Have you ever seen a peony plant can blossom in many color flowers? This is bred by my friend.
combination peony
Absolutely gorgeous. All those different blooms from one tuber?
Very nice
where can I get these?
Looking at the three different kinds of leaves, and their corresponding blossoms, I'm going to guess that this is grafted in the tuber.
I see what you mean. The grey/green leaves smack of tree or Itoh, while the others look herbaceous. I am way far from an expert, but still seems like a really stunning accomplishment. I wouldn't mind having one myself. Would be worth digging up something to make space.
LOL....making more space....I know the feeling on limited space!
Wish I had more property and better growing conditions.
Such a short time to develop good strong root stock at a higher altitude.
Purchased 2 greenhouses 12 x 20' this year to try to extend our growing season in this region. Had snow 2 weeks ago.
How is Alaska with snow so far?
Yeah, I keep forgetting you guys get probably more snow than we do. It has snowed lightly twice but the ground is bare now. Rarely gets over 32F which is where it is sitting right now. Wish we would get a snow cover soon to protect the plants and underground utility systems. The freeze is drilling down deeper and deeper every day. I would kill for a 12x20' greenhouse. I am really rethinking the pond and waterfall I put in a few years ago. That was before I was into raised beds and vegies in addition to flowers. I bought two used rolling shelves with five shelves each having double flourescents above them. They have trays about 2' deep, 5 to a shelf that hang on the frame. Each rack of lights can be raised or lowered as needed. Got them this spring late. They fit in my garage against the far wall of regular shelves (for accumulated junk). I am looking forward to using them in the spring to start seed where I can lower the lights to within a few inches of the soil. I had rigged flourescents on chains from the ceililng in the last couple of years that were okay but no where near enough lights for the little seedlings. Works okay for the dahlia tubers though.
Are you going to use a heating mat for your seedlings?
The lady who sold me the racks gave me one large mat sufficient for one of the five shelves and I have a smaller one 12x18 of my own. I will use them for those seeds that say they require under heat to optimally germinate. The other seeds seem to do okay on their own.
Sounds great.
I will need to make durable shelving units for both greenhouses.
Another project of mine for the Spring.
Getting back to the Peonies, those look as though they are grafted.
Wondering if the genetics are affected after a few years.
All those different blooms from one tuber. And this peony plant will blossom every year like this. By the way, take care of your greenhouse my friends. My peonies can grow well without any artifical protection.
Soooo, paeniorockii, how does one go about obtaining one of those beautiful peonies??? Hummmm?
We are located in zone 6a at 6500+ feet above sea level and receive an abundance of snow fall every Fall, Winter and Spring.
2 weeks ago we received over a foot of snow and temps below freezing.
We can receive 10 feet of snow at times in one blizzard that can last for weeks
or more.
We do not have good growing conditions like China.
Like many garden centers or nurseries around the world, they close for the season and reopen after the hard winter.
Having a greenhouse (preferably with heating) allows us to start our seeds or any other plant material early in the season and extending their growth cycle.
Many garden centers and nurseries contract with growers across the country to grow their plant stock as well. I contract with growers in California and across the United States who have better growing conditions then I do. It makes more sense.
If I am growing from seed, I allow the plant to harden off the first year in the greenhouse, then move them outside to naturalize and mature, then if needed move them back into the greenhouse over the winter. This takes about 3 years for our plants to fully become mature. I have patience in growing good root stock.
Wondering how other growers feel about the term "Artificial protection" (as you may call it). I am sure they are also offended.
I was in Lake Tahoe for a few days in 1963. Drove up from Oakland while visiting with my relatives there. First time out of Alaska (16 years old). They said that going through Truckee was a real trip when they took the bus up to gamble. Which I guess they did regularly.
A lot of the nurseries here also send for plugs from outside to broaden their offerings. Or regular potted plants 6-paks, 3 & 4" pots.
Not sure what you mean about 'artificial protection.' You mean the greenhouses. That's a way of life up here for those fortunate to use them. Never heard it referred to that way. Kind of dumb. So's a coat but we all wear them in the winter.
