Liz, you gotta show us a picture. I can make it count for a 2021 Peony order. How about you guys ?

I had to google Bengal kittens, boy they are sure pretty and exotic, is that the right word.

Sorry for not-peony discussion Liz, F1 hybrid kittens here are $500 and I was shocked to learn this price. We paid $100 for each our common "non-breed" kittens each and I thought it was a little high for a good intention price. I personally don't like pure breed cats (or dogs) because they are so inbred, generally not very healthy and don't live long. It is so hard when your pets come to the end of their life. I am sure your mix cats are lovely, they take good traits from both lineages.

Swenson's has opened up. Some have already sold out.

I

Looking at the catalog, the Rose Heart doesn't show the accurate coloration of the fading and depth, yet it is already sold out. $45 is probably the lowest price I have seen that go for recently.

Which grower generally has the best roots? Most of my wishlist items are very common and pricing only varies by a few dollars. Anyone have a favourite place to shop? I might just wait until January and try to get the maximum number of peonies for the minimum number of orders.

I don't even see Rose Heart in the catalog now.

I noticed that about their Rose Heart, wasn't even sure it was Bess Bockstoce....color looked just a bit off to me. I thought most of the confusion about those 2 was settled and that the one that faded so much and so pretty from the edges in was determined to be Rose Heart...

As for the cats, here in CO only licensed breeders can legally own F1 or F2's. The breeder that sold us our cats had a F4 male and her mother had an F3 female but our kittens came from the F4 male and a Manx mother with tendencies to have extra toes. Our guys have HUGE feet for cats as a result. Here's Red, his brother Bob was freaked out by the IPad and ran when I tried to take a pic. Red is 16lbs, his brother is considerably heavier. He's got a "husky" build—yep, he's fat.

Our first Bengal/Manx mix had a Snow Leopard Bengal dad and Manx mom, had him and his cousin from another litter, they were cousins instead of brothers as their moms were from the same litter. I didn't know until we got them that Manx mothers are typically bred with tailed males as to do otherwise can result in kittens with no control over pooping...not a good thing at all. That mix of breeds seems to result in very social cats with no problems at all with dogs—even giant breeds. Red wrestles my Daisy dog, no fear even though she is triple his weight.

So I didn't end up ordering anything from Swensons although I did drool a bit when I saw their $1000 intro, though it was really pretty. Can't justify that price though just to be a double white a few weeks earlier.

Tracey, it does not look like real Rose Heart. They had it for $32 last year it and it was OK for the wrong ID peony. Now it is $45 and it is the same price as in Solaris and a little less than in Gold City ($50).

Liz, love your Red, pretty kitty! I like the early white double for $1000 but I will pass for sure More over last year they changed their shipping policy and it became too expensive to Alaska. I am glad I ordered everything I wanted from them already.
Edited: I also like Tonka Purple. I'll wait for quite a few years probably before I decide to buy it. Nice color!

What a beautiful cat, Liz!

It almost looks like they are using the same photos for Bess Bockstoce and Roseheart.

I have a Bess Bockstoce that I bought many years ago that was sold to me as Roseheart. So this confusion has been around for a long time. I do have the real Roseheart from Adelmans, and it was not that expensive.

Liz, what a nice kitty.

Swenson's Rose Heart definitely resembles Bess Bockstoce. Bess has a very unique flower shape. And it seems I recall looking at their catalog prior to this and thinking the same thing.

I do think Rose Heart is special. It is certainly worth $50, as long as it's the true Rose Heart.

The APS registers shows them correctly, the Peony Database (Carsten's) has pics of both in the Bess Bockstoce entry and the correct one in Rose Heart. Swenson's has sold this peony under this name several times before, remember seeing it.

Anya, Tonka Purple is really pretty! I wonder how long they'll offer it exclusively, if the other big growers will have it for sale in a few years. If the convention actually happens this year maybe we'll see it blooming in person, or at least one or two of the new intros in the competition.

I'm saving my money for Tonka Purple. I agree it's very pretty.

Hiyamakki said:

I think most of my neighbours now have the same hardy chrysanthemums I do. They expand aggressively and I hate to throw out the sections I dig up so they go to anyone who wants them. So now my entire neighbourhood will be filled with peach & pink mums! If my orange and green take off in the spring everyone can expect more gifts!

Hiyamakki, those hardy mums may be really beautiful. There are some hardy mums in my neighbourhood, similar to these pink Clara Curtis:
Hardy Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum x rubellum 'Clara Curtis')
https://www.gardenia.net/plant...

or more peachy ones, similar to Sheffield Pink:
https://journalnow.com/lifesty...

For Northern gardeners who are thinking of planting mums for beautiful fall flowers around your peonies, here is a list of recommended hardy chrysanthemums:
https://findingseaturtles.com/...
I cannot guarantee that all of them are really hardy, but it's worth a try

Hiyamakki, based on your temperature zone, I am assuming that you are somewhere in BC. Not sure if you mums are still blooming. Days should be a bit longer here In Toronto than in BC at this time of the year, so my hardy Belgium mums are still trying to bloom:

Jasmin I am a Toronto girl (Scarborough) relocated to Maryland (with a few years in Pennsylvania on the way). Still can't get over these mild winters! I'm surprised your mums are still growing. My dad in Toronto is an avid gardener but sedum is the only fall plant he has. It's mostly roses at his place with peonies where my mother sneaks them in!

I added some disbud chrysanthemums this year and in 7A we're borderline for overwintering but I am optimistic! They are close to the house and someone I spoke to at the local extension said his usually make it.
My fancy Paint Box mums


Hardy pinks are long done blooming. They put on their show in September.





My peach ones are still going.




The green mums I pinched way too late and it's only set buds now!

We have been digressing greatly from peonies! My apologies!

I laughed at the mild winters comment. I told my husband, our version of mild winter is Hawaii. My husband's niece is living in Pittsburgh(or near there), I saw her kids are playing with snow on her instagram posts.

Jasmin, thanks for the mum advice. I really want to try to get some to live here.

Hiyamakki, your mums are beautiful!
Thanks for sharing the photos.

magnolialover said:
Swenson's Rose Heart definitely resembles Bess Bockstoce. Bess has a very unique flower shape. And it seems I recall looking at their catalog prior to this and thinking the same thing.

My thoughts, exactly. Without seeing the name listed I would have thought it was Bess Bockstoce. When Rose Heart opens for me it is a really deep colour, far deeper than shown in their photos.That softer/medium pink isn't close at all. Unless I'm growing the wrong plant.



Is anyone from Canada looking to put in an order with Swenson and potentially split it? I'm really interested in Petticoat Parade and am having a hard time finding it elsewhere. It's also tough to make that $1000 minimum international order, unless maybe you're looking at some of their new introductions and then you're already halfway or three quarters of the way there! I can help you get to maybe $100 worth of that total.

magnolialover said:Spending that amount of money would require a track record before I would even consider it. In other words, I would have to see it in person and have someone who bought it tell me how absolutely perfect and stunning it is and has acclimated to their northern tier garden. ITOHs just don't perform as well for me as their herbaceous and woody counterparts. And some of them don't look all that special to fork out that amount of cash. Or is it just me?.

I thought this was a super interesting question. It was nice to hear your guys' thoughts on this!