Paeonia 2010

[Giles]

Gail,
I guess a greenhouse counts as a 'sheltered spot' ( )
-bought them bare root in the Autumn, potted them up and put them under the staging as a temporary measure, to be properly sorted later, to find they're romping away and in full flower, whilst still getting night frosts here (-2 C last night).   oh well.......
Similar problem with martagons and Nomocharis which will be in flower in a week or two (oops..).

[Gail]

Gail,
I guess a greenhouse counts as a 'sheltered spot' ( )
-bought them bare root in the Autumn, potted them up and put them under the staging as a temporary measure, to be properly sorted later, to find they're romping away and in full flower, whilst still getting night frosts here (-2 C last night).   oh well.......
Similar problem with martagons and Nomocharis which will be in flower in a week or two (oops..).

My emodi always worries me, it is very early to leaf and the foliage looks so delicate but so far so good, it hasn't been frosted (Touching wood!).

[Gail]

Paeonia kavachensis - listed under this name in my copy of the Plantfinder (albeit an out of date copy) but I think is generally considered a subsp. of P. mascula.

[Hendrik Van Bogaert]

8 years ago I started from one seed, and now my first flower on P. parnassica!!!
It seems very difficult to keep this plant in cultivation; I grow it in a raised bed, with overhead protection against to much rain during winter and summer...
Hendrik

[TheOnionMan]

Hendrik, that's a spectacular Paeonia, such deep and intense flower color against light foliage   I'm going to have to add this one to my neverending list

[Gail]

Congratulations on getting the P. parnassica to flower Hendrik, not one that I've seen in the flesh.  That is a stunning colour;  I've seen delavayi that colour but not any of the  herbaceous types.

[Hendrik Van Bogaert]

Thank you for the congratulations,
Yes, I'm a little proud, because I know that this plant is really not easy to cultivate...
Hendrik

[Gail]

On Sunday the Peony Group of the HPS met for our AGM in Leicestershire, after the meeting and standing in worship before John Hudson's fantastic plant of Molly the Witch, we went to the Leicester Botanic Garden.  Home of the National Collection of aubretia and an excellent alpine house, they also have a variety of peony plants, although naming is unreliable. http://www2.le.ac.uk/projects/botanic-gardens

I was intrigued by two plants with very wavy leaves, one of which was labelled P. kavachensis .  They are very different to my plant of this name (though of course there is nothing to say that my plant, pictured in post 47, is right).  Is anyone familiar with this species and can comment?

As an aside, some of us stopped at the Old Rectory at Sudbourne in Northamptonshire on the way - this is a fantastic garden surrounding a classic English country house with many very interesting plants and the most wonderful peonies, both herbaceous and woody.  Very friendly owners.  We were probably about 10 days too early for the peonies but if you are in the area it is well worth a visit.  http://www.oldrectorygardens.co.uk/index.html

[Regelian]

Gail,

thanks for sharing these wonderful fotos.  Molly (P. mlokosewitschii) is quite a well grown clump.  I've rarely seen it looking so wonderful.  I lost my main plant a few years back to voles, but have a few seedlings underway.  For those haveing trouble with the species epithet, the mans name was Mlokosewicz, pronounced, depending on dialekt, mlock-o-say-vitch, and was latinized to the species name for some reason.  I must admit, I find Molly the Witch quite charming, though!

I've never seen a P. kavachensis with this wonderful foliage.  Mine looked like yours and came from Paul Christian.  The colour was fabulous.  I say was, as this, too, was cut-off at the roots by burrowing demons.  Current literature places it under P. mascula mascula, which I really can't see, as my plant was quite distinct, or was not actually the species!  I really don't know.  My foliage was more like what I know as P. daurica, but I am far from an expert.  

maybe Hans can sort this out.

[Oakwood]

Some recently blooming paeonias from my garden 
Paeonia daurica, Crimean material
Paeonia tenuifolia FLORE PLENO - a double form from garden as I was told collected some time in Crimea too.

[Hans J]

Gail + Jamie ,

after my opinion is this Paeonia kavachesis from Leicester wrong named - it looks ( for me ) more like a P. daurica ( look for the undulate leaves ).
For me is P. kavachensis more or less a P.mascula ....

[angie]

My P. Mlokosewitschii had twenty three flowers last year but only has ten this year I am a bit disappointed with this, is there any reason that I would get less flowers this time around . I do not feed my peony's as I thought they didn't require feed. I suppose I should be happy that it has flowers on it after the winter we have had.
Angie

[Hans J]

here are some pics from a other nice experiment with my peonies :

Since many years I grow P. potanini forma alba ....it makes always seeds and so I had the idea to sow some of these to look which color has the new plants .
Now in this days I had the first flower on one of this plants ...and it is red !

mother plant of Paeonia potanini f. alba
seedling ......... Paeonia potanini f. rubra
both plants together 

[Regelian]

what a beautiful red!  I would have expected more like we see in P. delavayi, a rust tone.  Did you hand pollinate, or are other bee parents possible?  I find these plants (delavayi group) are worth growing for their wonderful foliage alone.

[Hans J]

Jamie ,

no not hand pollinate ....it was just for fun !
I dont believe that it is a hybrid between P.potanini and P.delavayii

P.delavay has a much later flowering time .....they are totaly different in habit .
P.potanini is a dwarf - only 50 ch height
P.lutea is medium ( around 1 m )
P.delavayii is large ( 1 -1,5 m )