Mary, isn't that Outside (with a capital 'O')? My hubs is from Homer and the first time I heard someone tell him "I hear you been Outside" I thought I was going to die laughing.
Nah. The small 'o' is more appropriate to us. lol. I suppose you are right though. It is a particular area to us. I usually think of 'outside' as lower 48. Hawaii is outside, but we usually just say Hawaii. the more you think about it the stranger it sounds but everyone here knows what you mean.
Wish I could go to Alaska and fish for Salmon.
We are enjoying our salmon; reds and pinks. My husband had to throw three kings back as it was past the deadline to catch them. That really hurt. We bought one from a local store and paid $162 for 16.1# that netted about 13 pounds of filets. We had one last night and it was so good. I guess there is a difference between kings and reds. We dipnet the Chitna or the Kenia
Whats the best time to fish and where would you recommend for large ones
from a private boat? And the best restaurant? And so on..in Alaska?
Thanks.
Boy. That is open ended. Take a charter down the Kenai river for fishing painlessly. Avoid the combat fishing on the shore. Or is you like open water, you can take a charter out of Homer for both halibut and salmon.
Best restaurant lol. There are a lot of good ones. Corsair is my favorite for atmosphere and wonderful food. Simon and Seaforts has a wonderful view of the inlet and mountains and the food is great. If I only had so much time, those would be my choices. I have never eaten at the Crow's Nest at the top of the Captain Cook Hotel but I hear it is pretty good and God knows the view would be wonderful. Well, during the evening in summer when you have the light to see the mountain ranges. We have made a bit of a study of restaurants as we started a tradition of taking my daughter to a really primo restaurant for her birthday starting when she was 16. She is now 38. Simon's would give you the combo of great food, including fresh fish of the day, and a wonderful view. You should ask for a window seat so they don't put you further back in the restaurant. All of these places should have reservations in advance. Kinley's is nice and The Kincaid Grill is exceptionally good for food but no view. Oh, and Jens. Their food is wonderful, great wine list but is located in a little strip mall. We don't care as the atmosphere is very nice inside. We eat there several times a year. There might be sticker shock depending on how hard you hit the wine list, which we do. The wine bill quite often equals the food bill for us.
Okay. Enough. If you do ever plan a trip here, I would be happy to make suggestions.
Thanks! Will keep that in mind next summer.
SPGardens, I am not on purpose offending you. In China, my Rockii Peony really don't need any artifical protection. You can refer to the following pictures. It is taken in Changchuan China at 43.54 degrees north latitude and 125.19 degrees east longitude. It can receive 1.97 feet each year.
My hubs is from Homer, and we generally go out into the bay for Halibut and try to grab a few Kings each day near the start of the run. I heard that there wasn't much of a run last year. We usually go up there in late-May to mid-June. We always clean our fish on the boat and then drop them by one of the packing houses to have them flash frozen and vacuum packed. It's really cheap and because they have commercial freezers and sealers the packing quality is better than we can do with a regular freezer and a Foodsaver.
I think that PaeoniaRockii is losing something in translation. By 'artificial protection' he means that they do not need to be greenhoused or lifted and stored for the winter. I would still like to get some details on how we could obtain these tubers though. I'd be willing to try one!
Okay. I read back through the email and caught the first reference to 'artificial protection'. Interesting term. I'm sure not offended. I use no protection on my tree peonies and they aren't rockii. I had two Japanese that bloomed for me but the mice girdled them and killed them two years ago. I was just sick. I bought two new ones this year, again Japanese I believe. It will probably be three years before I get flowers.
Not concerned about the comment ~ very shallow regard towards others.
I also grow Peonies - outside with no "artificial protection"
Tree peonies or herbaceous. Course, you get great 'natural' protection with your huge snowfall. I hate falls like this one where the ground is bare and frozen for weeks. It is down to 15F and the ground is rock hard and getting deeper every day. I know that my plants have survived it before but I still breath a sigh of relief when the snow blankets it all.
by the way, Lanakila, rockii peonies are available here in the US from many growers. Reath in Michigan has many really nice ones. Not like the one that has many diff flowers but I suspect the price on that one is exorbitant. And I have paid up to $350 for one herbaceous plant so exorbitant means lots of bucks. The first yellows sold for $1000 a pop in the beginning.
