This might be a stupid question. My understanding from what I have read is that peonies are self-fertile. Does that mean that they can produce fertile seed even when there is only a single flower?

Yes, I think so.
Tomatoes are same.

I feel compelled to comment that one fertile peony seed is much more satisfying than only one tomato.

Anyway, I hope you're right.

I have seeds and have posted a picture to the database. Here is another one:

Those black ones look good.
Will you try to germinate them?

That is the plan. I think the best time to harvest them would be when the seed pod and stem are completely dried up, yes?

I am not sure---black seeds are good.
Red seeds not good.

Moot point. Someone snipped it and removed it from my keeping today - I'm sure it was still there this morning before I left and so don't think it was deer. They tend not to like peonies anyway. That is extremely annoying.

Edit: Found most of the pod under a nearby tree. The culprit appears to be squirrels. It may be too early but I've put them in pro-mix and on a heating pad.

That is disheartening Dora.
I am bagging the poppy seed heads to keep critters, and people from taking them before they are ripe enough.

I left all of the spent blooms on every peony this year--had a happy accident and noticed 4 baby peony plants this spring! Collected seeds from a couple of plants so far. Not sure what to do with them, thought they needed cold first then warm and cold again before they'd sprout. Do I have it backwards???Might need to take them out of the fridge, huh?

Dora, what variety is your seed parent?

Take a look at this thread, The thread "Germinating Peony Seeds" in Peonies forum

My peony is a p. obovata alba, or White Japanese Forest Peony. I have a picture.

Hi Dora, that is a very pretty bloom, very delicate looking. Thanks for the thread, I'll pull mine out of the fridge and put them near the water heater for several weeks!

I got a white forest peony this year, Japonica is the variety. Any advice on growing this type? From what I saw on my searches the 2 varieties are similar, mine is supposed to have slightly smaller blooms.

Alas, P. obovata and P japonica have are now considered as P. obovata. Both are woodland plants and do best in light shade and leaf duff/old compost.

To me what was sold as P japonica for years looks like a small tree where P obovata emerges as a clump of stems rather than a single stem. The japonica of old will generally send out a stem that will have a cluster of leaves at the top. The flower emerges from the center of this cluster. Obovata's flowers emerge as any other soft stemmed peony.

For me P. japonica has always been a late bloomer. Even appearing as late as July where P obovata is an early bloomer.

Either one is a good addition to your garden. You do need to not remove the spent blooms as part of the loveliness of both is the inside coloration of the seed pods when ripe and split open.

I have Paeonia suffrictosa, a Tree Peony , seeds on the go.
Along with a Paeonia obovata , Chinese Red Peony seeds.
At this time of year they will not get the high temperatures, as I do not have the furnace on all the time.

I have my seeds on a heating pad. The only other option would be my water heater -- it's old and so the top is warm, but I'm not sure it's warm enough.

Sorry Liz, I don't have any experience with P. japonica. My P. obovata is in a raised, east facing bed, which tends to be on the dry side because the nearby spruce trees provide partial shade and suck a lot of water out of the soil. It doesn't seem to be bothered by this, but is very slow growing, which I have been told is quite normal. It took about 4 years for it to produce a flower (this spring). I mulch with compost in the fall.

I took my newly harvested peony seeds out of the vegetable drawer, thanks to this thread. I put them on a heated seed germination mat. Seems in my excitement, I had the heat/cold sequence backwards.
Raspberry Sundae, Brides Dream, Festiva Maxima, and a random seedling of Festiva Maxima have been my most reliable pod parents. I wish my notes were as reliable as to the pollen parents identity. Looking forward to 5 years of anticipation.

Welcome to ATP, Karen.
Thanks for telling us which peonies form seeds well.
I had my daughter let her yellow peony go to seed.
I went to open a pod and there was almost nothing there.
Some may be sterile. Peonies from seeds is a challenge.but fun too.

I left all of the spent flowers on my peonies this year just to see what would produce likely looking seeds, got some from Okinawa and a single white, not sure if its Crinkled Linens or Krinkled White, they look too much alike! I also had mine in the fridge, took them out and am looking for another good place for them. Our hot water heaters are too well insulated, not warm on the top at all! I do have a heating pad, though, will have to dig it out!

Dorab, glad to hear your woodland peony is doing well near the spruce tree! I planted mine under the outer edge of some huge pines. The soil there is mainly made up of rotted pine needles, I dug a big hole and mixed planter's mix in with the stuff that was there to add nutrients and to help retain some moisture. The pines suck up most of the water in that spot so I'm expecting to have to add drip heads to the existing line. It'll probably be several years before it blooms but I just want it to survive the winter and start growing next year!

Alana, the picture on the webpage where I bought my p. japonica showed a small shrub, didn't have a tree appearance at all. I'm hoping what grows will be a shrub/herbaceous peony, a tree, even a small one, would look out of place in that spot. Thanks for the explanation, I'll be watching what grows there and won't be too surprised if it's not what I thought it would be. I'll keep an eye out for the p. obavata, too--really wanted a herbaceous that could take the shade and dry spot (with some supplemental water, of course!).

Raspberry Sundae and Festiva Maxima are my new acquisitions at end of season sales.
It will take them a year or two to become established, but then I can look forward to seeds from those two.