Strengthening those stalwart peonies

By Vivian Shoalts for the Welland Tribune

http://www.wellandtribune.ca/2012/06/13/strengthening-those-stalwart-peonies

Peonies are usually one of the stars of the June garden.

With the strange weather patterns we have been having this year our gardens are about a month ahead of normal which means our peonies’ peak bloom period is past. This is not the only problem our plants have suffered. With the heavy drought for the whole month of May their blooms were not as large as we usually expect them to be, that is a real pity. Still they will carry on, a stalwart presence in the garden.

Stalwart and very long lived they are. One can often see on trips around the country where a farm house has once stood the site is still marked with an old peony, no doubt planted just after the house was built.

In my garden I have peonies that were originally from the farm where my husband grew up. His great-grandmother tended those original plants right down to his mother who gave me pieces of them for my garden where they continue to grace the late spring/early summer garden. Now pieces of them have been passed on to our children’s gardens to continue the tradition of producing their lovely scented blooms of pink or white or red.

Even these work horses of the garden do best with some tender, loving care as the season begins when compost and manure mix can be spread around each sprouting plant first thing. To combat the botrytis blight that can plague peonies, when they are about 15 cm (six inches) high dust them with some sulphur as a preventative. Once they are starting to set buds and bloom keep an eye out for any buds that remain small and turn brown. Nip them out and discard in the green bin. These have been afflicted with botrytis blight, getting rid of diseased plant material helps to combat this fungus.

The only other problem they occasionally have is not blooming after being planted or transplanted. This is caused by too deep planting. Peonies are sensitive to planting depth. They should have the crown of the plant no deeper than 2 cm (one inch) deep. I find it easiest to keep those red buds on the fleshy roots level to ground level. This takes care of any problem caused by minor settling at planting time, though this can be stopped by not digging any deeper than the length of the root system.

Plant breeders around the world have been busy breeding new plants for cultivation with new colours, flower forms and extended seasonal flowering. There are literally hundreds of different peony varieties to be had to grace the garden.

One of the oldest varieties is the lovely white Duchesse de Nemours bred in the 1850s and still going strong. Another is Bowl of Beauty with deep pink outer petals centred with light yellow stamenoids, bred in 1949. This one stands up well to a heavy rain. A fairly new one Coral Charm has long stems great for cutting but it needs staking to stay upright after a rain. The blooms of Gay Paree are smaller but its combination of deep pink and light pink make it an attractive addition. There are plenty of these lovely plants to choose from but I’d like to give you one last tip regarding staking.

The best and most unobtrusive is a sturdy wire one around it (mine was made of concrete reinforcing wire by my son) about three quarters of the height of the plant. Tie some strong twine in a crisscross pattern over the top. The peony grows through this and once it’s up to full height one never knows its support is there and heavy rains don’t spoil the show.

Production de pivoines

submitted by Martinus Mooijekind

Rain-proof peonies

For Garden Making  http://gardenmaking.com/

By Judith Adam

'Coral n Gold' peony.(Photo courtesy of Blossom Hill Nursery)

This was the week rain smashed the pale pink ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ peonies, which happens every year in early June. You just know there will be a downpour that will splatter the big double blooms across the lawn. (Peony rings and staking are no guarantee that a hard rain won’t shatter the flowers.) But not every peony was destroyed.

I have three clumps of white single, lemon-scented ‘Jan van Leeuwen’ peony (Paeonia lactiflora ‘Jan van Leeuwen’) standing straight up and unphased by the storm. It would be good insurance to put more of these slightly shorter, single peonies into the garden in other colours, too.

Lush double peonies are seductive and hard to resist, but single peonies have their own allure. Singles have a generous ring of coloured guard petals surrounding a thick centre of golden stamens. There may be one ring, or as many as three overlapping rings of guard petals, increasing the fullness of the flowers, but not enough to allow rainwater to fill the blooms and take them down. Singles also tend to be shorter than the possibly 36- to 40-inch (90 cm- to 1-m) height of doubles, making them less vulnerable to wind. The dramatic contrast between smooth guard petals and the thick centre of yellow stamens adds interest and vivacity to the blossoms. So I had a look at various catalogues, searched for plant pictures on the Internet, and came up with some nice selections I can plant for rain and wind resistance.

My double peonies are dark and light pink, so I’d be glad to have more colour diversity. I found ‘Burma Joy’ with rich red petals and dark mahogany red ‘Rubyette’, both with bright yellow centres. I can’t resist ‘Coral and Gold’ with its suffusion of pink and orange. ‘Foxtrot’ has to go on the order list (of plants to be delivered in September), with its deep magenta guard petals along with ‘Cerise’, a unique peony with blue-pink petals and a white centre.

I’d also like to find some single species peonies that bloom early and lengthen the season. Molly the Witch (Paeonia mlokosewitschii) is a beautiful yellow, although sometimes the colour is variable and flowers might open pink. Another beauty is Paeonia veitchii, with three-inch (8-cm) magenta flowers, that can also be pale pink and sometimes white. These species peonies are quite beautiful early in spring. But they’re hard to find, and I’ll have to haunt plant sales for a while until they turn up. If you ever see them, grab them!

