Wow- speeding right along Steve! That NOID pink has quite a pretty lavender tint.
2011 Peonies
Not sure the variety since the treerats stole the tag (I find them all over the yard). Pink double and very fragrant.
Thanks fancy :-) Been sunny and warm so things seem a bit ahead of schedule this year. I want to say the pink NOID is from Moby but not sure. I agree it has a really pretty form. The plant is really large for being in the ground just two or three years so hopefully lots more flowers next year.
Oh Steve, I love your front beds! Everything is already so lush. Do I see irises? Lilies?
Your reds (Burma Joy and Cherry Charm) are really capturing my imagination. I was a pastel gal for so long. Thanks to you, Burma Joy and White Cap will add a lot of punch, not to mention the saturated pink of Lois.
Donna
Thanks Donna....:-) I wonder if the pink double above is Lois...does it look like yours? After you talked abotu yours I decided I had to have one so bought that a couple years ago.
I am looking forward to seeing your new garden once your growing season really starts. You always have such good taste and placement.
My best double red fernie. Seemed to survive the late freezes ok.
Steve,
Lois is much more saturated in color. Forgive the horrifying color clash of this picture (I grew a bunch of Heuchera Firefly and just KNEW they'd go together - NOT) but it is a good representation of a first year Lois.
Really hits you in the eye, doesn't it?
OGR - gorgeous. What a contrast in refinement to the image below it!
My eyes, my eyes! (lol at/with Donna)
I've been following along and have been enjoying the blooms so much!
Steve ~ not sure that the noid pink is mine as the only ones I had at the time are bombs. Though I'm glad to say I've expanded my collection a bit. I sent one that 'looks' like Felix Crousse.
The first time I ever saw a single peony it was one of those 'fried eggs' and absolutely fell in love with it. :)
Luv all your peonies SteveFtWorth. I must create new flower beds around my house.
Keep posting.
Yeah, I'm afraid I'm causing People permanent eye damage. So I dug it up.
Been gone for a week and there are buds all over - just teasing me!!! On the other hand, the deer have eaten the top of most of my lilies!!! So mad. I am sure I sprayed them before I went out of town....
LiliMerci, I felt the same way last summer.. I had a couple of huge hibiscus in planters flanking my front door. Something was eating off the new growth and flower buds. For a long time I couldn't figure out what was causing the damage. One day I looked out the front door and saw three pairs of Bambi eyes looking back at me...lol
Thanks drthor. Let's see yours too as they bloom.
Here is Fuscia Jazz this morning.
Dawn Glow.....would probably have more vibrant streaks in a less sunny climate.
Steve, that "Dawn Glow" is one gorgeous peony.
Was out checking this morning and I have peonies starting to emerge. Whoooppppeeeee!
Can hardly wait, but am enjoying all that every one has posted.
Maxine
Steve and Drthor, had no idea we could grow so many different Peonies here. I only have the standard Festiva Maxima (which I do like), a Taiyo tree peony (which I LOVE), and a new Shima Nishiki tree (which is only about six inches tall at the moment). So, now I get to go make a new bed to put more peonies in!!!! :-) Thank you both for the photos, made me very happy.
Debra
Cute little katydid on your Dawn Glow. :)
lovemyhouse,
I took a class a while ago at the Dallas Arboretum on Peony.
Bob Wilson from Nicholson-hardie nursery tought the class. He was amazing.
I bought lots of peonies from him.
If you have a chance take his classes. At their store they are free.
Well Maxine it is so good to see you...have you been hibernating? LOL
Debra - thanks - and yes, I found out just through trial and error after reading/hearing a lot fo the same stuff you probably have (much of which is false) about what will/can do well here. I moved here from IL where peonies are everywhere and just started practicing with a few at my prior house and when they flowered not only the first year but also the second really encouraged me. Was also told when I picked up some bulbs at the Home Depot (by an employee there) back in 2000 or 2002 when I bought my first house that I needed to refrigerate all of them and that they wouldn't come back. The only thing that turned out to be even partially true on was tulips. I even did an experiment with hyacinths since they're often lumped together (incorrectly) with tulips - planted one set of hyacinths in the ground with no pre-chilling and refrigerated another, and - no difference in bloom quantity or quality. And they all came back, the next year, and then the next, and so on. Of course they were in raised beds with good drainage since soil drainage here in many areas sucks.
