It's that time of year when people reflect on the previous (peony) year. My biggest surprise in 2021 was the Cups of Shining Night Rockii. It was planted in September 2016, but just this year the blooms looked well-formed and mature. I was disappointed in the previous years because the blooms didn't have that substance; they were kind of shrinking. This year I understood why people at Cricket Hill considered it "one of their favourite P. rockii hybrids developed by Chen Dezhong of the Peony Peace Garden in China's Gansu Province." Now when I think of TPs in 2021, I think of the Cup's exquisite colour and flower substance. It's becoming my favourite TP. Here are a couple of pictures from 2021:




And why I was thinking of the Cup, I came across this picture of a Korean garden:
https://www.dreamstime.com/tra...
I admire Korean traditional architecture. Hopefully, I will learn more about some 2000-year-old Korean gardening traditions in 2022. I will post a couple of links that I have recently found, but if you know some relevant Korean traditional gardening websites/books/videos, please share them with me.

Please also share your favourite 2021 pics with plans and visions for 2022.

That's so gorgeous, Jasmin! The color and substance look amazing! There is a beautiful sheen on the petals. Just exquisite! I also love its beautiful green foliage. Thanks for starting this thread!

My favorite this year are Pastelegance and Duchess De Lorraine. High Noon and Lavender Hill also blew me away with their beautiful blooms. Can't wait to see more of these in 2022. I am also looking forward to see new blooms from peonies that I planted but had not bloomed yet. Hopefully, I can see their blooms this year. Among them are Ofuji Nishiki and Shima Nishiki. I think I may also get a bloom from Therese Ann as Solaris Farms sent me a great root this fall. Another one that I look forward to see its bloom is Pink Jitterbug. I got it from Klehm last year's final sale. I hope it will bloom true to name this coming spring.

High Noon


Pastelegance


Duchess De Lorraine


This is such a pretty flower of Caroline Constabel. I am also looking forward to see more blooms from this itoh. This past spring, there were only two blooms.

Gorgeous flowers Jasmin and Karen.
I'm looking forward to see more tree peonies like Lavender Hill. As for Itohs, I love to see Soleil D'Ambre, Caroline Constabel. For herbaceous, definitely Pastelorama, and a lot of white flowers. Last year I don't think I had many whites.

I love the photos Jasmin and Karen.

2021 started off great for me. I had little white blooms on my japonica on March 30! For the most part the woody peonies did well, and so did the herbaceous. My Itohs didn't bloom as well as I wanted them to, but I still had several pretty blooms.

Then the floods hit me on Aug21, and almost all my peonies were affected by it. I still have a lot of cleanup to do, and will hold my breath until I see how the Spring goes. I did plant quite a few new peonies this Fall, so hopefully they will do well.

The weather has just been so erratic that it really makes me nervous.

LG, I am so sorry to hear about the flooding affecting your peonies. I hope they will recover and continue to grow well. IT seems every year I always get some late freezes which cause my early peonies buds to droop. However, eventhough they look terrible on the day affected, most do recover and bloom fine. But those that are affected will have brown edges when bloom. The worst issue I have this past spring was fungal problem. There was a good number of buds affected by botrytis or some fungal disease. But luckily, I have other peonies not affected to make up blooms for the dead ones. One nice thing about growing a lot of peonies is that you have more probability for blooms than growing just a few.

We're going to have a week of non stop rain, I hope my peonies will survive, I hope we did work the drainage ok.

SoCal, I hope that you don't get too much rain! You have so many buds right now.


Thanks Karen. Those fungal diseases can really set your peonies back! And the late freezes are so disheartening. You are right about having enough different peonies to hopefully provide a variety of blooms.

Such nice capture of your favorites Jasmin and Karen. Those pictures really take me back to bloom season. Such a space full of color and beauty. Look forward to photos and more beauties to bloom on in 2022.

kousa said:

My favorite this year are Pastelegance and Duchess De Lorraine. High Noon and Lavender Hill also blew me away with their beautiful blooms. Can't wait to see more of these in 2022.

High Noon

What a beauty

Thank you all for your kind words.

SoCal, I would also like to see more pictures of Lavander Hill. I've planted mine in the ground, and covered it with oak leaves and hey. Fortunately, the winter is still very mild, so my New Zealander will not freeze to death. I am still not convinced that Levander Hill is the right choice for me. That's why I would like to see more pictures, especially the the pictures of the whole plant.

