I only have some handmedown peonies from my MIL. They are white and pink ones.
They are the full type and do droop badly when it rains :(
Just wondering if Hot Chocolate and Apache would be good choices.
Thanks,
Teresa
Picking new peonies
I don't know Apache but hot chocolate has a beautiful deep color that is appealing. Have fun with your new peonies,
Teresa.
Teresa: On Plant Files one person posted and said 'Hot Chocolate' needs staking. Then a Google search showed 'Apache' also needs support. http://www.backyardgardener.com/plantname/pda_d159.html
Is the dark color the reason you selected them?
If you're open to other colors, 'Prairie Moon' bloomed for the first time in 2011. Maybe because it was the first year it did not require any staking. That might all change this year!
'Bowl of Beauty' (from Walmart) also did not need staking but was also the first year for blooms.
Good luck with your choice/choices.
well, I do have the grids they grow thru and that helps. I like the dark colors. I forgot I did add a white tree peonies that is very small it had 2 blooms I think last yr. Bowl of Beauty is a bicolor right?
Supposedly it is a bi-color. Here's the packaging. Maybe in 2013 I'll see more yellow in the center.
I like the two you selected but I'm trying hard not to buy more peonies. They bloom the same time the rains come. Happily my yellow one blooms in May so I do get to enjoy it without the rain damage.
On the Hollingsworth site there is a page that lists the Awards for Landscape Merit. One of the qualities these peonies are said to have is to stand self supported. There is a description of what is expected from these peonies on the Hollingsworth site as well as a link to the American Peony Society's full list for the last few years.
I think it would be better than any individual supplier's list.
One warning: Pink Hawaiian Coral propagates like crazy. This bit of wisdom comes from Roy Klehm himself. I was on a tour of his gardens two years ago and he had a billion of this cultivar and mentioned that it takes over the earth.
http://www.hollingsworthpeonies.com/award_of_landscape_merit
The only downside of this list is that it does not list some beautiful historical peonies, so you would have to lean on the experience of others. I, for example, would not want to be without Mrs. FDR or Cornelia Shaylor but they do require staking as they are both tall, produce a billion buds, and have big, heavy flowers. Festiva Maxima, on the other hand, despite being very floriferous seems to need minimal support.
And if you are looking for a single red that blooms early, I can recommend Burma Joy. It's a honey! This is the forst year after planting. .
I make supports for my peonies from a roll of wire fencing, cut off a section 2-3ft. Cutting out excess wiring on one end to make stakes that go into the ground. I prefer to leave year round. I let a few stems grow thru the grid of holes but most thru the top. And yes peonies do flop, especially if wet. I have bought many from Gilbert Wild & Son in Sarcoxie, mo. What I like is they have great descriptions and pix. Did you know peonies are divided into 3 bloom times, early, mid and late season. And if looking for fragrance, yup they describe it if there is any. Many historicals are also listed. They use to have over 100 varieties, (maybe still do, haven't been to their web this year). Only 5 more months til they bloom, gosh thats along way off. Lol. Kathy.
Thanks for the info., Kathy. I'll go take a look now. Wild's is where I bought my first daylilies and those oldies continue to please while newer ones, from online daylily vendors, take much too long to bloom.
Warriers, I started out by just buying my favorites, and then realized that there was a sequence of early, middle and late. I ended up with lots of mid to late initially, and it was fun filling in early and middle. It depends. Some people like one big burst of color. Some people like a long season of bloom, although I think that if you want the latter you have to put in a lot of peonies so the bloomers won't be alone. That's why I tried to start with three Festiva Maximas in a triangle, and add from there. Except that the company I ordered from consistently sent me the wrong plants!!!!
Some of the species are even earlier than what is sold as early. They are becoming difficult and expensive when you find them. My earliest has moved from the first week of March to about March 15. With the crazy weather we have been having I had both a tree and herbaceous blooming second week of June this past year.
If you like the really dark red's, as I do plant in difused sunlight or in partial shade. Many of mine are on the shady sides of trees where you can look up and see sky but the sun never touches directly.
My Burma Joy is on the north side of my yard under deciduous trees - a crabapple and a cotinus Grace. The effect is really lovely, but I have not gone in the direction of the species because, as you note, they are quite expensive.
Wow, TREES, must be nice. Lol! I only have 2 in the front yard, need some shade but will be years away. I just want to make sure that when I do plant them they won't interfer with my flowers. Yes I am framiliar with how harsh the sun can be on color, (ask me....I live at 68-6900ft so I'm closer than the rest of ya. lol.) The nice thing about knowing that there are 3 seasons to peonies is you can get blooms for a longer time, its hard having to wait a whole year for them to bloom again. lol. I keep waiting for the plant people to create some way to get reblooms that won't kill the plant. Maybe one day they will create a stella like peony.
Pirl..love wild and son, was the first place I ever ordered plants from: peonies, daylilies and iris.
Ah.. Do you live close to Sarcoxie, mo.? The feilds at wild and son are open to stroll. Sniff for me if you go. lol. Kathy
Have hope, my dear, we built on FARMLAND! No trees, no shade. So I put in ornamental trees, which grow quickly. A crabapple, a corinus Grace, a viburnum prunifolium, a yoshino cherry. It created a lot of shade in just a few years..
They get big very fast, but are low maintenance and drought tolerant, especially the smokebush and crabapple. We installed them ourselves.
So, much to my shock, I was able to grow classic shade plants in places where they once would have fried to a crisp!
Thanks for all the info!
Going to Wilds in MO is on my bucket list lol. It would be a trip to see huge fields of flowers.
Blue...just remember to sniff the peonies and iris for me and tell us about the trip when you make it.
Donna.. yes will be planting some of the crabapples myself and I did get a yoshino cherry (still sitting in the pot next to the house covered in snow to help insulate, ran out of time this fall) As soon as it warms this spring will be time to get those trees in, lol. Also got a weeping cherry and a linden to begin with. Hopefully many more also, want atleast one shaded area ( the area around the house).
kathy
Kathy, I will and plan on taking my new camera. I forgot and didn't get one photo the first trip. ? is all peonies fragrant? I hope so, the oldies I have are. So wonderful to bring a bouquet in the house.
Teresa
If you have room, I heartily recommend a tilia cordata 'Baileyi'. I have two lindens, the other being a Greenspire, but if you can get a baileyi, you love it!!! Easy! Healthy! Floriferous! Elegant! After a few years you may need to limb it up from the bottome (I didn't) but I think it's the king of the lindens.
At ground level. If you like, it can provide you with lots of privacy. Or, again you can limb it up. It will give you the shade and privacy you seek. It did for me!
Donna..that linden is a beauty, can"t remember which I got, think it might be greenspire. Love your roses in the front, pretty!!! I got the linden cause of fragrance, lol. Sure hope it likes its new home. I'd love to get another but they tend to be a bit pricey. Got at Home Depot at the end of the season at half price. I will limb up all my trees so I can have planting and seating areas.
I have a Greenspire too. I liked it so much that when the original landscapers planted it improperly (leaving the wire on the bag, if you can believe it!) I replaced it with another.
Most of my neighbors planted maples or river birches (which die after about 15 years in our dry, alkaline climate). The Greenspire dose not come so close to the ground as the Baileyi, so it sounds lke it will work beautifully for you. I never would have dreamed hat I would have two different cultivars of the same tree family in my yard, but they are simply irresistable!