I am loving this thread, and all the pics of your fantastic peonies gardenchloe and lizbest!! I can't wait to get mine in the ground - got the spot picked out, just got to do a little weeding first and then I'll get 'er planted :)

Marj

Aren't they so pretty, Marj??!! Gardenchloe's tree peony blooms this year are favorites, I like the pink with the darker shade in the middle best. The foliage is such a pretty color, too.

Hi, Lizbest

I love the varieties you have. Your blue birds are absolutely beautiful in your garden. I agree that Erma looks very different from other peonies. Mine are all done blooming this year. I did purchased some roots in the past two years but they were too small to bloom this spring. I am hoping they will bloom next year. Most of my flowers get full sun all day, so I wonder if that's the reason all my flowers bloomed early in the season. I will go read more in the peony forum to find a way for them to bloom even longer. :-)

Hi Gardenchloe, one way to extend the season is to find some you like that are in the early bloom season (most trees, fernleafs and some hybrids), mid and late. Also look for varieties that have sidebuds; they'll open after the main bud and extends the bloom time by quite a bit. And you're right about the full sun, a bit of afternoon shade will help, as will protection from wind.

If you're okay with purchasing peonies on-line I suggest you go to the Adelman's website, they're offering a single pink fernleaf for $30 this year--I've never seen it below $150 before so it's quite a good buy. They also have (or had, haven't looked to see if they've sold out) Singing in the Rain for $40. That one is an Itoh, starts a salmon pink and fades to goldish yellow. It has sidebuds once established so you have blooms from salmon pink to yellow on the shrub at the same time. Here's the website if you want to look, they only ship in the fall, though, so it'll be a wait. I order from them every year so I can say from experience they're reputable and send good roots. http://peonyparadise.com/

Here's a shot from last year that shows a bit of the multi-colored blooms at the same time on Singing in the Rain. I divided mine last fall for a trade so only had main buds this year, not as impressive.

The pink is Victorie de la Marne, planted way too close! Can you tell we had hail last year, too?

Ah, yes. All the ones that have side buds do seem to bloom longer. I think I have to have a Singing in the Rain. Do they ship around October? Did you get lots of blooms the first season?

1st season you can expect just one or two blooms from the size Adelmans send and they're typically more single rather than semi-double. You typically won't get semi-double blooms and side-buds until they're more established, probably 2nd or 3rd year. I had over 30 blooms last spring before I divided SitR, only had 1-3 on the divisions I kept this year but I sent pieces to 3 different relatives and another forum member I traded for a Yumi and Takara root. I expect my divisions to be back to pre-divided size in 2-3 years. I seem to remember they were sent out around the 1st week of October, they send an email confirmation when they're shipping.

By the way, I bought my first SitR 8 years ago, it was a teeny, tiny tissue culture produced plant in a 4" pot and it was $60. It's typical to see it priced anywhere between $70 and $120 for what Adelmans is selling for $40.

The bud for Lemon Chiffon was destroyed by a hail storm before it even started opening but a single bloom made it through for Sonoma Halo! And there are several Itohs, some first year in my garden, some 1st year flowering that have been here a few years. Here's pictures from the last 3 weeks of individual Itoh blooms, hopefully they'll be more established so I'm not embarrassed to take pictures of the entire plant next spring! They were mostly a single spindly stem with a beautiful bloom this year.

Sonoma Halo--1st spring in my garden. Saw this one at the APS convention last year. If someone could take a volleyball, split it in half and turn it into a yellow peony they'd have created that flower! It was huge and a perfect half sphere, perfectly placed petals--but I guess that was why it was a competition bloom. Mine wasn't quite a perfect half sphere and was more of a half softball, several inches smaller than it will be when mature.

Enduring Rainbow--1st year in my garden. This one will be semi-double with side blooms when it's mature, one of those that fades as the flower ages so it looks like several different colored blooms at the same time.

Smith Family Yellow, also 1st year in my garden but initial flowers look pretty much the way it will from now on except they're a little on the small side. Please ignore the background, I did get mulch out before it turned too hot!

Yumi

Keiko

Misaka

and last, Watermelon Wine

How pretty! Do you still have any peony blooms this late in the season?

If anyone is interested Bannister's Garden Peonies is going out of business, the couple who owns it is retiring. Their website is www.peonies.net and they have an amazing selection. They are offering 50% off of all roots until they are sold out. Note though, the website does not reflect the discount. Neva said it was going to be very expensive to have the site fixed to make the deduction so she's doing it by hand before any credit card is charged. She's doing the corrections and notifying buyers of the new totals once a week on Sundays. I've ordered from them a couple of times over the years and have had no problems with them, I put in an order yesterday. I didn't see any tree peonies in their list but the herbaceous selection is pretty extensive and they do have several Itohs.

