Two peony photos from 2015
billgoff307
8 years ago
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billgoff307
8 years agoRelated Discussions
two tree peony questions from a newbie
Comments (6)I have planted several of them in various parts of my garden, and they have experienced benign neglect most of the time--no special winter treatment, fertilizer, etc. The soil here is a limestone soil and heavy clay for the most part. My plants are several years old now, and the largest is only about two feet tall. They were bare root when first obtained. All are in partial shade, two at the edges of informal planting areas under full-sized maple trees. One maple casts quite heavy shade, and that tree peony has remained quite small. The other maple tree casts dappled shade and is next to a neighbor's lawn which gets full sun all day; that one is probably the largest tree peony I have, and one of the youngest. That bed is slightly raised and mainly consists of organic matter. Another tree peony is in the center of an area of deep soil that used to be lawn. It did well initially and was larger than the others, but has suffered from the spring competition presented by a bleeding heart plant I established quite close to it. I have two on the berm of a small bank on the North side of my house; the one receiving the greater amount of sun is easily twice as large as the other one, even though they were planted at the same time. I have one in a shady place level with the ground that I had forgotten about--it is struggling a bit but still returns. Finally, one I planted in very poor soil with little preparation is still alive, but so far has not even flowered, and it certainly is not thriving. Therefore, I would say that they like a bit of a raised bed, or at least the organic matter you can put into one of those, and probably don't like wet feet or oxygen deprivation. I haven't done any special watering, but this is PA; we may get more rain than you. I have seen full grown tree peonies in the Hershey gardens. They were probably ten or so feet tall and looked a bit like broad, dwarfed trees with dark trunks. They were still sort of interesting after their spring bloom. I have also seen a few planted by gardeners in the area. They looked more like densely-leaved shrubs, from about five feet to eight feet in diameter. I think their leaf density could be partly because they were all in full sun, and also due to pruning. They all had a round shape. I have found a bit of judicious pruning can save problems. Apparently the little stalk that bears the previous season's flower dies, and can then be a source of fungus or other infection; that should be clipped off in early spring for that reason. Apparently Hershey had some fungus problems a few years ago with some of their old peony trees and they had to be removed. It can get quite humid here during the summer; possibly that was a factor. For that reason, though, you might want to see that your plants are not too crowded. All of my plants are protected from prevailing winter winds by my house, but there are a few not too far from where I live that do not have that sort of protection--although the owner might cover them in the winter; I haven't noticed for certain. A couple of my plants now usually have at least three large blossoms each spring. They are easily ruined by rain and don't last that long, but they are spectacularly beautiful, and I therefore am glad I have them; I look forward to them each spring....See More2015 peony blooms
Comments (31)all my peonies were in ground. We put our house for sale, so I have taken all my peonies from the ground and planted them in the pots. I have many more blooms to come this year. in the first photo you can see few peonies in pots....See MoreWhat's Blooming in Your Garden - a Photo Thread - June 2015
Comments (56)Claire, I just took pictures of mine to show you the differences - yes they vary. This is the leaf and flower of the tree in the picture above. It is the unnamed variety kousa from the arborist. I have gotten a few babies, maybe 3, gave away 2, and this year there is another little guy next to mom, but I'll wait till fall or next year. This is a $3 pot I bought from a woman who propagated solely in pine bark mulch. Different leaf and bracts and grows like it's on steroids. This is a transplant from the first picture (arborist tree) which has not yet bloomed - another few years maybe - but the leaves look more like the one above which I 'imported', if you will. This is the one I stumped 4-5 years ago and has bracts that overlap whereas the others do not overlap. And lastly, what may/may not be a rough leafed wild dogwood out back that has struggle for a decade, but produced offshoots which I'm leaving in place. They are too close to the root of a large maple, but they planted themselves there, so let nature take it from here. The wild struggler that I hope someday will succeed and bloom. (that is persicaria polymorpha in the background) There is a Golden Shadows dogwood tucked in in front of the persicaria and this was its best year - until the deer came. I was too late spraying and it cost that poor dogwood a lot of leaves and young branches. (damn) Whatever you have, and who knows, some may be pink tinged, they're a gift and seem happier in full sun. Jane...See MoreShow Us Your Gardens - A photo Thread - September 2015
Comments (21)It's almost the end of September and I decided to show parts of my garden before the October thread rolls around. There's such a difference between the beginning and end of September as the season changes. The sweet autumn clematis lining the Phlox Protection Zone is now switching to seedheads and the goldenrod is blooming, but the phlox are still hanging in there. The alley is also a whole lot neater since I weeded out most of the soapwort. I left the soapwort in the Phlox Protection Zone hoping to discourage the woodchucks. The garden phlox seems able to compete with the soapwort. A volunteer aster is beginning to bloom next to the phlox (I may have transplanted it there, I don't remember, but it was a volunteer somewhere). Tall and medium-sized garden phlox (David's Lavender and Purple Kiss). Away from the alley, the hardy begonia is starting to bloom! I didn't expect it to survive last winter. This is the only survivor from three original begonias. I keep hoping it will form bulbils but I haven't seen any. A self-seeded goldenrod is thriving next to Hosta 'Stained Glass'. And a first year mullein is bedecked with white wood aster. The aster just appeared in the mullein, I had nothing to do with it. That's one of the house sansevierias behind it. Some of the sedums are a much darker color. I'm still waiting for most of the asters, and the winterberry fruits are turning red so there will still be something to show in October. Claire...See Morelizbest1
8 years agoKelly Tregaskis Collova
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agolizbest1
8 years agoKarenPA_6b
8 years agoOf the Woods Hydrangea and Peony Farm
8 years ago
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