I'm planning on purchasing some tree peonies for next spring and haven't decided which one's to plant. They will be foundation plantings so there form is important year round. I would like to see some tree peonies not in bloom. I seem to only find pics in bloom. If possible, would of few peonie lovers put up a few pics? And if possible, the age of the peonies. I'd just like to know if my vision is anything like the reality. With the cost of tree peonies. . . I don't want to make a mistake.
Thank you all!
Casey
wanted, no bloom tree peony pics
This is ours. I believe it's what's called a tibetan tree peony. It blooms yellow. I love the shape. That is a rugosa rose just beginning to branch out in the right lower foreground. It will be removed this fall as it covers the peony. (Bad planning on former owners.)
Gwen
Thanks! Do you know how old it is? I really love the shape.
I don't know exactly. The house was built in '92. The first owners put this in. They lived here 5 years. So it was planted between '92 and '97 ish time frame. It's in a part of the yard where I assumed they started as it's near the house and is along the porch. They put a regular peony under and behind it! It didn't bloom, obviously. I'm going to move that out of there and out into sun.
Gwendalou
I know what you mean, all the catalogues generally only show the flower, not the habit of the plant. This is a pic of one of my unnamed tree peonies (the tags only said what colour they were). It is 4 years old, 3 years in this location. I expect they will get a foot or so larger but they'll maintain their lovely foliage and shape.
IMHO they don't look the greatest in the winter. They look more like sticks than shrubs. Maybe when my plants are older they'll have a more shrub-like structure. Not sure about that.
Anyway, I hope this helps you to visualize the shape in the landscape.
Sanannie, that is very pretty! I really like the pebbley ground. How much does that help in keeping down weeds? Would it keep out blackberries, lemon balm, grasses, etc? The area where my 'tree peony' is located would look really nice with this beneath everything instead of the current weedy look!
What is under the rocks, if anything? Tell me more!
Gwen
It's actually the top of my rock garden that I mulch with pea gravel and it does keep the weeds down depending on how thick you put it on. Yep, it would keep out those things you mentioned as long as the soil was free of them to start with. If the soil is weed free and there's no perennial weed roots lurking in the soil, after you do your planting, top it off with about a 1-1/2 to 2 inch layer of pea gravel, leaving a space around the crown of the plant.
Keep in mind though that a stone mulch makes it more difficult to move things around in the future. But I see you are doing a foundation planting, so maybe the planting is going to be more permanent. Sometimes landscapers lay landscape fabric/weed barrier underneath a stone mulch if it is a permanent planting but this wouldn't work if you had perennials in the bed that will need to be divided etc.
Thank you. You understood exactly why I wanted the pics. I see of the flowers, but you're right. You never see the habit or form of the shrub. I really wanted to know what it will look like for the rest of the year.
You've all been such help that I'm going to move the spot I was going to place them and plant Hydrangeas there instead. I'm still ordering the tree peonies, but placing them in a better place.
Thanks again!
This message was edited Aug 30, 2005 8:07 AM
Unfortunately the ground is filled with blackberry roots, so I guess they would just come up again. :(
Gwen