Well this is a serious change! The very first time I've been able to start a first of the year bloom thread!
This is a seedling given to me by a friend, don't know the parentage but the pollen is so dense the entire inside of the bloom is stained yellow!
I have several others showing a slice of color but we're supposed to get crazy rain the next couple of days and we leave here Friday morning, doubt if I see any of those but I'll certainly know they survived when we return to the CO snow!

They are so beautiful! What a way to start the season.

Congrats, Liz! It's beautiful and a great start to the season!!

Thanks LG!

Wow, it's beautiful. Congrats Liz!

LizinElizabeth said:Well this is a serious change! The very first time I've been able to start a first of the year bloom thread!
This is a seedling given to me by a friend, don't know the parentage but the pollen is so dense the entire inside of the bloom is stained yellow!
I have several others showing a slice of color but we're supposed to get crazy rain the next couple of days and we leave here Friday morning, doubt if I see any of those but I'll certainly know they survived when we return to the CO snow!

Beautiful! I am amazed that the seedling produced this many blooms while having been dug up, moved, and grown in a grow bag! I wonder how it will perform once transplanted in a good spot. It will be a profuse bloomer for sure.

I know! I have more woody bud this year in AL, both in the ground and in grow bags, than I ever did in CO. To be fair there are at least 40 plants that were never in the ground in CO...

Lovely!!! So exciting! Well, grow bags work for tree peonies for sure!

Nice blooms, Liz.

I'll chime in with my first tree peony bloom of the year - Koukamon.

Gorgeous blooms, Dianne.

Thanks, Meiko.

Here are closeups of the Koukamon. I am so glad my current iphone is able to capture the dark red accurately.

Beautiful Dianna! Love the deep color.

Such gorgeous color and elegant blooms!

Thanks, everyone. I really like that deep dark red.


Regular no ID Red Tree peony opened today.

Koukaman has such a nice edge to the bloom. I moved mine two years ago. I hope it blooms soon.

Your NOID red is nice, too.

Dianne, Koukamon is absolutely beautiful! I also love the edges, looks wild and untamed! The edges and the dark color make that one very distinctive and special. The red NOID is very pretty as well, much more refined and domesticated looking, isn't it? Gorgeous!

I have a couple of Koukamons, or at least that's what I thought I purchased! One has been in my garden for several years here in CO but has never bloomed, heaven only knows what that poor plant is, and one from Solaris last fall that is in a grow bag in AL, surprise, surprise....

Just to re-iterate, I'm certainly not advocating grow bags as a long term solution for tree peonies. They worked out really well for my specific situation, mostly unattended in really rainy AL with supplemental watering during the summer, but they do tend to dry out really fast if they don't get moisture frequently. I NEVER DREAMED I'd have tree peonies in grow bags for 2 years when I started this move and I HATE the fact that they haven't been put in the ground yet. I do think that I'll probably grow some in pots as LG does once I'm down there full time and can watch and take care of them but those grow bags will hopefully be retired this fall.

Like the color of Koukamon. Is that contrasting edge typical?

Koukamon in 2017


Had to dig it up and divide it fall of 2018, all went well in the spring of 2019 but the drought in the summer almost killed both of them, there's only one stem on each with some leaf buds sprouting.

This is what one looks like (the better of the two,with some loving care they should be back to their old self .


Same plant in full bloom a few day later.

Your Koukamon is stunning, Oscar! How do you go about dividing tree peonies? I have not done it and may need to learn the proper way to do it so that I don't kill it. Thanks in advance for response!

ol434445 said:

Same plant in full bloom a few day later.

Beautiful photo! Is that a coral bell or tiarella in the center? The pink hint of color in the leaves is brought out by the red of the peony!