spring 2017

Thanks Wee. Suspect the next treasure will probably be either one of the tree peonies or the fern leaf peony. Both are spectacular but very short lived. That is one of the big reasons I rely so much on annuals

This may not be a seedling, but a root I moved many years ago. I can't imagine this one being a child of those 2 puffballs!

Someone on another forum said it might be 'Miss America'. I did not purchase it under that name. It seems as though most of my peonies are mis-identified.

This message was edited Jun 1, 2017 3:13 PM

Here are it's parents:
The white one was supposed to be 'Festiva Maxima', but it has no red flecks in it. I do not know what the pink one is.

Wow, Evelyn! How long did that take to bloom? It's beautiful!
Keith, I like that Firespray mix. Good colors blooming together. And I see a cut log patio? Wow! I love them but it would only last one or two seasons here. How long do you have it?

Loretta, the wood disc pathway just went in last year. I used Tamarac (larch) which is supposed to have good rot resistance however it is already showing signs of breakdown. Will have to enjoy it while it lasts. It was a lot of work and was a lot of wear and tear on my quad as it got used as a skidder to pull the logs out of the swamp. I posted pictures of the construction on the Propagation Forum last May

Loretta this one is for you. Overall view is not too exciting right now but you can see the path better now than when everything gets filled up

Very nice! I really like that look. You would think you might have a better chance at them lasting since you pulled them out of the swamp.

Loretta ~ I have been talking with some people that breed peonies and they tell me it takes 5:years from seed. I did not do it! "They" did it!

Keith ~ That is very creative! Nice!

What a beautiful layout, Keith. I'm jealous of the rock garden - I want to make one but don't think I have the energy.

Loretta, I have mainly species peonies which have spawned a bunch of seedlings which haven't bloomed yet. I have no idea what they'll look like when they finally bloom - I presume they'll be hybrids. My oldest seedlings are maybe 2-3 yrs old, one of which looks big enough maybe to bloom next year - we'll see.

That's just a baby rock garden Wee. I have several but this is my biggest and is still a project in the works. It has very few plants left in it as the deer really reaked havoc with it this winter. The first winter I was quite successful in protecting it with chicken wire. The theory is that they don't like walking on it and getting their feet caught in the mesh. However this last winter was a weird one . It would snow then melt off and on all winter so it was exposed way too much and constantly tempting them. So I have trays of new hens and chicks that I am propagating in the greenhouse to replant it with

So sad, Keith. I hope there wasn't anything hard sought after. Seems those are the ones always targeted. I'm looking forward to seeing that garden blooming.

I've never gotten peony seed to germinate, not that I've tried many times. My own peonies don't produce viable seed. Evelyn, your seedling is as beautiful as anything you can buy. I'm looking forward to seeing yours someday, WR.
I have so much blooming now I can't keep up. It's a very colorful year.
I guess I'll start with columbine
1. These white columbine came from blue double pleat that I planted more than 15 years ago. They disappeared for a while and came back. Usually they are all shades of blue with white but this year, I got a lot of white. I really like it.
2. Here is an example of one of the blue and white seedlings. This one is really a blueish purple. I have other variations but they didn't photo well or I was too lazy.
3. Here is my chartreuse leaf columbine. Flowers are purple. I would have waited for a better picture but my dog walked through the middle of them. They have been coming true to seed. I guess they are a result of an ant planted seedling of my one and only Woodside Variegated columbine I grew years and years ago or a fluke. Who knows.
4. Strawberry begonia. I once had a nice patch of it until someone scared me about it being invasive. I stupidly pulled it out. It sticks around but it has not been anywhere near invasive for me.
5. Clematis 'Alionushka', not a climber but long blooming. A small garden obelisk is good enough.

1. Bought lupines this year because I can never keep them alive from seed. The blue and white one just lost all its petals for some reason, even from the second flush but the pink one is doing well. This is one that needs to be in a group.
2. Rubidor weigela. This one can take some rough handling like transplanting and hard pruning.
3. Sambucus 'Black Lace'
4. Rosa Glauca.
5. Kalmia- forgot which one.
For someone who says they aren't a pink person, I guess I have a lot of it.

Oh, if I had all the plants that the deer ate! (Or even the money to buy new ones!)

That is why the peonies and other choice plants are now in a fenced garden area. They always are the blooms off the peonies and other...many other plants​.

I keep finding, by trial and error, (trowel and error?) of what the deer will not deface or demolish.

So far, besides daffodils, rosemary, broom, santolina, boxwood (in certain areas...other areas they not quite demolish them), lavender and thyme.

The euphorbias do get nibbled, but not demolished, so they never really look their best. The alliums appear to be untouched. This is all without deer repellent. I found that to be wasting my time and money, though, at times was successful in a limited way.

One year I planted tulips and put repellent in the planting hole, covered the bulb. I left for a trip in February, and when we got back the tulips were standing up in full bloom, and there were deer right next to them, and the tulips were untouched!

Oh I have MANY deer stories... don't get me started! 😒

Absolutely gorgeous blooms Loretta. Thanks for sharing

Spring's progression moves on - here are some new guys blooming this weekend.
#1 is Lilium asiaticum Forever Susan
#2 is Alyssum stribrnyi
#3 is Myosotis palustris Southern Blues.
#4 is Aquilegia chrysantha Yellow Queen, love the graceful spurs.

Very nice Wee. The Forever Susan lilies are hardy here too. Mine are up but not even any sign of buds yet.

Thanks, Keith. I guess I should check on the file sizes before I post. Some of the photos are large. I haven't figured out why it is large sometimes and others not. One I hardly cropped at all is smaller than the one I cropped a lot.
Cute little alyssum! Yellow Queen is very graceful with those long spurs.

