CPS meeting here in Calgary this weekend. Pretty small group , very few from the east however a nice group.
More infoband pictures later but wanted to share I entered 3 peonies in the show ( our peonies here are probably 2 weeks late so locals short on blooms!) and won 1 lsts and a 2nd and Best single lactiflora in show!
Blooms were Gay Paree, Dandy Dan and Cherry Twist.
Here's a pic of the judging area
Congrats Carol! The field of competition looks pretty steep from the pic. I had no idea Dandy Dan was so, well so huge! Please tell us if it's gardening that keeps you so fit and so chipper.
Bravo Carol! But I must say I'm not surprised. Your blooms are so lovely. I envy those who got to see them in person.
Donna
Another Dandy Dan ( not mine) one best in show and was even bigger than mine!
The CPS meeting was rather small, not many people from the eastern part of Canada present except CPS officials. Jim and Carol Adelman came up from Oregon. It was a pleasure to meet them. They brought a ton of peonies with them and gave us most to sell for fundraising. We sold them for $1 a stem and were mobbed! Towards the end of the day on Sunday we put up for sale all the blooms from the show and sold almost all escept a few that were well on their last legs so we just gave those out to all the ids.
We were based in the Conservatory of the Zoo so there were lots of kids around. in fact it was a great spot for us to be for public exposure as the Butterfly Garden was on one side and the Tropical garden on the other. People were stopping and taking multiple pictures and were full of questions, no idea of course what peonies wcould look like other than the old bomb type that is very prevalent here in old parts ofcitys and towns.
We also were selling 3 year old seedlings of Peony Rockii from a local beeder who is moving and has given us 4 large containers of seedlings, no idea what color, we sold for $10- 5 for CPS, for breeder and sold almost 2 full containers- that is probably 40-50 plants in each container.
I 'manned' the public set up so did not attend any of the talks. There was also a walking tour of the Zoos gardens ( they have a strong horticultural component at this Zoo) . We gathered at a members home for supper that evening after the AGM ( which I did not attend) Raffles and silent auctions were awarded.
There were not a lot of entries compared to if the meeting had been down east. Also our peony season here is behind by about 2 weeks so we were short on local entries. It is the first time the meeting has been held here.
Today ( Sunday) we had tours of two members gardens - mine and a member who has about 200 peonies. A quick lunch there and then back to the zoo to 'clean up'
I dont have any people pictures but here are some shots of the wining blooms.
Anothertable
More!
And more
And one more.
These were just the top wining blooms which we put out on display.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY fancyvan, and congrats on your win. Annette
Yes, happy birthday!
Are you able to tell us the names of the deep dark peonies in your last post? I'm guessing the first on the left is Dandy Dan. It looks like a semi-double with yellow stamens near it and then a bomb shape that is very dark.
Thanks for sharing your happy event. It must have been fun all around, and gratifying for all when visiters got to feast their eyes and noses on your garden. Such beauty is best when shared.
Thanks!
I think one of them might be Dandy Dan but not sure at all. The names are on the tags so it might be possible to enlarge and see what they say!
Here is my DD yesterday! ( missing the one bloom I cut to enter the show!)
Glad to see the shots from the Canadian meeting. One of these days I hope to attend one of the meetings.
Happy Birthday, Carol, which although belated is hearty.
I had the good fortune of meeting the Adelmans at the society meeting in Janesville last year. There is magic in the soil of their fields. If they offered to bag it up and ship it for peony planting I'd buy it. They had an Ann Cousins that was literally the size of a dinner plate. I was quite envious until I realized that there was no way I could support one that big. And I'm not surprised that they gave away so many stems - they are very lovely people.
And you are right abut the peonies one sees around. I was inspired by a couple who had put in 3 identical pink ones, but they never staked them and allowed them to flop in the mud - and they never deadhead them. The peonies march bravely on. When I started growing them in a very noticeable spot other followed suit, but they allowed landscapers to put them in so they got the standard big bombs in red - not Red Charm, which has some oomph but just big red blobs. It taught me never to allow landscapers to choose my plants - they put in things that are readily available and, for them, inexpensive. And unfortunately no one deadheads or stakes them, which sadly promotes the concept that peonies are messy, unattractive plants. When nothing could be further from the truth!
When we bought our house, oh 16 years ago, there was a peony by the front of the house in a little niche. It has beautiful flowers, but stems like twigs and they dropped masses of pink petals all over as they matured. I never could get to them in time to cut them before they cut loose. I eventually gave them (I had split the roots at least once) away. Then I found out about other peonies, even large ones like Red Charm that actually can support their blooms. And I watch even RC closely to cut before the petals drop. Of course, I don't work 12-14 hours a day, 6-7 days a week any more so that helps. lol. In many ways. I will go take pictures of Julia Rose and Mackinac Grand today as they were startling to unfurl yesterday.
Rosemary I could not enlarge those pics clear enough to see what was written on the tags - sorry!
Thanks for trying to enlarge the pics, Carol. Just seeing those gorgeous blooms was a big treat. I do wonder where the New Englanders go to see peonies.
Wow Carol, looks like a terrific show and your flowers look great! And in July at that! LOL. I am jealous.
Carol has done of phenomenal job of extending the peony season this year (and every year). I love the sequence of Steve to Carol.
And of course this was the last year now that Steve has moved north!
Who is the furthest south now?
Cem!
Yes I am :-). Guess that means I get to start posting peony blooms first next year, heh, heh, heh !!!!
Looking forward to it!
