The new bush will not be able to sustain all those huge 10 flowers on HB, so there is a big chance some or all of them going to abort. Also, there is a thread on forum about growers getting rid of buds for first 3 years to get a bigger crop of flowers afterwards. It makes roots develop faster.

That sounds such a waste of flowers. I have a cultivar I'm hoping to register this year that has up to seven side buds on each stem and it has no problem 'supporting' the growth and flowering of those side buds - and I don't even fertilize my plants. I tend to make side buds part of my selection criteria (though a pretty face gets me every time ) and even the new typically 3-5 eye roots we get have no problem growing those side buds. I think the only time I've come across bud blast was in particularly wet springs or associated with botrytis. A cultivar will produce the buds according to its genetic makeup and the stems for those buds according to the cultivation practices for the most part, and I'm not sure I could ever be convinced that disbudding for one year, let alone three, would get me more blooms.

I liked my Florence Nicholls after taking off side buds vs without disbudding. Tried a couple of years ago and I am getting more full and beautiful flowers without side buds. I guess it is personal preferences. HB does not have side buds for me. I may leave all of them and see how many will survive.

Frost alert in Toronto again. Hate it

Valerie, show us some pictures of the plant with 7 sidebuds!

Valerie...love to see that seedling....so exciting!

Helps to read this thread, then I kind of have an idea how cold damages peonies...we get some weird ups and downs and I worried.

I divided it last Fall so in smaller clumps they probably won't have as many s.b. These are the blooms I picked last July after a seriously heavy rainstorm





It is a late bloomer - while many of the peonies in the garden are already up to two foot tall, this one, and other late bloomers, is only showing one inch noses. Glad of this after a week of sub-zero temps here although I have not noticed any damage yet I will post pics on the plants later.

That is absolutely beautiful!! Thanks for sharing!

They look like white clouds!

Finally the peony's are big enough to post new growth and buds.










No ants yet...it's been a early warm sunny spring.

Been drooling over all the beautiful peony's blooming in all the posts. They are all spectacular...
Or as my usual expression for all the blooms posted..."Just Stunnin"...

Yours are looking nice and healthy, Bea! I hope the weather stays nice and you get a lot of blooms.

Mieko2 said:Yours are looking nice and healthy, Bea! I hope the weather stays nice and you get a lot of blooms.

It's 80' today.. a real oddity in my neck of the woods. We never get weather this warm in April . We usually have a light frost or two til may 10. So all the peony's are sending up lots blooms. These plants should be called ," Ol Faithfuls". There have bloomed their lil hearts out for over 20 years.

All your peony's are just.."Stunnin". Showing many new hybrids. All your pics are really lovely thru out the peony forums.

Bea, you are too kind. We are having a couple of days of rain and wind. It sure shortens the bloom life.

I can't wait to see your photos!

I think I spoke too soon we've just had more rain, some snow, howling winds and temps around zero overnight and this morning there were some permanently sad stems (middle of the length, black/squishy) and particularly some buds and side buds obviously no longer viable. Here's to growing more late bloomers who have yet to put on more than three inches and are unscathed

It is blowing so hard I am afraid someone's roof is going to land here. 1C overnight, but with those winds it is almost freezing.

It's pretty warm but the wind is insane here. I think some trim came off my roof.

That's the front that came through here. I hope everything is okay when you check on it.

Went for a walk yesterday, facing the wind. When I got back, a police car was there blocking the street. This happened just across my house. Fortunately, the lady who was in the car when the branch broke was unharmed. These are not some neglected trees. These trees are maintained by the city. They looked perfectly healthy.


Just around the corner on a very busy street:

Well, I think I panicked last night and all the tall peonies with buds that were either in the path of the arctic gale or would get the early morning sun got covered with everything I could lay my hands on


Here's Tranquil Dove with a weed pot on!
However, despite the frost covering everywhere & ice on all the bird baths, it seems those that didn't get the preferential treatment (and those that did) survived yet another night