Not exactly a perennial but best I have to offer right now. Royal Mist Rosybloom Crabapple planted last year as a memorial to my Dad. I said earlier that I refuse to do fences in the battle against deer. This is a bit of an exception because it is very special but the fence is temporary for the winter and coming down real soon. The fence is real ugly so that is why the photo is not of the full tree.

Keith ~ That is beautiful! Thank you for sharing your special memory.

That's a beautiful color. I'm sorry about your father. I didn't even notice the fence.

Thank you ladies. Lately all my time is devoted to getting my annuals out of the greenhouse and into the ground. Should only be a few days away from Fernleaf peony blooms. Do you guys have those down there. They seem like they like our Arctic climate. A good friend of mine in Windsor Ontario really loved mine so I gave him one as a host gift once when we visited but it didn't survive. I believe he is about zone 6

I have some kind of fern leaf peony that I got from a defunct nursery years ago. It lives but doesn't do well for me. It isn't that classic one that you see in the impressive photos. I have been meaning to move it. I think it would do Ok in another area of the yard.
I'm looking forward to seeing that peony.

Me too!

I've killed a couple fern leaf peonies, but I have one still hanging in there.
In my climate, sharp drainage is paramount.
Last year, mine formed a tantalizing bud, which failed to open.
I'm hoping for greater things this year. We'll see.

I'm curious Wee. Do you get much snow. I'm thinking lack of snow may be have been the problem for my buddy in southern Ontario. I have 2 and I don't have to do anything special. They are both about to burst into multiple blooms. They are very rare to find here and VERY expensive, about $60 a root.

Having major problems posting so going to see if pictures go then send text later

OK that went better. I had everything 1 finger typed and it would not go so had to start over. Frustrating
1. This is my first fernleaf peony, about 14 years old. It was my first year as manager at Timbermart. It is actually 2 plants growing in one clump. I was placing an order for the greenhouse and the vendor suggested I try fernleaf peony..I had never heard of them up to that point. I was impressed when I looked them up on Google so I placed an order even though they were very expensive. Of course I had to try one myself. Much to my chagrin it grew for a while and then it shriveled up and died. Then right away we started to get calls from customers that the plant they spent so much money on was dead. Being a bit of a seasoned gardener I was reminded of another experience I had a few years prior. I had ordered a package of Virginia Blue Bells and they started to grow OK then shriveled up and appeared dead. I had called the supplier and gotten a refund then the following spring they all came back. Hoping this was a similar situation I got on the phone to our supplier and sure enough it is typical for the root to only grow for a short while the first year and then flourish the next spring. We told all our customers to hang in til the next spring and if they didn't come back we would give them a refund. Meanwhile we had one pot left in the greenhouse showing no life at the end of the season so the girls told me to take it home and try putting it in the ground with the other one. The next spring I had 2 healthy plants
2. My favorite Hosta. Hosta Sagae
3. This is an example of a screw up with a good ending. When I first established my Japanese garden I stuck an annual lysimachia in a little rocky feature with some sempervirens not realizing they were actually perennials here. They have taken over the whole corner. They are actually very easy to to keep weed free and the color is quite striking against the black rocks. The deer forage heavily on them when the snow first goes but then leave it alone later. Now that is one less thing I have to buy every year for my pots. Once the deer leave it alone I just go out and take a few cuttings.

We have the same favorite hosta, Keith. I always loved the form and how it glows in the garden. I divided mine up into a few plants and I'm a little sorry I did since it takes so long to clump up again. From now on, I'm just going to take little slivers and leave the main plant full.
I have the same thing happen with peonies. They die back early the first year and fill in over the next couple of years. I love your fernleaf! That is so pretty!

In my humid climate fernleaf peonies are extremely fussy - I've never had one survive in the ground, but I've got one sorry survivor in a pot which is at least still alive. Yours looks great!
I also love H. Sagae but the deer have munched it to celery sticks. I do better with the dwarf hostas which the deer don't much bother.
I also love lysimachia - it looks great the way you're using it. One of my favorite plants which I no longer grow is it's brethren L. clethroides - a big patch of gooseneck loosestrife is really beautiful, but too aggressive in my yard.

1. Same clump I showed yesterday but open more. You guys are all gardeners. You understand how vulnerable peonies are for photographing. How many times have you waited one more day for the picture and then it rains and it's wait for next year.
2. My other clump in the Japanese garden. Notice the tree peony beside it. If you can zoom in on your device check out all the buds on that bad boy. That is my purple one. I counted 18 healthy buds. The red one has 8 buds and the yellow one has 1. Standing by for those.

Now I am really wanting a fern-leaf peony! :-)

Lol! So true!
The foliage of the two peonies side by side is a great combination.

Loretta, glad that comment have you a chuckle
Keith

It is almost summer, though yesterday we had rain off and on and fog, which rarely occurs in this area. It is supposed to be cool, then be hot on Friday. How do the plants keep up, much less the gardeners?

Still can't get over that fern leaf peony - yours is so beautiful!
Made me rekindle my commitment to pampering my sad potted guy. I'd pretty much given up on him after I accidentally drowned him last year when the drainage hole in the pot clogged up. But amazingly came back this year, but still just a runt. Maybe I can coax out a bloom in the next year or two...

Thanks Wee. Rushed out before a cloudburst and snapped these.

Keith ~ Very pretty.

I'll say it again, I really like that combo. I don't think my peonies are so uniform in size.
I missed photographing my peonies this year. My video card went and before I decided to change it out, I did a restore except a "restore" isn't a "restore" anymore. Windows does go to an early date (I guess) but also down to the basics and uninstalls all your programs and apps that it doesn't like, even old versions of MS Office. So Adobe was uninstalled which means I have to reorganize the pictures. So it put me off my camera a little.