LG, for you peonies. Peonies are tough; hope yours will do well after the flood. Did you say the P. japonica blooms before any other peonies? Please advise

Tracey, I also cannot wait to see 2022 pics.

Thanks Jasmin, I too have my fingers crossed. My Lavender Hill looks okay. I will be sure to post photos is it blooms this Spring.
I have 3 p. Japonicas that I got in tiny pots in 2018 from Broken Arrow nursery. I have them in a lot of shade. They have continued to get bigger each year. They are quite short though, and the blooms are small.

LG, do japonicas bloom first? Before TPs? That might be a nice way to start a peony season

Jasmin, my p. japonica opened its first bloom March 30, and my first woody peony, Fen Dan Feng opened April 5. So it's very close.

I missed almost all of my bloom season! I did have enough indication that the peonies were happy in their new home to make me regret that a bit less than I normally would. I had several first ever woody buds to be really excited about them! Here's a few of the ones I did manage to capture, most were buds when I saw them first and dried seed pods (mostly empty) when I next saw them. Sorry, my pics are so mixed up I'm not even sure about names! Do know the ivory with multiple blooms is an unnamed seedling.

Thanks, Jasmin and Tracey! Seeing how the dismal the peonies are looking now, it is amazing how they will transform in the next 5 months.

LG, I am looking forward to see your P.japonica blooms! I am sure they will be a welcome sight in March! I love their dainty white flowers and beautiful mounded bush.

Liz, beautiful blooms! That is a quite robust TP - having so many blooms in spite of being in a grow bag! What is the name of the TP bloom in the last pic? That is gorgeous!

Think that one is Wisteria Reflections. Have had it for several years but it did nothing in CO.

Mieko2 said:Jasmin, my p. japonica opened its first bloom March 30, and my first woody peony, Fen Dan Feng opened April 5. So it's very close.

LG, thanks for the info. Perhaps I should find a spot for one or two P. Japonicas. Hopefully, they can start my season

I like this thread as I always like to see peony blooms, regardless of when they bloomed exactly. Still being fairly new to peonies not many of mine bloomed this past spring. I have, however, had many triumphs in the garden. Including finishing 2 separate 50ft length by 6ft wide beds that have a peonies lining both, Acquiring many new peonies to fill in these spaces, and completely mapping out how I imagine my garden to (eventually) look. My favorite peony addition would be the recent score of rose heart, and the best bloom this year was lady Anna.



I appreciate the community of this forum and the help/advice extended to me as I've learned so much over the last 2 years. Cheers.

Ruthanna, that is a gorgeous peony.

I can't wait to see those new beds! I want to not only see all the peonies, but also your companion plants.

Since I will be retired in Spring, I am going to try to use more annuals in my peony beds. Laura on Garden Answer really sold me on that Bee's Friend' phacelia.

I am also very thankful for all who post here about their peonies. It is all very interesting, and since we have folks from all types of climates it really makes for some good tips.

Merry Christmas to you!

Can't wait to see your new gardens, Ruthanna! Roseheart is such a gorgeous fader, love the ones that change colors after opening. You'll be super happy with it! Your Lady Anna is very pretty as well!
I haven't ventured out to many other perennials in my beds yet since I'm not living in the same state as my garden yet. I do have a lot of daylilies and irises that I moved, at least half still in grow bags. Love seeing mixed beds to get new ideas on what to plant!

Wisteria Reflections is one I have been admiring for awhile. Nothing against grow bags but normally TPs don't grow and bloom well in grow bags. To have such a beautiful perfect bloom is a testament to WR's vigor and great plant habit. I can't wait to see your WR as a blooming bush, Liz. It will be spectacular!

Ruthanna, so excited for all the developments in your garden. All your hard work is done and now can only be followed with many beautiful blooms. Lady Anna is gorgeous!

LG, congrats on your retirement in spring! So happy for you! Will you be expanding your garden now that you can devote more time to it? Maintaining a garden can be a full time job.

As LG pointed out with her itohs, my itohs also did not produce many blooms this spring. Some were better than others. Two other itohs besides Duchess de Lorraine that did well for me were Hillary and First Arrival. They bloomed really nice this past spring.