Dividing Peonies

by Hazel Cook
Previously published in the Peterborough Examiner

---

 Peonies have been referred to as the ‘Queen of the Garden’ and they truly deserve this title. They are available as single, semi-double and huge fully double shapes in numerous colours including white, yellow, pink, red and very dark burgundy.
There are in excess of five thousand varieties of the common garden or herbaceous peony. However, there are also numerous tree peonies which have woody stems above ground and in recent years, intersectional or Itoh peonies have become available. These are produced by crossing tree and herbaceous peonies. The Itoh peonies have the growth habits of the herbaceous peonies but the foliage and flower of the tree peony.
Peonies are an amazingly versatile perennial. They are long-lived, often fifty years or more without being moved; very drought tolerant and make excellent cut flowers, as well as outstanding landscape plants. Also they are deer and rabbit resistant. By careful selection, the bloom period last six weeks or more. From spring’s first red shoots to the rich green of summer and then the golden and bronze tones of autumn, peonies provide three seasons of attractive foliage in the garden.
Peonies are divided in the fall starting about mid September because of their growth pattern. The peony root is a large tuber or storage root but in late autumn, fine fibrous feeder roots and growth buds begin to develop. The plants go dormant during the winter. With the warmer spring weather, the buds begin to elongate while the fibrous roots expand further to absorb moisture and nutrients. If a peony is stored bare-root in cold storage or dug in the spring, the fibrous roots will not develop well and plant growth will suffer. Although the plant may recover eventually, it could be many seasons before it will flower.
In early September, cut the foliage off. Growers of large numbers of peonies are advised to garbage or burn these leaves to help eliminate any chance of disease. However, most gardeners can compost the leaves provided they appear healthy and disease free. If the ground is dry, water the plant the day before you are ready to divide.
Using a strong spade, dig deeply around the plant on all sides and lift the plant with as much of the root system as possible, being careful not to damage the crown. Wash the soil from the roots with a strong spray of water and place the root in a shady spot for a few hours. The root will be less brittle and easier to cut. Examine the root. You will see three parts: the eyes or buds of next year’s growth, the crown and the roots. If the roots are very long, trim them to between six to eight inches.
Any division with one eye will grow but it is recommended to have at least three to five eyes per division, so the plant will mature and flower sooner, possibly the first season. Plan your cuts and with a clean, strong knife cut through the root away from yourself. Sometimes on large strong roots, you may have to pry or pull the roots apart and then trim off jagged edges. If some of the large growth buds become damaged, the smaller secondary ones will enlarge and grow. The roots may be stored for several days in bags of peat moss in a cool place.
Peonies need sunny, well drained conditions and since they will not be moved for many years, the garden should be well prepared. Dig a large hole and mix in slow release fertilizer such as bone meal or compost. Never use fresh manure or let any fertilizer come in direct contact with the crown. Plant the peony root with the highest eyes on the crown no more than two inches below the soil surface and firm the soil. It is often recommended that you mulch the plants for the first winter.
Our personal experience dividing peonies was greatly increased last autumn when we relocated the ‘Gilbert collection’ of peonies from the Waterloo area to our property just north of Peterborough. Two truck loads of roots were dug, labelled, sorted and divided. We planted nine hundred plants and after planting more this fall, we will have well over two hundred varieties of species, tree, herbaceous and Itoh peonies on display.

For further information contact the Canadian Peony Society at www.peony.ca. or the Master Gardeners’ Hotline at (705) 741- 4905 or www.peterboroughmg.ca Hazel Cook of Blossom Hill Delphiniums and Peonies is a member of the Peterborough Horticultural Society.

Canadian Peony Society

‘Peony of the Year’

2012

The Winner is...

SALMON CHIFFON

 The winner of the $40.00 gift certificate is 
Francois-Leo Tremblay

************************

Société canadienne de la pivoine
' Pivoine de l'année »


Le gagnant est ...


SAUMON CHIFFON

Le gagnant du certificat-cadeau 40,00 $ est

François-Léon Tremblay


 
Thank you to all the members who participated this year and we hope 
our members will join us for the 
2013 'Peony of the Year'
competition

Merci à tous les membres qui ont participé cette année et nous espérons
nos membres se joindront à nous pour la
2013 "Pivoine de l'année»
concurrence

Matthaei Botanical Gardens & Nichols Arboretum

The Peony Garden is in bloom! June 4, 2007. Click here to view photo gallery.

http://www.lsa.umich.edu/mbg/see/napeonygarden.asp
Where else can one see more than 230 different kinds of peonies in bloom? This is a spectacular historic collection - and one of the largest in North America - from the early 20th century. It presents the best ornamental peonies of its era. The original collector, Dr. Upjohn, founder of the well-known pharmaceutical company, may have been interested not only in their beauty, but also their use in Asian medical traditions.

The Peony garden typically blooms between mid-May and mid-June. The best time for viewing the stunningly beautiful and fragrant display is during early to mid-June, depending on the weather. The garden has 27 beds, each full square originally holding 30 plants. The plants were arranged so that the garden would bloom progressively, with the western edge (closest to the Washington Heights entrance) peaking first. Over time, that has changed through relocation, loss, and division of the plants. However, many of the original plants are thriving exactly where they were planted many decades ago.

Pas de petits gâteaux au Pivoines Capano

Un couple d'années, j'ai blogué que Pivoines Capano www.pivoinescapano.com était venu avec l'idée de vendre de petits gâteaux nommé d'après pivoines dans leur boutique. Alors une idée nouvelle, il s'avère qu'il n'était pas un coup facile. Pivoines Capano a décidé d'abandonner la boutique tout à fait et se concentrer sur la production principale de pivoines coupées. Pivoines Capano vend aussi des racines à l'automne. Ils ont été un partisan de notre levée de fonds annuelle Vente Racine et nous leur souhaitons beaucoup de succès dans l'avenir.

A couple of years ago I blogged that Pivoines Capano www.pivoinescapano.com had come up with the idea to sell cupcakes named after peonies in their boutique.  While a novel idea it turns out it was not an easy go.  Pivoines Capano has decided to drop the boutique altogether and concentrate on the main production of cut peonies.  Pivoines Capano also sells roots in the fall.  They have been a supporter of our Annual Root Sale fundraiser and we wish them continued success in the future.

Submitted by M Sequeira