Peonies, same thing. I think they require 400 chill hours + for bloom and we get 900-1000 typically in the DFW area. I started out with singles only and then expanded to Japanese, bombs and doubles. The only peonies I still avoid now are the late doubles. I do avoid planting in a western sun and make sure the soil is heavily amended and well draining. Seems to work fine. I plant mine with the eyes right at the soil's surface. Seems to work.
Good luck and let us all know if you decide to expand your collection!! Guess you and dthor and TxGrand and I should start a local peony club:-)
This message was edited Apr 9, 2011 10:04 AM
Oh Moby is that what that is? LOL they are on most of the flowers
Steve,
Your Jazz certainly has a wonderful lively color (doesn't damage your vision like my inadvertent combo). Where do you find these wonderful peonies? You keep coming up with ones I've never heard of!?
And your little bug is cute!
Well Donna....I think I got that one at Klehm. It is a nice form and color, I like it :-)
It's lovely!
Thanks Donna...any more activity on your pot peonies?
This is Polar Star. Have a bunch more on the verge of blooming, maybe get some more good shots tomorrow!
All of them are developing. I actually have the eyes at the surface to give them a push. The ones at the house are all showing red pips. Since some of mine are ten years old they are something to see when they bloom. For us, the typical bloom date is May 30, so we have a while. It will be interesting to see of the guys in pot bloom earlier, even though they are less established.
Yes, more shots tomorrow!!!
Our 90 degree weather and sun today opened a few more.
Here is my first bloom on Festiva Powder Puff
This message was edited Apr 9, 2011 5:27 PM
Tom Cat
Think I will put Tom Cat on my wish list!
Thanks Fancy - it is a nice one - compared to others, it is fairly short and flowers aren't huge but blooming is dense and it is a nice showy plant.
Lovely, Steve. Is it possible to get a pic of the whole bed now that more are blooming? I love your yard design.
Donna
Think I will try the Festiva Powder Puff for sure. Do like the color on the Tom Cat. The only decent bed in my very small yard is where the Taiyo and Shima are planted. With their colors, I'd better avoid pinks, though, and add something like Cherry Charm and/or Buckeye Belle. Or a Bartzella, maybe. :-)
Thanks Donna....I thought the front garden overall looked better last year though I still have lots that hasn't opened yet. We had a weird year last year...cold and rain really late into the spring for us and then mid-May hit and it was like someone turned on a furnace. This year we had a cold winter and have had a hot, dry spring. Peonies are a mixed bag...some are better and some have same or fewer flowers. I am excited to see Hot Chocolate in the front bed because it has double the buds it did last year. One of my Festiva PP has more buds and one has less. Tom Cat has fewer this year though just exploded with blooms last year. I will take a picture in the morning when i have good light as you have requested and post it.
Debra, Festiva PP is great...big puffy blooms and seems to like our climate...I like it even better than Festiva Maxima in some ways because it holds blooms straight up and they seem to last longer. Really showy from a distance. If you decide to do a Bartzella you're making a great choice...I have two Itohs, one Bartzella from Adelman and a Garden treasure from Hollingsworth and both are bigger with more buds than last year. Bright yellow flowers similar to "High Noon" on both though Bartzella is a taller, more erect bush whereas Garden Treasure is low-growing and stays nearer the ground. Both are winners though.
This message was edited Apr 9, 2011 9:02 PM
President Lincoln this morning......I LOVE this one. A keeper. Much more "double" than I was expecting.
This message was edited Apr 10, 2011 10:12 AM
Ann Berry Cousins this morning
OK Moby does this look like the one you sent me? :-)
Or perhaps this one? :-)
The little tree rats tore most of the labels off my purchased ones.
Top Hat from Hollingsworth
Goldilocks. Not very impressive but Hollingsworth even said on his website it often takes this peony years to show what it can do. I love his up-frontedness.
