Week 4 Mid

I just love, love, love my intersectional peonies. I couldn't help but share all of these gorgeous photos with you. Week 4 has been a busy week in the peony garden, especially for the intersectionals. There are so many different colored beautiful blooms in the garden, it seems like a veritable rainbow!!! If you haven't yet gotten into intersectional peonies, I would highly encourage you to give them a try so you can have a rainbow of color in your garden too! :-) 🌈

Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma Apricot'

Intersectional Peony 'Hillary'

Intersectional Peony 'White Emperor'

Intersectional Peony 'Lafayette Escadrille'

Intersectional Peony 'Smith Family Yellow'

Intersectional Peony 'Unique'

Intersectional Peony 'Lunar Glow'

Intersectional Peony 'Little Darlin''

Intersectional Peony 'Singing in the Rain'

Saturday, April 18, 2020

2020 Peony Blooms Week 4 Mid

I think Week 4 Mid is usually the busiest week in terms of blooms, with probably the most blooms open this week. The weather has continued to be mild here, and the peonies seemed to be a least a bit mixed up in their bloom order. I even had a tree peony bloom this week, which is very odd to me - more on that later... We've had a decent spring so far - a mix of temperatures and an adequate amount of rain, but not too much. I think it's been a pretty good spring for the peony flowers. Peony 'Chiffon Clouds' bloomed for me for the first time this year. I can't wait to see how this one looks as it matures. I still remember that one being my favorite when the APS toured Klehm's Song Sparrow farm & nursery in 2016 APS Peony Convention Tour of Song Sparrow.

Peony 'Coral Magic'

Peony 'Command Performance'

Peony 'Tropicana'

Peony 'Dreamtime'

Peony 'Rose Garland'

Peony 'Chiffon Clouds'

Peony 'Lustrous'

Peony 'Zuzu'

Friday, April 17, 2020

2020 Peony Experiments - Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' Blooms on Old Overwintered Woody Stems

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 3/14
I know I posted one article on this topic back in 2011 Peony Experiments - Intersectional Blooms, and I thought this year would be a good year for an update. Nowadays I regularly leave the woody stems on my intersectional peonies through the winter, especially if they have big fat buds on them. Some stems will survive the winter and some won't. In my opinion if there's any chance the stem might bloom the next year, it is worth it to leave the stems in place over the winter. This Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) aka 'Pink Double Dandy' had a couple of tall woody stems that were growing last month from the tips. So I decided to follow their growth to show the actual blooms on those woody stems.

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 3/14
As you can see both of these growth terminals at the tops of these woody stems were both productive, producing large, fat buds and then beautiful pink blooms. Not only did each of them produce bright pink blooms, but one of the stems produced 3 blooms on one stem! So if there's any doubt in your mind that leaving stems on intersectional peonies over winter might be a worthwhile endeavor (especially in Southern climates), there you have it! It is no surprise to me, as I have seen this happen so many times over the years. I am also not surprised that Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) is capable of such a feat, as it is a Southern Peony Best Performer, 2015 Peony 'Keiko' (Adored) Best Performer - Week 4.

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 3/26

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 3/27

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 4/3

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 4/8

Intersectional Peony 'Keiko' 愛幕 (Adored) - 'Pink Double Dandy'
Blooms on Overwintered Stems - 4/10

Thursday, April 16, 2020

2020 Intersectional Peony 'Strawberry Crème Brûlée' Red Spring Foliage

Intersectional Peony 'Strawberry Crème Brûlée'
Red Spring Foliage
I was enamored to see this gorgeous red spring foliage on my Intersectional Peony 'Strawberry Crème Brûlée' this year. Even though the plant is not large enough to entertain me with its blooms, it is definitely entertaining me with the foliage! I remember seeing a difference between the foliage of this one and the other small potted intersectional peonies I purchased at the same time when 2019 Spring Hill Nursery Peony Order Arrives. Having such unique foliage seems promising for this peony to be true to name. I can't wait to see what these 'Strawberry Crème Brûlée' blooms look like when this intersectional peony does grow large enough to flower! :-)

Intersectional Peony 'Strawberry Crème Brûlée' Sign