Thanks for the tip on this, LizBest! I was looking at their catalog - are these all the herbaceous and Japanese varieties, and not tree type? I'll contact them if you don't know, but figured you probably would ;)

My Raspberry Rumba hasn't shown any signs of growing new leaves/shoots, but still looks alive. I suppose/hope it's putting all it's energy into growing roots?

Marj

Sorry Gardenchloe, never saw the question--those were the last blooms I had for the year. There were several buds on other plants but it got so hot so fast that they just never opened. My peony season normally ends the first or second week of July.

Marj, you're correct, Banniester's has no tree peonies in their advertised plants. I saw probably around 6-8 Itohs and all of the rest are normal herbaceous. Both herbaceous and Itoh will normally die completely back for us here in Co every year.

It's pretty typical for peonies to not put much foliage up when they're transplanted in the spring but they'll grow normally next year. You're right about the growing roots--they're getting settled in. The foliage will typically die back earlier than normal when transplanted in the spring, too. The divisions of Raspberry Rumba that I had at the spring trade this year were pretty small--I divided that plant last year to send pieces to my sisters and had several small pieces left over. Mine didn't bloom this spring, either, but I'm hoping for next spring!

You talked me right into it, Liz!

I planted 3 Top Brass and 3 Renato from Van Engelen in 2011. I lost 3 in the flood, so it was time to add a few. I ordered 4 from Bannister this morning. Thanks for the tip!

Barb

I'm glad others are taking advantage of this offer! I ordered a couple of Itohs and several herbaceous from them myself.

Oh my goodness - this is so hard to choose! They are all so lovely, and 50% off is great!! I looked up ITOH and see that stands for Intersectional, and those sound interesting. I see the note of 'Japanese' but not ITOH on the peonies.net site. Am I just missing it, or how do you know which ones they are?

Thank you, Liz. I ordered a couple of them as well. One thing that surprises me is that the website does not tell me how much shipping costs. I think it will be ok since you had good experience with them. =)

I was up in Georgetown last week. It was so nice to walk around and see the flowers in front of the houses in the mountains. I saw many peonies still blooming in mid/late July. It was a bit sad to see my last peonies bloom for the reason in June, but I guess I will go to go up to the mountains to see theirs in July in the future.

I didn't realize they were still blooming anywhere in CO, gardenchloe! It makes sense though, with the temp difference. I'll have to remember that next year and maybe do a road trip!

I talked to Neva last week before I put in my order, was confused since it didn't show the discounted cost. She said they're shipping UPS now, 2nd day, and shipping costs will be actual shipping costs so it shouldn't be too bad. I know I shipped boxes with several peonies, lily bulbs and daylilies to my sisters for around $20 each, fairly big boxes. Typically 4-5 peony roots will fit into one of their large "ship whatever will fit, regardless of weight" boxes that are around $15.

Marj, it doesn't say on the little blurb on the main page of the catalog but you'll get a bit more detailed accounting of the peony if you click on the picture. Most of the ones that are originally $80 or more are Itohs! I didn't check them all but Garden Treasure was the first one I saw on the page. Or you can look up any you're unsure about here: APS Peony Database There are some that were missed but it's the most comprehensive list I've ever seen!

Awesome. Thank you for sharing the info!

I took the plunge and put in an order :) I could only budget for one, unfortunately. Gosh, it was hard to choose!! I picked Abalone Pearl.

Marj

P.S. now of course if she lowers the prices even more as the deadline approaches, I just may have to break down and get another ;)

Marj, Abalone Pearl is absolutely beautiful. Good choice!

Abalone Pearl is one of the two I ordered as well. Can't wait! :)

I ordered Abalone Pearl, too! Fantastic, Kansas and Old Lace, as well. We really are a gardening group, aren't we?

Yes, we are.

Barb,

I am going to send you a message with some questions about my honey locust tree. =)

Just got my peonies :)

OOHHH!! Haven't got mine from Bannister's yet, can't wait! You're going to love Abalone Pearl! Has anyone else gotten theirs in?

I haven't received mine either. I also ordered an Abalone Pearl (and a Circus Circus). =)

I did get my order from Adelmans, have to unpack and plant tomorrow!

Maybe I got mine from Bannisters sooner 'cause I sent them an email asking when it would ship. Didn't hear back from her, but got my package in the mail. Squeeky wheel?

Marj

I haven't seen the charge hit my credit card, either. Figure I can expect them a week or so after that!

I received my order today. So excited! =)

Lizbest1,

Do you know which side I should plant up if I don't see eyes?

