Paeonia 2013

[Matt]

Talking about misleading hybrids...this is a plant i bought more than 10 years ago as Paeonia mascula hellenica from Rareplants. I think it is a Mloko hybrid...one of the so called P. x chameleon. The flower itself could be almost morphologically true in its "chameleonic disguise" but the leaves - with round end rather than pointy - belong to the daurica complex rather than to the mascula complex.

However a beautiful and easy to grow plant...the flowers are not last longing though...3-4 days max.

Matt

[Maggi Young]

I was very pleased that a Paeonia ostii that I was given by Matt was making good growth this year - that was before we had some very strong, gusting, swirling winds coupled with a bit of frost which have been quite damagingand made  the young growth look pretty sorry for itself. 

It is not completely ruined, but it will not be as glorious as I hoped this year after growing well last year.  These winds have been a real nuisance - and this damage had occurred in our back garden which is usually well protected from the worst of the wind. 

And I won't even begin on my  disappointments over the years with P. tenuifolia.........

The photos from hose of you with beautiful, flourishing plants is an inspiration, Thank you!

[Thomas Seiler]

Absolutely wonderful, your dubious white peony, Matt. And obviously thriving ...

I am very sorry for your P. ostii, Maggi. Fortunately wind is no problem here in my very sheltered garden, but I never suceeded with P. tenuifolia as well ... too much competition I think, due to my matrix planting.

Some peony shoots:
Paeonia ostii 'Feng Dan Bai'
Paeonia officinalis
Paeonia 'Garden Peace'
Paeonia obovata

[Maggi Young]

Thomas, your photos of the new growth shows how lovely the emerging foliage is.

I think overcrowding may be the cause of some of my problems too.
Our back garden is, for the most part, very sheltered - but recent winds have been exceptionally  swirling and have reached all sorts of unlikely places.

[Leena]

Matt, very nice peony anyway. Nice growth habit and flowers seem quite big and open. 

[Hendrik Van Bogaert]

Talking about misleading hybrids...this is a plant i bought more than 10 years ago as Paeonia mascula hellenica from Rareplants. I think it is a Mloko hybrid...one of the so called P. x chameleon. The flower itself could be almost morphologically true in its "chameleonic disguise" but the leaves - with round end rather than pointy - belong to the daurica complex rather than to the mascula complex.

However a beautiful and easy to grow plant...the flowers are not last longing though...3-4 days max.

Matt

Impressive clump.
Probably the form from Sicilië? (flavescens)
Hendrik

[Matt]

Impressive clump.
Probably the form from Sicilië? (flavescens)
Hendrik

Attached two images of true P. flavescens - wild collected - from Bosco di Ficuzza near Palermo. The flowers on the "early" of my two clones (shown below) are strangely smaller than usual this year. The plant as a whole is however very different from the white P. x chameleon - the leaves especially.

Thomas...how sheltered is your garden? Your Euphorbia characias is huge!

Matteo

[Matt]

Paeonia rockii subsp. rockii (D.Y. Hong, 2010) - also called Paeonia rockii subsp. linyanshanii (Hong Tao & G.L. Osti, 1994) - from Tianshui (Gansu - China). Note the mostly entire & lanceolate leaflets and "all white" internal parts of the flower.

Paeonia ostii & dad :-)

M.

[Maggi Young]

Spectacular! No wonder your Father looks so pleased.

[Gail]

Wonderful plants Matt!

[Matt]

Two interesting hybrids:

P. rockii x P. ostii (with leaflets similar to P. ostii and "all red" internal parts of the flower)

P. rockii x P. decomposita (with leaflets very similar to P. decomposita and flowers intermediate between the two species)

M.

[Thomas Seiler]

Wonderful plants, Matteo! Great to see true P. flavescens/mascula subsp. russoi !

My garden is very sheltered and we have a wine growing climate here. And the place for Euphorbia characias and Paeonia corsica is the most sheltered of the garden.

Today the second peony opend here: Paeonia mascula subsp. masula, from Will McLewin:

[Matt]

A nice clump of Paeonia clusii seedlings now 8 years old.
This is the only species that in my garden grows well in full sun.

M.

[Thomas Seiler]

Your planting of P. clusii is striking, Matt. Unfortunately I never succeeded with this species.

[Hendrik Van Bogaert]

Fantastic peonies Matt!
You have really the right climate for the southern species...
I can grow them too, but never in such profusion.
Last year I lost my plant of P. parnassica, but from the roots emerge now 7 to 8 shoots, some more than 30 cm from the original plant!!!

Hendrik

P.S. I like especially the picture with your father...