Just wondering if weak neck is typical with Blonde Vision. The buds seem to be very heavy and the necks on my BV are rather skinny. Is this normal for BV? All of my BV stems have droopy stems. Do you support your BV? Not sure whether this is weather related or just normal trait of BV.

I am not growing it, but based on pictures I would say it has something to do with general weakness of BV to cold ( based on other's comments that I saw previously ). There is probably a chance they could recover later or do better in warmer environment next year.

Thanks Alex! I hope it is weather related. Skinny stems and heavy blooms is not a good combination,

I came across some notes that BV performs better in warm climates, probably it does not like the cold.

Some others have mentioned that Blonde Vision has weak stems. Mine has always been a short plant. And unfortunately it's buds got frozen out this year.

Search Blonde Vision on Facebook and look at Rich G's photo of it from a couple of years ago. It was amazing! And he lives in Maine I believe.

So sorry to hear that the buds got zapped again this year! This peony is a rather difficult diva. Thanks LG! I will look his posts up.

Hi Kousa: do you happen to use any fertilizer on your Blonde Vision? If so what is the NPK ratio?

I have had similar issues on many unrelated cultivars in the past and the cause was always too much nitrogen in the ground. I have solved the problem by not fertilizing for one year and applying a softwood mulch to get rid of the excess nitrogen and if next year I am still around I will try and fertilize them with Thomas' slag (an ancient nitrogen-free fertilizer very much beloved by rose growers, now out of production but I still have three quarters of a bag).

ElPolloDiablo said:Hi Kousa: do you happen to use any fertilizer on your Blonde Vision? If so what is the NPK ratio?

I have had similar issues on many unrelated cultivars in the past and the cause was always too much nitrogen in the ground. I have solved the problem by not fertilizing for one year and applying a softwood mulch to get rid of the excess nitrogen and if next year I am still around I will try and fertilize them with Thomas' slag (an ancient nitrogen-free fertilizer very much beloved by rose growers, now out of production but I still have three quarters of a bag).

Hi ElPollo. No, I did not fertilize this peony this year. I don't think it is the nitrogen problem. It maybe weather related as we had a cool stretch 50 days prior to these blooms open. It barely was above 60F during the days and often fell in the 30F's at night. Somehow, this cool strectch must affect its growth. If this happens next year and the weather is different or warmer, then I know it is most likely a plant trait.

Blonde Vision doesn't seem to have a problem with weak stems as far as I can tell in my garden but it certainly has a problem with a weak constitution! The buds and the stems are so cold intolerant that it's hard to believe this thing is a peony—seems more like a tropical plant! I've only had it perform fairly well 1 year out of the 8 or so that it was in my garden. It's in AL now, sure hope it does better there because the bloom is so pretty when it manages to open with no damage.

THanks Liz! I am considering of moving Blonde Vision to a more sheltered location. It seems that it is very susceptible to intermittent cold freezes during bud development.

I remember hesitating to purchase it at all—Hollingsworth's had the fact that it was frost intolerant in the description and it did make me pause. Maybe one of these years I'll get a good sized plant and good blooms....

I moved mine last Fall. Maybe next year it will bloom!

I hope it will bloom for you and me too, LG!