Peonies 2013

I cannot believe that I'm starting this thread a month earlier than I did last year. It's amazing that despite the fact that we've had some cold weather, that these newly planted peonies continue to grow in this weather. The older plants also have pips that continue to increase in size.

Here is Lois' Choice, and Cheddar Surprise. These were only planted on December 15, 2012. Lois' Choice already has a bud, I hope it doesn't blast. I had these plants protected with pine straw mulch until today. I've left the mulch off since we're expecting some daytime temps in the 60's this week. I wonder if the groundhog is right?

Annette

The peonies continue to grow here in GA, despite the cold, wet weather. Cheddar Surprise is about 4 in tall today. Bowl of Cream and Gardenia have huge pips, and the noid is starting to leaf out. I had Festiva Maxima planted in the garden last year, but it was not in a good spot and kept on getting stepped on. It was pulled up and planted in a pot, which was left sitting in the peony bed all winter. I checked on it this week, and it has pips. I'm going to have to find a better spot to plant it in the garden this year.

I still have some tree peonies in pots, that I didn't get a chance to plant last fall. Here is Shimadagin and Hanakisoi still in pots today. Shima Nishiki which was planted in the garden in the fall of 2011, is only about 1 ft tall but appears to have 4 buds.

I am so envious. I also have Hanakisoi which I planted last summer. Got it from Cubits. Don't know how it will do here but hope it 'takes' along with the other one I bought. I planted nine (I think that was all) last fall. I am so excited to see how they grow and also to see how the second year ones do. I had to move two but as you noticed with yours they were simply not in a good place. They have full sun now and better drainage. Yours will be blooming before you know it. If mine make it, they will bloom (the tree peonies) the end of June. Well, maybe not this year. Three years seems to be the bloom year up here for trees.

I'm excited to see how many blooms Lady Orchid will have this year, she's put out so many large pips. Itoh Hillary and Green Lotus from Brook's garden were planted in mid December. Lemon Chiffon was started in a pot in September, (thank you again M.) and also planted in mid December when I could get back into the garden. It's going to be a great peony year.

I wasn't able to put down any composted manure this past fall, I only used Bulb Food around the plants, and they seem to like it. I'll be interested to see how everything blooms this year. Annette

Hi Mary, we crossed posts, LOL. My tree peonies still in pots also came from the Cubits co-op. 4 of the 5 tree peonies were left in pots on my deck this winter. It seems I've lost Kinshi. I was able to plant Kaoukaman in the garden on December 15th, and it does have pips. I hope yours do well. Annette

I also ordered Kinshi. Similar taste I guess. lol.

Too funny ;~)

When you plant out the tree peonies you need to plant them deeper than they are in the pots. You can see the graft union's in the picture with the two pots. The stem above the graft union MUST be below the soil surface in order for the tree peony graft to establish it's own roots.

Thanks for the advice ah, I will do that when I get a chance to plant them, hopefully in the next week. Please keep all the good recommendations coming, I really appreciate it. I may have to get the DH to help me dig the hole, it's hard getting deep into our red clay here. Hopefully alll of the rain we've had this week will have softened the ground. Anette

It was beautiful here today, a balmy 62 degrees, so I had a chance to finally put the composted manure around the peonies. I found quite the surprise. Several years ago, I had peony Primavera planted in one of the garden beds, but I had to move it because it was being crowded out by hostas. I must have left part of the tuber behind, because I found 2 actively growing stems in the area where Primavera was previously planted. I may have to move this as well, since this bed gets pretty full when the hostas have leafed out. Annette

Cool. How neat. I should have all sorts of Lemon Chiffon coming up from the one I dug up. lol

Mary, I hope you do get some extra Lemon Chiffon, what a bonus that would be :~). I recently read that the Itohs propagate easily, so you may have your wish come true. Annette

lol. Wouldn't that be a hoot

My peonies are also popping out here in Dallas. They look just like yours Cem9165

I just saw the first Stellar Jays filling the neighbor's trees. Sure sign of spring.

Hi drthor, I'm glad you're starting to see some peony growth. The count down to who will have the first bloom starts ;-)

Mary, I'm also glad you're also seeing signs of early spring. Today, while I was out running errands, I saw many robins. I've never seen that many together before. I wonder if these groups are migrating further north?



This message was edited Feb 25, 2013 9:56 PM

No sign of them here yet. We still have to await the Canadian geese on their way further north. Then maybe robins.

Just popped back in and WOW! Cem, it looks like it may be another one of those freaky peony years, judging by yours!

A few days ago I spotted a Black Swallowtail butterfly and the Purple Martin's scouts are here already. Spring is coming.

Hey Donna, how are your northern peonies doing? I've had some newly planted peonies that seem to think it's spring, and they've started putting out leaves. I'm going to have to cover them again this weekend since we're going to have temps in the 20's for several nights.

Drthor, I can't believe you're already seeing butterflies, lucky you. We probably won't see any of them here for a few more months. We just have a lot of birds that have been around all winter. The bird feeders are out all winter, and I keep the bird bath filled to keep them happy.

Hi Cem,

My peonies showed pips weeks ago, but they are not putting out leaves. I experienced the same thing last year, with peonies showing pips prematurely. Some of them have a lot of pips, as many as 14, so seeing 5-6 is probably not a big deal. None of mine are in pedestrian areas, so I actually covered them with just a bit of soil.

