Cath, Magnolia grandiflora is one of the more tolerant magnolias, and is certainly a magnificent tree, but I'm not interested in it. I long for the deciduous, mostly Asian magnolias: M. stellata, M. denudata, the Soulangeanas, the x loubneri group, the yellow-flowered hybrids of M. acuminata. Actually, I plan on getting a Loebneri magnolia: I think I actually have a place, one spot in our thirty-three acres, where it will grow. Magnolias are fairly common ornamental trees down in the Po Plain below our hills, and in our local town, which is located in a valley and has good alluvial soils. It's five miles away and about 225 meters lower than we are, and they can grow plants that we can't. Conditions vary. It's not that I haven't tried magnolias, but much of the soil in the big garden bears a close resemblance to adobe brick when it's dry, and they just can't handle it. The shade garden either has dry unfriendly soil, or it floods, and I don't think magnolias like to be flooded either (roses on the other hand can handle tremendous amounts of winter water). Also much of the shade garden is shady, of course. But I do have one spot I think will work, and I'm looking forward to getting the right magnolia, and then seeing it in splendor in a few years. They are magnificent, glorious trees. Otherwise I may get a pear for one spot where I want a flowering tree. That may not sound obvious, but pears have a heavy noble structure and a massive whiteness to their bloom that makes them, in my eyes, the hill country aesthetic equivalent of flowering magnolias. harmonyp (Beth?) I think you're right about dahlias. I got rid of my numerous family of them a few years ago after a very long drought because I didn't want to water them; and I got tired of lifting the tubers and keeping them in my mud room through the winter, then replanting them, and staking them. Right now the garden has just three or four survivors that have made it through two unusually cold and wet winters without rotting. I have a handsome pink one growing in the cottage bed next to the house where it flourishes in clay and with little supplementary water. Dahlias come in a great variety of forms and colors, many of them very beautiful: rich burgundies, violets, soft oranges, waterlily pinks. They're undemanding about water and soil. They don't get any pests or diseases to speak of. They make excellent cut flowers. One of the things I liked about dahlias when I was growing them in quantity is how they're movable foliage, excellent for filling in gaps when the shrubs are young; and they have big, bold, flourishing dark leaves with never a trace of mildew. They bloom when much of the garden is quiescent too. Now I'm wondering why on earth I don't have more dahlias. I don't quite trust them to be tough enough to thrive out in the big garden, where life is a battle: they're more suitable to the vegetable patch, and I have very little of that kind of space. Perhaps one year I'll be able to conjure up some room for dahlias. They are wonderful flowers. Melissa

I rescued a JTP 3 years ago and this year is its first blooms, they lasted longer the the posts I've read here, but that may be because it is in partial shade, similar to the location it originally came from. Green Thumb Guy is correct about the grafting onto herbaceous. Other research I've done indicates the following. That the graft stock must be managed to avoid it taking over. That winter protection in zone 5 burlap in winter helps alot because different then Herb P's, JTPs they have eyes along the branches also, and propagation of Itohs can be done by layering an eyed branch to the ground. This takes time but works for patient gardeners. Hope this information helps.

I'm also not convinced this is a tree peony. Flopping is possible but not the norm. An old tree peony will have a distinct framework of woody stems that remain through the winter. Please confirm that this is your plant. Staking isn't really the best way to cure flopping. You would have to stake or tiw in each flowering stem. Herbaceous peonies can be kept inside a frame which holds all the stems together so they can't flop out. I don't know if this would work for tree peonies because they don't have such a uniform height and shape. I'm still haveing a hard time getting my head around a tree peony that would flop enough to be a problem. Even big doubles just droop but don't flop down onto the floor. Similarly with crabgrass. Is that really what you have? Probably not. More likely it is a general mix of scrub and weedy grasses. Roundup will work but the weeds will just come back so you'll have to keep fighting. Use mulch, weeds don't like it and a tree peony would. If it is a herbaceuous peony then don't mulch too deep over the crown. Don't worry too much about digging around tree peonies, the roots should be mostly down deep. How close? How big are they? What effect do you want? You can have them touching, or you can have them separated, your choice. You might like the effect with something complimentary between the two.

I checked on some of my grafts today, and found that a lot of them have failed either due to the nurse root rotting or the graft point failing. I've found that some Rockii Peonies do not take very well while most Chinese tree peonies happen to graft easily perhaps due to a thicker, more robust cambium layer. On the nurse roots that weren't rotted too much, I was able to save some of them, and re-attach them to a different scion stock to hopefully take with a spring grafting. I'm purposely using species that I know have been taking well. One issue may have been the extreme cold that froze through the tarp or too much dampness, but I'm looking forward to see what does emerge for me.