2014 Intersectional Peony Blooms - Early Mid - Week 3

I am so so so excited! I love intersectional peonies, and the peonies I planted in my 2012 Intersectional Peony Garden Planting have done really well this year. I have really been amazed at how fast they grow when they are planted in full sun and decent soil. This is only the second spring for these peonies, and they are so huge! Here are my favorite intersectional peony blooms from this week, week 3. Peony 'Lil Darlin' and Peony 'Julia Rose' both bloomed for the first time for me this spring. Peony 'Pastel Splendor' and Peony 'Morning Lilac' have both bloomed in previous years. Their blooms are just so lovely, and since purple is my favorite color, Peony 'Morning Lilac' is one of my favorite intersectional peonies. Peony 'Julia Rose' also has a very interesting coloration with lots of variation in the petals themselves and over time as the blooms age. If you'd like to add some intersectional peonies to your garden this year, you may find this 2014 Intersectional Peony Catalog Price Comparison List that I compiled helpful. :-) Happy gardening!

Intersectional Peony 'Pastel Splendor'	Intersectional Peony 'Morning Lilac'
Intersectional Peony 'Lil' Darlin'	Intersectional Peony 'Julia Rose'

2014 Peony 'Lovely Rose' Best Performer - Week 3

I was really amazed by the performance of Peony 'Lovely Rose' this week. The color is just gorgeous - a delicate, almost coral, light pink. The petals are all neatly arranged on every one of its flowers, each flower sitting high above the lovely green foliage. I was just so drawn to it that I couldn't stop taking pictures of it. It even made this list of my favorite Peony Blooms - Early Mid - Week 3. Peony 'Lovely Rose' is a Saunders hybrid peony that is semi-double and blooms early. This is a great peony selection for the early blooming peony garden that will give you beautiful colored, symmetrical blooms on medium green, upright foliage.
Peony 'Lovely Rose'
Southern Peony Best Performer


Peony 'Lovely Rose'
Southern Peony Best Performer

2014 Peony Blooms - Early Mid - Week 3

There were so many lovely blooms opening this week, it was hard to choose my favorite bloom pics. However I did narrow it down to these six bloom pics, but that's only because I decided to post a separate list of my favorite intersectional peony bloom pics for week 3 as well. Look for that post later. :-) Most of the early mid season peonies blooming right now are in my Saunders peony garden like Peony 'Grace Root', Peony 'Lavender', one of my personal favorites, and Peony 'Lovely Rose', which is very lovely. However there are also some more recent introductions including the gorgeous Peony 'Lemon Chiffon' and Peony 'Command Performance'. There's also the red bomb Peony 'Red Charm' which all other peonies Bloom Dates are measured against...

Peony 'Lemon Chiffon'	Peony 'Lavender'
Peony 'Grace Root'	Peony 'Lovely Rose'
Peony 'Command Performance'	Peony 'Red Charm'

2014 Peony Seedlings from Cricket Hill - P. Rockii

Of all the seeds I've purchased, I have to say that the Tree Peony P. Rockii Seeds on Ebay from Cricket Hill Garden are definitely the most viable. Their germination rate is 17 out of 20, that's 85%! That is a fantastic germination rate, considering the best I usually get from species peony seeds from the APS Seed Sale is 30-40% (and sometimes 0%). That is over twice the germination rate. Perhaps the seeds were fresher since they were sent directly from the grower. I'm very excited to have all of these P. rockii seedlings. Now I'll be able to select the best of the best for my climate, the fastest growing, the most disease resistant, the most floriferous, the best foliage, the best blooms, etc.
P. Rockii Peony Seedlings from Ebay, Cricket Hill Garden
I'm sad to say that the 105 Ali Express Chinese Tree Peony Seeds did not sprout at all. I'm beginning to wonder if the reports of boiled peony seeds from China are true, or perhaps they were just too old to sprout. It is curious since they were all so carefully labeled. Perhaps another year in the ground will soften their casings, and they can sprout a root this fall. We'll see if any of them sprout a leaf next spring... It seems like Ebay is the place to buy tree peony seeds. The Chinese Peony Seeds from Ebay actually did well germinating this spring. One of the colors (P3 Blue) actually had an 8 out of 20 germination rate, which is 40%. It's not the most impressive, but considering none of the 105 Chinese seeds I purchased from Ali Express sprouted, it's pretty good.

2014 First Bloom on Peony P. obovata var. willmottiae

Peony obovata var. willmottiae
Wow! I have been waiting 5 years for a bloom on this peony. It finally bloomed today!!! I purchased this species peony from Plant Delights nursery in 2009, and it bloomed for the first time this year. It had been steadily growing larger and larger each year, but only making small increases in size. It still only has one stem. I didn't even realize there was a bud on the plant until I saw it in bloom today! It is very beautiful. The flower is medium size, not huge, but not small either, and it has interesting colorations in the center of the bloom. It has burgundy colored filaments tipped with yellow anthers, while the stigmas are a matching yellow color tipped in burgundy. The foliage is a light, bright green color. This P. obovata var. willmottiae species peony grows happily in the filtered shade in my garden.
Peony obovata var. willmottiae Bloom


Peony obovata var. willmottiae Plant