Today is a nice sunny day with the temperature around 50°F, and no wind.

I dug up a Woody peony from Cricket Hill. It only sent up one set of leaves in2020, and I couldn't find any stem above ground this Fall. I really thought it had died. Dug a hole about a foot in diameter around it, and up it came. I was so pleased it wasn't dead.




It is p. Suffruticosa Fei Yan Hong Zhuang. Flying Swallow in a Red Dress.

I was very encouraged so I did the same thing to the other woody from Cricket Hill. It had much more nurse root left.



I wonder if that is because it is a p. Rockii? Hong Guan Yu Zhu ; in English - Red Crown with Jade and Pearls.

Both were planted in 2017, in really too much shade. Now they are in full sun.

I still have two large woody peonies to move plus Princess Chiffon and several herbaceous.

Very interest, thanks for sharing.

I've got a peony that died back to the ground at the end of July and have been tempted to go looking. But I'm going to wait to see if it reappears in spring because I am happy with it's location in terms of sunlight and water.

Top

Thanks Top! In my garden, the Saunders hybrids die back with our high heat and humidity in July and August. But they still come back each spring, so I try not to worry about them. I hope your peony is just sleeping.


I do have an herbaceous peony that did not come up at all this year. I am planning on digging it up to see if anything is left, but not today.

@Mieko2 Fei Yan Hong Zhuang looks like maybe 4-5 roots are hollow/ rotting? Did you cut those off? Other then that it looks great!

Hong Guan Yu Zhu ; in English - Red Crown with Jade and Pearls.
I am glad you posted that, I did not know the english name, just planted it from Solaris's fall delivery!
Yours looks like it has young but nice amount of own roots growing out!

I am jealous of your nice temperatures, but honestly I needed a break from outdoor work anyway.
Now instead of hours I just spend a few minutes each day looking for any changes!

I am glad they are both looking more actively alive below soil!

Hi David,

No, I didn't really notice those rotten roots until I zoomed in on the photo after reading your comment. Hopefully they will be okay. I was more concerned about getting a quick photo and replanting so that roots didn't dry out.

I am really excited that both of them are in fairly good condition. They were planted in the Fall of 2017, so they were far behind expectations for three years in the ground here.

I just love that I can get out and do some chores during the winter.

The first one is developing nicely, you will need pampering the second one much longer. Even in our Toronto climate I'd rather put TP in shady spot. Shape of the the bushes is not as nice as in full sun, but flowers last longer and usually they do not need extra watering. One of my friends' Hana Kisoi is almost in full shade and looks wonderful.

That is a good point about it being 3 years later =/.
Was Fei Yan Hong Zhuang roots much smaller when it was planted in 2017? Or a nice size like they are now?
At least they are alive, so there is hope!
And while both are showing new stem growth from the crown, Fei Yan Hong Zhuang is showing at least 4 or 5!
I wonder if that will produce a bloom? Or only on old wood, unlike Lutea's?

Thanks for your advice, Alex. Hopefully the sun will help them grow better. I am glad that they are in better shape than I thought they would be.

I am considering putting up shade cloth once I see how they are doing.

Parasols are fun. I don't have them, but I certainly need at least one for Hoki that gets burnt every year.

Anyone who has planted the small, typically first year grafted roots from Cricket Hill will recognize how much growth both of those has put on, especially the top one! Looks great, LG. And the darker roots might just be a year older, I find that the older ones are typically darker. I think you would've noticed them if they were rotting.

I am saying NOTHING bad about Cricket Hills roots, they typically grow well but most are 1st year and they're advertised as such. They are small though, I got 6 bare roots from them last year and they fit in a box that was 6"x6"x 12"! All looked healthy though and all look like they're going to grow this spring, doesn't appear that any died over winter.
I don't know which is actually better in the warmer climates, full sun or part shade, but you can always add shade! And if they weren't thriving where they were originally it's worth it to move them...the increase in roots make it appear that they were doing better than you thought!

I thought I saw some that looked flattened, with a string like growth coming out of them in LG's photo.......I just had the same thing, but from my own fault, one I had in a pot and sigh.....had not checked for drainage holes urg.......but it was not much of the root mass thank goodness and has been removed and ground planted since.

@Jasmin
Thank You for mentioning Hoki as sun tender, I want to order that one this year!

Yes, Hoki is sun-tender. Overall, I think that Hoki likes a bit of cooler weather. High Noon tolerates sun very well.

Thank you all for the encouragement. It's hard to know exactly where to put them.

And I appreciate that everyone feels free to share their knowledge and tips.

When those of you who visited Adelmans, did you notice if they have their woody peonies growing in the shade or sun?

LG...You are brave...and wise to look. I am trying to get braver

I'm so glad this group has just wealth of wisdom!

If I get to Adelman's this year, I will certainly look! The big difference is that we consider 80f hot here...it is very temperate and not much burns. Our bigger issue is that it rarely rains from June to Sept so somethings get shade to keep moisture. But I am pretty sure their field grown really is a field without much shade. This is an older youtube of their gardens but you can see there isn't much shade and the tree peony gets full, full sun https://www.youtube.com/watch?... (remember we don't get much over 80f.)

LG, all of the tree peonies I saw at Adelman's were in full sun but they are a very unique zone 8--only around 4 months of warm to hot weather. Even her display garden was pretty much full sun.

Thanks, Liz. I thought that was the case.

Today it was 38° F when I started. The sun came out and it warmed up to 40°F.

I tackled Kamata Nishiki first. Turned out it had a root from a nearby tree under it that was as big around as my wrist! I was able to leave a nice rootball on it.



Since it was so old (1993 I think) I planted it the same depth it was in the other bed. I also oriented the branches in the same direction it was in the original spot.






Next I dug the hole for Silver Waves on a Magenta Ocean. I got it in 2011 from Cricket Hill. It too was in way too much shade and hadn't bloomed at all in two years.

Unfortunately no feeder roots came up with it. I also planted it at the same depth it was in the other garden bed. It does have a large root, so we will just have to see how it does this Spring.



By the time I was finished it was 36°F , and I feel chilled to the bone.
I am really happy that I have gotten these moved.

LG, wonderful! I am sure the peonies will thank you for transplanting them! Maybe at least Kamata Nishiki will bloom soon