Last fall (2017) I planted three each of two cultivars (Athena and Chalice) of very early-blooming herbaceous peonies from Adelman Peony Gardens.

In March (2018) I fertilized them with bulb fertilizer because of a past suggestion in the peonies forum by Karen @kousa for this important step.

I am delighted to report that all six peony plants now have robust buds, so I am expecting flowers on all of these plants in their first spring in my garden!

I am very grateful to Adelman Peony Gardens for great plants and to Karen @kousa for alerting me to the importance of applying bulb fertilizer to peonies in early spring.

what fertilizer did you use?

frankrichards16 said:what fertilizer did you use?

Scotts Bulb Continuous Release Plant Food (10-12-10).

In the past I used Espoma Bulb Tone, which worked well too.

That's so wonderful to hear, Carol. You've made my day! I am so glad that the fertilizing helps with the first ever blooms. Though most of the credit would have to go the great roots that you started with. No amount of fertilizing will get an inferior and small root to bloom the first year. I bought a number of peonies this past fall from Adelman. Most of their peonies that I planted this past fall are showing buds even the ones I planted late. The most impressive one is Vanilla Schnapps which has 4 buds! And it was one that I planted late about early December. I am still waiting on the 2 itohs planted at the same time for more growths to see if they too have any buds. Just a testament to the quality and consistency of their roots.

Karen,
How exciting that your Adelman peonies are showing buds too! Wow: 4 buds on your Vanilla Schnapps! One or two of my Chalice plants have 3 buds, and I thought that was pretty amazing. Most have 1 or 2.

Athena and Chalice were my first ever purchases from Adelman.

It's so exciting to see flowers on new peonies!!! Adelman's sell great quality roots. Our summers are very short so there is not much time for peonies to accumulate resources for next season, usually I leave just one bud on a new peony and hope it will save some energy for next summer flowers.

All my Herbaceous peony from Adelman's had buds, only one tree peony had buds, others didn't. I'm very pleased with their roots too.

Yan, may I know which tree peony is having buds? Is it a shoot from underground or above? I am curious since Adelman's usually cut back the woody stems heavily before sending the TP roots out.

Peonyplan,
It's "Leda" tree peony, has 2 buds the first year.




And those TPs I ordered it from China also has buds too. A good tree peony year for me so far.

Here is a pic of my Vanilla Schnapps with 4 buds. Not sure if all 4 are going to make it to bloom, but it is certainly impressive that this cultivar is extremely vigorous and Adelman's quality of roots speak for themselves.



Ballarena de Saval with2 buds. The buds are still small so they cannot be seen in this pic.



Pastelegance also purchased from Adelman has 3 buds. Pluto tree peony has 3 buds. I don't have pics to show but I am so happy with all the roots I got from Adelman this past year. Actually most every vendor sent great roots this past year.

I ordered 'Athena' from Adelman's 14 years ago. Very disappointed. I thought it was a double and it keeps coming up single every year. And, way to early as well. Who needs a flower before all the other peonies show up? And, it has flares? I have tree peonies if I want flares.

frankrichards16 said:I ordered 'Athena' from Adelman's 14 years ago. Very disappointed. I thought it was a double and it keeps coming up single every year. And, way to early as well. Who needs a flower before all the other peonies show up? And, it has flares? I have tree peonies if I want flares.

• Peony (Paeonia 'Athena')
• Uploaded by frankrichards16

I had to laugh at your comment, Frank!!! I ordered Athena specifically because it looks like a tree peony (Rockii, which I love), and I don't want to grow tree peonies (TPs). I love TPs but prefer to visit them in other gardens!

I have plenty of peonies that bloom together in mid-season. I wanted very early bloomers to bridge the gap between bulbs and mid-season peonies.

Yan, where do you order those tree peonies ? And about how much?

huang049 said:Peonyplan,
It's "Leda" tree peony, has 2 buds the first year.




And those TPs I ordered it from China also has buds too. A good tree peony year for me so far.

I got 4 itohs from Adelman's this year. All are up with multiple buds. The Sonoma itohs are small as far as the bush goes. But man, Sonoma Apricot has about 14 buds, and the other three have at least 8 to 10 buds. All my herbaceous roots from Adelman's have performed admirably. Everyone sent great roots last year, but Adelman's were exceptional.

My Sonoma Apricot from last year Adelman's sale is still in a workshop where it spent the winter and is growing leaves. So tomorrow I will take it outside and will watch the night temperatures. Today is (hopefully) the last cold day and the forecast for the next 10 days is good (looks like spring).

Wow Gary! 14 buds on a first year peony! THat is just incredible. It surely sets a new record. 4 is about the most I ever get. You must have gotten a huge root and have very fertile soil that the peonies love.

littlebin said:Yan, where do you order those tree peonies ? And about how much?

I really don't know about the price. Littlebin
My brother-in-law was paid for me and refused to tell me how much it cost.

Anya, I have my potted peonies, only three, on the back porch. Oh, and two I rescued from my neighbor who had them in his warm garage, no water, all winter. I repotted them, gave them a drink and hope they will perk up. REALLY need to put fertilizer on the ones in the garden, but the ground is so wet and mushy I would just compact the soil and make a mess.

Mary, I also have three potted peonies in the deck, I take them inside for the night but soon I will not need to do this Still a lot of snow in the garden, we've got a lot this winter and the spring has been slow so far. (Today in the morning I went cross-country skiing, possibly the last time in the season.) I read my notes from last year and by this time some of peonies were free from snow! Not this year! At least the forecast is promising and I hope the spring will catch up.

So far I am really enjoying everyone's pictures from their gardens! So lovely! Thank for sharing!

I've been impressed with the high percentage of first year blooms I see on peonies from Adelman's.

Frank, I'm curious what made you think Athena was a double, was there misinformation in the description? I've only ever seen it listed as a single.

Carol, please take photos when your new plants bloom, I'd love to see them! I have Athena on my list to order this year. Unfortunately it appears to be sold out at Adelman's, but other quality vendors still have it listed.