New Itoh Peonies: Border Charm, Old Rose Dandy, Pastel Splendor, Prairie Charm & Scarlet Heaven.

Good sized tubers from Swenson Gardens in MN. Very pleased.

I currently have Garden Treasure, Bartzella and First Arrival Itoh peonies.

Isn't it exciting to get the new roots in, Frank?! I also got Prairie Charm this fall but got it from Hollingsworth. Got Scarlet Heaven, Old Rose Dandy, Bartzella, Canary Brilliants, Hillary and Pastel Splendor last spring, didn't do anything of course! Looking forward to next year's blooms!

I also ordered from Swenson, all herbaceous, have to pick up the package from the post office tomorrow! Would be better if we weren't supposed to get snow tomorrow, too......

I love the Itohs. Swensons Gardens sent you some beautiful roots. Hopefully, you'll get some lovely blooms next spring. I planted Pastel Splendor last fall, mine came from Brooks, and got 2 blooms this spring.

Mine bloomed for the 1st time last spring, too! I got six teeny-tiny potted plants mail order, thought I'd lost all except one. Went through a major labeling jag last spring and found the other two. I was completely unenthused about Itohs after thinking I lost five and how tiny they were upon arrival compared to the herbaceous peonies I was used to. Regained interest when they bloomed, ordered more and realized my issue was the grower, not the plant, because all of my newer roots were great. Here's the ones that bloomed this spring:




Singing in the Rain--fell in love with the bloom when I first saw it on-line and HAD TO HAVE IT!!




Strawberry Blonde--bloomed a bit later than Singing in the Rain so the colors were very similar, it's more yellow from the start. Decided I actually like it better than Singin!




Berry Garcia--Started out good but never really opened, the plant was much smaller than the others and only had two buds, maybe next year it'll live up to it's initial promise.

I also ordered First Arrival, Frank, but it's for spring delivery through Vermont Wildflower Farms. I'm done for the fall with all except one last order that will make it in next weekend. Good thing, too--I'm out of room in my current beds!

Liz,

Your Itohs are just gorgeous. One of my faves is Itoh Yumi, I like it so much it's been my avatar all year Both you and Frank have inspired me to order from Swenson's Gardens next year. Their site has been saved to my "Favorites".

This forum is just leading me further down to road of my addiction, so many websites to order from, so little room in the garden. I see more grass coming out in the near future. Who needs grass anyway

Annette, Yumi is absolutely gorgeous! Do you have Bartzella, too? How do they compare?

Yumi had larger, fuller, richer yellow blooms. The one bloom that I got from Bartzella last year was a pale yellow. It was pretty, but I do prefer Yumi, which also blooms later in the season, after Bart, Keiko, and Misaka. .

Here are photos of Bartzella and Garden Treasure...

Those blooms are gorgeous. Your Bartzella has a more vibrant color than mine.

It's so nice to see these wonderful pictures when the flowers are out of season. Singing in the Rain has caught my attention in pictures as well as Yumi. I nearly got Yumi at one point, and refrained. What a shame.

Oh, please get Yumi, you'll not be disappointed. I love it for the color, quality, and size of the blooms

Yumi is going on my list for next year's purchases! Thanks for the comparison, Annette!

You're welcome Liz, you're going to love Yumi.

Hello Peony forum,
Lowes are offering single Itoh peony Bartzella for $30, saw them today 12 March. Plant seems very fresh and feels good though the packaging.
Any views?, also 4 Sarah Bernhardt for $15 which seems like a decent price, though probably take a couple of years for them to mature.
Peter

I bought my Bartzella (in a bag) from Lowe's a few years ago. No blooms but I had to move it for work being done. I just bought one Shirley Temple peony from Lowe's at $6.98. Home Depot had Sarah Bernhardt, one to a bag, for $5.38 so I did buy two of them. For the price they do fine. I've bought others previously and got quite a few blooms in past years.

It is nice to see the peony roots and flowers.
Someday I will get the Itohs!
Recently I found very healthy roots of Sarah Bernhardt,--so I bought a pack of two.
I like to plant peonies in the fall, but sometimes there are good deals in spring.

Our local nurseries only carry the peony roots in the spring, which is unfortunate. I went to all of my nurseries in the fall, and they had nothing. I've never seen Itohs in bags here.

The herbaceous peonies that I get in bags are planted in pots, and I leave them there for 6 months to a year or more, so that I have a little more control of their growing environment. I have a Festiva Maxima, and several peony Vivids that had been in pots, and they were planted in the garden last fall. I'm interested to see how they're going to do this year.