Rockii is originally from Gansu China and it is also the biggest area to produce rockii around the world. Sometimes we call it Gansu Rockii directly. May be you can search "rockii" in the google, there are many good suppliers if you want to get rockii peonies.
Share some picutres of rockii peony with my DG friends!
how can we obtain the combination peony?
Sorry, there are nobody can supply combination peony temporarily, because it must be grafted by specialist. But, fortunely you can see them in next May in Gansu China. Zhongchuan Peony Nursery will hold The Peony Festival. There will be many special peonies and very giant combination peony trees with 10 different blooms! Then may be they will supply some pot combination peonies you can take home.
so they are not grafted to the stem, but to the tuber itself. Interesting. Well, I WAS planning a trip overseas next year...
Taking root stock by plane into the United States? Are there restrictions?
When I traveled abroad, I was required in include a declaration on the phytosanitary certificate accompanying each nursery stock item, along with my State License.
Had to package each item separately in a clear plastic bag, identified with a photo, Interstate/Gov issued label, and copy phytosanitary certificate.
This made it easier for customs to inspect the nursery stock without removing them from their packages.
Shoot. I forgot about that. Oh well not likely to happen. Plus it would be a one shot deal. No way it would reproduce even if the tubers extended themselves.
Oberon46: You can order the combination peonies by mail from China and pay the shipping fees. They will have to provide all the detailed information needed to ship nursery stock into the United States, although you will have to pay for the certificates.
OH. I thought that the person from China was saying they were not available for sale but you could see them next year in China and might be able to purchase a tuber. Thanks
It is grafted. In the following picture you can see the grafting position.(red ribbon)
I have ordered peonies from Zhongchuan Nursery in China 3 times now and am delighted with my peonies. I have purchased many Rockii, Chinese, Herbaceous, and some Japanese from them. Their prices are much lower than can be found here in the U.S., although there are many fine nurseries in this country offering peonies also. However, I cannot afford to pay $100 or more for a peony. I have found this company to be quite courteous to work with, and they offer many fine varieties. The "artificial protection" reference was not meant to offend, only to convey the hardiness of the Rockii peony which is indigenous to that region. The only thing they do not like is too much water. The Gansu Province has high altitude and dry weather. It is truly amazing that these peonies can arrive all the way from China to Ohio to our zone 6 garden where it is flat at an elevation of about 1000' above sea level with very rich, black soil and thrive. I was concerned that our soil would be the wrong type and our elevation would not be conducive to growing the Rockii peonies. This year I started to get blossoms on some of my peonies, and cannot wait to someday see these magnificent plants in all their glory, standing 5' or more in height and circumference, with 100's of blossoms that are fragrant and 8" - 10" across!
Irene, if it's you posting - hello from Mary!
I just noticed this thread, so I am far behind. Tree peonies are often grafted for the strength of the herbaceous tuber.
When you have a bi-colored bloom on a tree peony, it is unpredictable how many will be 2 colors and how many will be a solid color (but it is fun).
Peonies need a cold season in order to bloom, so other than Mary's mice problem, I don't think there is much worry besides other critters.
Whenever you have a graft of any kind, on any kind of plant, i.e., roses, never let the original plant grow. It is stronger than the graft and may take over. In time you may find that the graft no longer blooms, only the original tuber. It is such a disappointment when that happens and is preventable by "nipping it in the bud" literally.
In one of the photos I think I saw a single peony, which has to be herbaceous, growing through the others. paeoniarockii, you should be able to tell which is the graft. The tree peony growth is on old wood and starts as tiny buds. Herbaceous peonies grow from the ground when they begin new growth.
Marcia
Yes. A great way to tell. I have three new tree peonies and will watch carefully for any herbaceous. I never thought of looking at the stuff coming from the ground rather than from the stems. Duh. Thanks for the tip.