A lot of the early bloomers got pretty beat up, Karen, but I have hopes for the mid and late. Lovely Rose's buds look good but it's one that ends up on the ground with the least amount of bad weather...I should have some bloom pics this weekend. Claire de Lune is trying to bloom now but the foliage looks awful, double red fernleaf is the opposite! The foliage looks beautiful but the blooms look cold damaged. Think I should invest in some of those umbrellas, too!

I wonder what I can buy in Asian stores overhere. Are there parasols with longer stakes?

I've looked for parasols locally but never was able to find anything that was actually functional. I saw them standing guard over tree peonies in Ueno park when I was in Japan two years ago, but never got around to tracking them down unfortunately. They were quite tall, certainly taller than myself.

My first peony opened up on Sunday evening. Here is my double red fern leaf:



It was such a tiny root when I bought it on clearance for $15 that I wasn't sure it would make it through one of our harsh winters. I'm surprised that so much flower came from such a small bud. The other bud didn't fare so well. Looks like a rabbit may have tried to snack on it.



And here it is today, fully open:

That is always a wonder to me also how so much flower comes from such a small bud! That's a really pretty one Nick.

Isn't it a lovely flower? Last year's Liz pic of her fernleaf double bloom got me to add it to the garden last year. I am really happy about it too!

Some critter chewed off the tiny sprout on mine!?
At least it is no longer there?

Peony season is slowly progressing here in the north. I am impressed by so many of forum members blooms this year. You only add to my want list❤️

Here are a few from today, first I will start with one of my favorites, 'Pink Hawaiian Coral', the many stages of...

Here are a few more,
First flower on 'Red Grace'



Whole plant, the truly treasured 'Garden Treasure'


'Cythrea'

Lovely peonies, just lovely.

Tracey, those are so pretty. I think I will have to add Pink H. Coral to my garden.

Karen, PHC is gorgeous! You won't be sorry. It also has adventitious roots so you can end up with extras popping up at points nearby.

A fellow gardener and I were just discussing why our peony buds are drooping. My older ones are doing it, and her newer varieties are doing it, so we can't attribute the problem to one or the other.

The plants look ridiculous with these drooping buds. Can anyone give us a reason for this??

The plants aren't wilting in the heat, are they Karen? Do you have any photos?

Beautiful photos, Tracey. Cytherea has such a lovely petal form. It looks like a giant ranunculus.

Nick, I will go out and check this morning and take a picture if they still look like that.

I do think heat can make them droop like that. Or too much rain, sometimes the buds soften and don't open, sort of rot instead.

Thanks Nick. Cythrea is a nice one but doesn't like too hot of weather when it is set to bloom or it doesn't last long here.

I agree with Tracey. My Cytherea is terrible this year. The heat causes the flowers to droop and wilt within 3 days. Being in the shade in the afternoon does not help either.

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.

Our paeonia anomala is blooming big time ("our" being the botanical garden). Early Scout and a fernleaf will go next. Our two Red Charms aren't even in the running yet. They are very small. Wind Chimes looks like a good candidate for popping very soon. Almost as big as the anomala.

It was 38 this morning and the garden is in an arboreal forest area. Kind of like Cricket Hills. So they get some sun but also shade and cool weather at night.

'Butterflies in Flight' blooms are pretty small, but this is its first year here too.


'Coral Sunset'


'Paula Fay'


Unknown, won as a prize


'Raspberry Charm'

Tracey, those first three are so pretty, and they are all on my "to get this year" list.

It seems that all our buds were drooping because of that first day of real heat. This morning they looked fine at 5:00 a.m.

Karen, it is so hard for me to imagine heat in Minnesota. You guys have terrible cold winters. So how is it that you have such hot summers? Weird.