Paeonia 2013

[Matt]

Dear all,

It is the 24th of March...but it really seems that this winter doesn't want to end! I have just flown back from snowy London only to land in grey and windy North East Italy.
This morning, however, a nice surprise was waiting in the garden - the first flowers of a five-year old Paeonia kesrouanensis from JJA seeds (sorry Mr. Hong De-Yuan...I am still convinced that this species is quite different from P. turcica!).
Let' s hope that the sun will come out before the petals fall. Possibly on Wednesday I will be able to post better pics.
Although the plant is still young and the photograph rather dark, I thought that this was a good excuse to start the new Paeonia 2013 topic.

I think that Hans in Majorca should also have something in flower very soon. And what about Hendrik, "the other" Hans and Lukas north of the Alps?

Fingers crossed for Spring to start soon!

Matt

[Leena]

Very nice first peony
Do you have P.mairei, is P.kesrouanensis even earlier than P.mairei?

[Gail]

Good to see Matt, my peonies are covered by snow.

Leena, in my garden P. mairei opens about the same time as kesrouanensis.

[Helen Johnstone]

Hi Matt

Is that its first ever flower - how very exciting.  I am trying to germinate some peonies but no success yet
Helen

[Leena]

Leena, in my garden P. mairei opens about the same time as kesrouanensis.

Thank you Gail. I don't have P.kesrouanensis and my P.mairei has not flowered yet (grown from seed).

[Leena]

I got seeds of Paeonia sp ex China, 50cm, yellow/red from the seed exchange and the first of them is now showing the root after two months in warm and moist vermiculte.  I'm really happy.
I was wondering if there was a picture of the mother plant somewhere in the forum or if anyone could tell me more about this peony? The seeds were very big, so is it  a tree peony?

[Maggi Young]

Leena, have you got the Seedlist number? I can try to track it down.....

[Leena]

Thank you Maggi 
The seedlist number for these seeds was 2791.

[Maggi Young]

Thank you, Leena- I will see what I can find out- it may take some time!

[Matt]

I got seeds of Paeonia sp ex China, 50cm, yellow/red from the seed exchange and the first of them is now showing the root after two months in warm and moist vermiculte.  I'm really happy.
I was wondering if there was a picture of the mother plant somewhere in the forum or if anyone could tell me more about this peony? The seeds were very big, so is it  a tree peony?

If the colour of the flowers is red/yellow and the seeds are quite big, the "type" of the mother plant is likely to be a form/hybrid of Paeonia delavayi or Paeonia ludlowii.
However, if you are not 100% sure that your seeds were wild collected (or from cultivated wild plants that were hand pollinated), the "type" of the mother plant (which is also likely to be a hybrid to start with) is not very relevant as your seeds will be themselfes of hybrid origin. The beauty of this "play with hybrids" is the surprise when your plant will finally flower.
If possible, try not to leave the seedlings in the pot for longer than 2 seasons, they grow much better (and faster!) in the soil.

M.

[Leena]

If the colour of the flowers is red/yellow and the seeds are quite big, the "type" of the mother plant is likely to be a form/hybrid of Paeonia delavayi or Paeonia ludlowii.

Thank you, I was afraid of this.
When I saw it in the seed exchange list, I was excited to get seeds of a peony which is perhaps not very many generations removed from wild collection (as ex China suggests), yellow and low growing (as 50 cm said in the seeds list), but when I saw how big the seeds were, I thought that they must be from a tree peony. Tall tree peonies don't do so well in my garden. I have one P.delavayi and most of the time the stems which are above snow die during winter. I have had it at least for four years now and only saw flowers one year. This winter we have so much snow that it is still all covered up in snow, and I have hopes that it will flowers this year.

Well, it is good that the seeds are germinating already this summer (after a cold period in the fridge), and so then I see what the leaves look like. 

[Gail]

At Cambridge Botanic Garden they have the form of P. delavayi known as P. potaninii that is yellow flowered and low growing - it makes a lovely ground cover plant under larger shrubs. In contrast the plant that I bought as Paeonia potaninii ex ACE 1047 is a much more upright shrub and is showing no signs of suckering. It will be interesting to see how yours turn out Leena. The second volume of Hong's Peonies of the World book is really good for showing the diversity of the species in the wild.

[Maggi Young]

The second volume of Hong's Peonies of the World book is really good for showing the diversity of the species in the wild.

Some available .... http://www.abebooks.co.uk/9781842464588/Peonies-World-II-Polymorphisms-Diversity-1842464582/plp

[Leena]

At Cambridge Botanic Garden they have the form of P. delavayi known as P. potaninii that is yellow flowered and low growing - it makes a lovely ground cover plant under larger shrubs.

That would be a good plant for me, being low it would have the snow protection.
I hope my seeds turn out like that.
I don't have Hong's books (they are quite expensive  ), and didn't know there were so low growing forms of tree peonies, thank you Gail.

[Matt]

That would be a good plant for me, being low it would have the snow protection.
I hope my seeds turn out like that.
I don't have Hong's books (they are quite expensive  ), and didn't know there were so low growing forms of tree peonies, thank you Gail.

Leena,

I would buy a tree peony which is hardy in your climate. Forget all Delavayi, Lutea, Ludlowii, Central Plains & old French (Suffruticosa) hybrids, Northern Germany is already borderline for them. I would go for a good Gansu Mudan (often improperly called Rockii Hybrid). They are perfectly hardy in Berlin, Warsaw, Copenhagen, Oslo, Gothenburg and Stockholm, -20C is not a problem for them.
You can buy them very cheaply in China, but be aware that the Chinese will send you what they want (in the end all are nice though).
You could also contact Will at Phedar Nursery (http://www.phedar.com/catalog/) near Manchester UK. I warn you, the man is a bit grumpy at the beginning (but lovely in the end!). He owns and offers the better collection of mostly own roots (not grafted) Gansu Mudan in Europe, and you can buy there from a tiny rooted branch to a big 15 years old mature plant. Will together with a Chinese peony breeder and grower wrote a beautiful book on Gansu Mudan...in my opinion much more "user friendly" (and cheaper!) than the botany treaties by Hong De-Yuan.
http://www.phedar.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=101_116&products_id=252
An other place where you ca get good Gansu Mudan is the Centro Botanico Moutan near Rome. They buy more or less random plants from China and grow them on in the fields and sell them only when they have flowered.
(http://www.centrobotanicomoutan.it/acquisto_peonie.asp?q=paeonia_rockii&lang=en)
The prices are quite high but the plants are also very big and all on own roots. If you go there when they are in flower (around the 15th of April) you can choose your own plant in the fields and have it shipped in the Autumn.

M.