Starting a peony thread in February. That's just amazing. Last year my first peony bloomed a month early. We have a had a winter with very little snow, but we are getting, relatively, buried now, so they are back in hiding.

I cannot wait to see my Itoh peonies blooming this year !!
I bought 4 plants last year at a huge sale !!!
I just cannot wait !!!

drthor, which new Itohs did you get, and how huge was the sale? I read your post and got excited for you ;~). Isn't it wonderful when you have new plants, with blooms you've never seen before, to look forward to. My 2 new Itohs are Hillary and Pastel Splendor. I'm hoping I see some blooms on them this year. Annette

uuhhh I forgot their names ... I just looked under the thread you started last year peonies 2012 and found them (by the way - great idea to put the date on the thread tittle):
MISAKA http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=9054590
KEIKO http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=9060137

When I went to my garden store they were priced $89 ... huge plants - 3' tall and wide, in a 5 gal. container.
I recognized their names right away and thought that it was a decent price, considering that you could buy a bare root Itoh for that price on the web ... but I didn't buy them.
I passed by again one month later and they went on sale 50% ... so I bought 2 of them. After 2 months their price dropped to maybe $25/each and I bought 2 more !!
It was amazing that no-body did recognize this deal ... I guess if the peonies are not in bloom people don't care.
I called around some of my garden friends and told them to go buy those amazing peonies. I just cannot wait !!

I got Misaka, Keiko and Yumi in pots in spring of 2011. They bloomed beautifully last year. I wish I had gotten the deal that you got. They are beautiful Itohs.

This year I told my DH that I didn't want candy or flowers for Valentine's Day, I wanted tree peonies, the gift that keeps on giving. He ordered Black Dragon and Pink Coral for me. I'm so excited about these plants, I believe they should come next month, and hopefully as they mature over the next few years, I'll get some beautiful blooms.

The weather here is crazy this weekend, we're going into the 20's at night, with a 30% chance of snow on Saturday. I had to run around the garden this evening, and cover the peonies that are leafing out with pine straw. At the end of next week we'll have temps in the mid to high 60's. These plants will be so confused.

Meh. We had 14 inches of snow on Wednesday. Ground was already covered. I can't even get to where the peonies are:-(

But our spring will come after all of your plants are finished and you are harvesting corn:-)

I do have a Bratzilla that I am looking forward to this year and about 10 second year plants that should do much better.

Here is a squirrel at our bird feeder.

How deep is the snow at the feeder. Adorable little guy. Even if they do rob food from the birds. Your snow moved up moved up here. :(

okcrow,
that is an amazing picture ! Great shot !

okcrow, LOL, I don't grow corn ;~) but you are right, our blooms in the south will be done when the northern blooms start. Love your picture, I'm surprised the squirrel came out in that weather.

We no longer have snow predicted, just rain for tomorrow.

40% chance of snow pretty much every day for the next week. Still dipping into the teens at night but the days are warming up. We will be starting sugaring in a week or so. This was a very cold winter here. Combination of subzero temps plus 60 mph winds. Could not keep heat in the Dinning room. Two frozen pipes. Yikes! But the good news is we had snow cover all winter so I am hopeful for the perennials. That snow at the bird feeder is about 4 feet deep. More in the woods.

I have a flyer from a place called Cricket Hill Garden in Connecticut. Look like they have some nice things and they are only 2-3 hours away. They claim they can ship now for spring planting and the peonies will do just fine. What do you think?
Charles

Cricket Hill is the nursery that my DH ordered the 2 tree peonies from. I wonder if they have a lot of snow there? Their site states the peonies are freshly dug for shipping, but I would think the ground would be frozen in CT at this time of year.

I have planted herbaceous peonies in the spring with no problems in the past, they just didn't bloom the first year. I've also started them in pots, where I could ensure that they got a good start, then planted them in the garden in the fall, when the ground cooled down.

Peonies budding up in my garden

Oh drthor, how glorious! Thank you!

And are those lily stems?

Are those peony roots and tubers in the first picture? Are they herbaceous or tree?

DonnaMack,
you have good eyes, yes they are LILIUMS.
OMG this year they are multiplying like crazy ... my soil is loaded with bulbs !!

Oberon46
the first picture: Itoh peony

What a wonderful problem! Congratulations.

This message was edited Apr 8, 2013 11:32 AM

drthor, your peonies are coming along nicely. I can't wait to see your blooms. I've also noticed that the lilies here have started coming up, but they're not as far along as yours

Mary, I see what you're talking about in the first picture, it looks like some of the tubers are exposed. I've had the same thing happen here, because the peonies are planted so shallowly, my soil over the tubers washes away and leaves them exposed.

Isn't that bad for them? They are Itoh's (intersectionals) so they die to the ground. I usually cut down the stems to the ground to make room for new growth and to remove potential fungus spots. Don't have that problem here -- just sayin'

Hi Mary, I hear ya. However, last year my Itohs had pips that grew along the stems, as well as pips that came from the ground, their tree peony ties were showing :-) this made for a really full, lush plant. However, my stems were cut low enough to remove the leaves. This year I don't have as many pips along the stems. I also ensure that all the peony leaves are removed from the garden beds, to help reduce fungi from overwintering here.

The exposed tubers I was referring to are the herbaceous peonies, and when I find this, I cover them back with soil, but no more than 1 inch, so they're close enough to the surface to get their winter chill.