They should be connected together by a slightly more woody section, that part would go up. They should have eyes by now though, did you wash them off? Sometimes the sawdust or peat gums them up so you can't see them. If you're not sure post a pic and I'll try to advise! Can you tell where it's divided?

Got my Adelmans order planted over the weekend, super excited about several of them! They had a species pink fernleaf for $40 this year, never saw it advertised for less than $150 before. Hopefully they do well!

Hi, Liz

I appreciate your expertise on this. The first one below is Circus Circus. Do you think I found the eyes correctly? This root is quite long. Should I plant it horizontally as how I have it in the picture? The second one below is Abalone Pearl. There are lots of eyes on this one. I'll plant it the way I have it in the picture. I am so excited that I'm nervous about planting them incorrectly. I'll plant the eyes about 1.5 inches below the soil line. Does it sound correct to you? :-)

That sounds perfect. The root orientation isn't really critical for peonies, they'll grow either way. There are some people (very experienced growers) that suggest that to plant them more horizontally can encourage more eyes to form along the highest horizontal roots. I don't know if that is true or not....I tend to plant them more horizontally just because it's easier to dig a slightly deep, wide hole than a really deep one where I live! And yes, I'd say you id'ed the eyes correctly. I'd probably plant the top one with the tip of the root furthest from the eyes lower than the rest but still more horizontal than vertical and eyes 1 1/2 inches deep sounds perfect. If your soil is really dry you can water a bit, just enough to make sure you don't have any air pockets, but if the soil is damp already I'd just tamp it down. Dormant roots don't need to be watered at all.

You'll enjoy both of those, they're beautiful!

I planted the roots I received. Thank you!

Liz, I planted all the peonies that I got from you. I am so excited. Thank you! I am moving most or all of my peonies to the other side of my house where they won't get as much sun as they did this year. (The current spot of the peonies get at least 10+ hours of sun in the summer.) It makes most my flowers bloom earlier than the ones in the nurseries. So I won't need to water these at all until next Spring. Correct?

That's right, gardenchloe. As long as the soil where they're being planted is a little moist you don't even need to water them in. If it's really dry just wet enough so that it's moist but no standing water.

You probably won't need to do any additional watering until really late in the spring, we normally get enough moisture early-mid spring for them to grow and flower. Once they're established peonies are relatively low water plants. My garden is mulched pretty heavily but I normally don't start up the drip lines until June or so.

Also, I wouldn't go by the dates you see them blooming in the nurseries--they've got the abnormal bloom times, not you! I'm envious of your early flowers, mine are several weeks behind yours.

Peonies are happy anywhere they're getting 6 hours or so of sun a day, preferably morning rather than all later in the day if possible, and that has good drainage. Low areas that tend to hold water or where the snow melt runs and stays are poor choices for planting.

My order from Bannister's was waiting by the gate when I got home from work last night. I planted Kansas and Old Lace this morning. Now, where to put Fantastic and Abalone Pearl?

Has everyone gotten their Bannister order by now?

No! I emailed her last weekend, she said they should be in the mail that following Monday. Still haven't received anything. I did have an embarrassingly large order, though.....

Atta girl! Being rural, my mail tends to be a little slower than in town. They came USPS 2 day priority. Now I have an image of a pallet being delivered to your house. You go, girl!

That image made me smile, treebarb, until I thought about planting an entire pallet of peonies! The 3-4 boxes should be bad enough! We're rural as well, would never be able to plant as much as I have here in town. Think I'm slowing down though, I'll have to do at least 1 more big area for planting then I need to stop and just maintain! That works though, divisions will just go into the spring and fall swaps!

Got my order from Bannister's this week and will be planting this weekend. 2 boxes, didn't need a pallet, treebarb!

Glad to hear it, Liz! The rain we got should make for easy digging.

Thank you so much for sharing the info on Bannister. Between that and the Timberline closing, I've picked up some nice plants this season and saved a lot of money doing it!

You're very welcome! I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the majority of the roots they sent as well. I really should've divided a few of them before planting but I decided to just plant them. This is a close-up of horizon. There were at least 12 decent sized eyes on it.

Holy cow, that Horizon is a monster! That was worth the wait.

Yeah, I was vey happy with the entire order. They didn't have 3 or 4 of the ones I ordered but that's okay, I had plenty to plant!

Hi, Liz

Did you plant them all? I am so thankful that we have you to ask questions about peonies and so ready for pictures from "Peonies 2016". Thanks again for letting us know about Bannisters deal. The roots do seem a lot bigger than the ones I got in the past. I'm so excited!

Sure will! I'm so excited!