Mary, our winters can be very mild just like this last year. I have a pen pal in Willow and the winters she talks about freak me out. Our heat is usually combined with humidity which makes it feel so much worse, at least to me. I whine a lot whenever the temps get over 75 so you can't put much stock in me, lol.

I think we both have this reputation for insanely cold weather and that's not necessarily so!!

Hi Everyone,
Im new to this site. Wondering how to get my peonies to multiply. Every year they seem to be the same they never get fuller and more blooms.
Anyone have anyideas or "tricks" to make that happen. Thanks

Hi Lindacordi, welcome to the peony forum! Peonies like well drained soil and pretty much full sun. Depending on your zone they should be planted so the eyes are 1-2 inches below soil. That's just about all that they need but we have several forum members that use an organic bulb fertilizer late fall and early spring when they start coming up as well as compost. What variety do you have? Some multiply slower than others and there is a maximum size that each will reach. If they're as big as advertised for full grown the only way to multiply them is to dig them up and divide the root in the fall.

lindacordi

Welcome! Hope you enjoy your time here.

kousa said:
Nick, sorry to say that Halleigh's Hallelujah is a disappointment for me (at least for this year anyway) The plant is extremely floriferous but all the flowers are single and they don't last long. I hope it fares better in your location as your weather is not as hot. Cora Louise is the same, blooms don't last long. The longest lasting itohs are the double ones like Bartzella, Hillary, and Magical Mystery Tour.

Ah, that's too bad Karen. Hopefully next year will be better. My experience with Cora Louise is limited to the vase life, as I had to cut the only flower I had last year due to an impending storm.

I'm watching my Itohs now and of the older plants I have, Morning Lilac and Singing in the Rain seem to be the most floriferous where as Magical Mystery Tour and Lollipop seem to have put their energy into foliage. The Select Plus plants are still tiny things but have many buds on them relative to their size. I'm curious to see how they will do.

Kousa, Halleigh's Hallelujah was really, really pretty in the pictures so I'm hoping another year or 2 of growth will give better blooms. I know how you feel, though--I was the same way with Berry Garcia from them. Might be a moot point because I think I lost it after dividing last fall! I did order one from MB though; we'll see if the blooms are any different. I have buds now on the majority of my Itohs, nothing close to opening yet, though. Really looking forward to the mid and late bloomers since early was pretty much a bust here! I didn't realize how many of the newer (to me) varieties I have were as cold sensitive as they proved to be. I might have to rig something to keep them more protected next spring. Maybe a peony ring with black plastic draped over it, pinned to the ground. There's easily 30 varieties that have heavy cold damage out there so it has to be something fairly labor-light, though!

FINALLY have a peony bloom that didn't get damaged or destroyed by our weather this year before I could get a picture! Lovely Rose has just started opening, here's the first picture.

Very nice, Liz! I hope your Pastelegance buds are not damaged! Thanks about HH itoh. I sure hope that it will grow to be a double as shown on Select Plus Website. I tell you what, we also had really terrible peony bloom weather. We had an extended early cool spring. Then all of sudden, we have temps in the upper 80's for the last 2 weeks during peak bloom, just terrible for peony blooms. Nothing last for more than two days. By the 3rd day, the blooms look pretty ragged.

Pastelegance buds look pretty good, foliage is a bit beaten up! I took pics today of buds and I have 18 Itohs that should flower this year at least! And 4 tree peonies! Did I just doom myself to the hail storm of the century next week???? Sonoma Halo (2) and Impossible Dream (1) have buds, too!

This is how late my season is--Old Farmstead, fernleaf hybrid, just opened today. Nova is also blooming but doesn't look that good after the last hail storm.

Thanks Liz! Can't wait to see pics of your new peonies. I hope the hailstorm miss your area if you are not joking?

I am interested in the history of your fern leaf. I appears to be a single, judging by the bright red color. The leaves do not look like the common fl hybrids. The one which I purchased from Spring Hill has the leaves wider than the species from HSFF with some intermediately between species and hybrids.

Oldgardenrose, if you're asking about Old Farmstead it's a hybrid sold by Solaris Farms online. I got it last fall and it put up quite a bit of foliage and 2 blooms, pretty good for a fernleaf. Solaris didn't post the parentage so it could be 3/4 fernleaf, kinda looks like it, huh? I'd say growth rate is similar to Early Scout but it's a smaller overall plant. The foliage is a bit more gray or silvery than the other fernleaf hybrids I have. And yes, it is a single.
Karen, I HOPE I was joking about the hailstorm!
Anomala opened today! Only 2 buds total on its 2nd spring.

A few old peonies have buds here,
and some newer ones are barely poking through ground.
The fern leaf one has disappeared? There was only a tiny shoot?
Do hares eat peony shoots too?

I have several with buds that should start bursting very soon. Either they died completely or are doing well. Except for Cora Louise. She is just starting to develop pips. Very very late. My only tree peony has unfurled. I don't think there will be flowers but I will be happy if it just grows larger.

I had a few herbaceous peonies open today, finally!

Coral Magic. This one is advertised as being cold sensitive, don't know if it'll ever be at its best here.


Coral N Gold. This is my least favorite of the corals but still happy to see it bloom today!


NOID semi-double red. Was REALLY hoping it'd be rose smelling like the one I posted about from my swap. Unfortunately is one of the waxy, kinda icky smelling ones.


Red Glory, again no rose scent, darn it!

Liz, love your red semi-doubles.

Nice, Liz! I wonder if your semidouble red peony is Lustrous? I doubt that you are going to get rose scent from hybrid peonies. I believe the rose scent comes from the doubles or grandma's type peonies. Do you grow Myrtle Gentry? Mine gave me 3 blooms this year and they had the closest to a rose scented peony that I smelled from all of my peonies this year.

Is there a reason Coral & Gold is your least favorite coral?

Catching up...
'Theresa Anne'



'Nice Gal'



'Maestro' I saw at Klehm's on a tour during APS show. It was stunning in a row in a field.

'Doreen'

I love Doreen, but they are all pretty.