Now they're saying 3-6 inches tomorrow. I'm leaving them covered when I go, my husband says he'll remember to uncover them once this cold snap is over. I'll call and bug him about it though, just in case!

LizinElizabeth said:Now they're saying 3-6 inches tomorrow. I'm leaving them covered when I go, my husband says he'll remember to uncover them once this cold snap is over. I'll call and bug him about it though, just in case!

Good luck!!!!

Sometimes you wonder... Will winter ever really be over?

AlexUnder said:May be a huge plastic jar ( something like a gallon water bottle ) or glass cloche with some openings ( ! ) will do the trick? I am not sure how big is it at the moment.

Unrelated to this post.have you tried blooms canada. I ordered thee peonies from them sale ends Apr 30 20% off.

Keep us posted as to what the roots are like.
They tell how many eyes but not how many prongs on the root?

A 3 - 5 root should mean three prongs and five buds?
Many sellers just count buds?

Oscar, I never tried Blooms Canada. I am thinking about getting Hana Kisoi and Rockii. They do not have them in stock. Do Tell is tempting, but I decided to skip it. Ordered Salmon Dream and Petite Elegance from Boreal Farms - first time - see how it goes.

Do Tell is in our garden (botanical) and is gorgeous. It prompted me to buy it for myself. It is sending up little pips so I am so hoping for at least one flower. I have five new plants this year and a couple that are 2nd/3rd year that haven't bloomed yet. Our spring is so promising that I have hopes of lots of blooms. Weather is supposed to get steadily warmer and of course we are getting more and more sun. Until June 21 at least. Doesn't seem fair that just as things are really bursting we are on our way down in sunlight. Shouldn't complain in the face you people down south getting SNOW!! How rotten is that!?

Mary Stella, I thought I'll get Do Tell this year - some pictures were simply awesome, but changed my mind. I noticed on some photos that flowers are inconsistent - some look almost like doubles and one of members commented that they fade. May be inconsistency related to the age of plant - I do not know. Anyway, I am thinking about getting one, but not this year.

Very cool to see everyone's progress. I always love hearing from other people who garden in the north.

We have had an unseasonably warm winter in my neck of the woods, followed by something even more unfamiliar - the season of spring. As a result the plant are over two weeks ahead of their progress last year.

I guess I never realized your flower bed was so, well, formalized. A whole lot fewer problems and nothing takes away from each plant. Sometimes I think I should just cultivate up the entire east side of my back garden, re-edge to keep the neighbor's grass out, and plant my peonies right in a row with heavy mulch around to keep out weeds. Maybe a little front row of low flowering plants. What a job that would be. I did it one year with my little rototiller but then planted with different plants. I don't think I could do it again and doubt I could talk my DH into doing it for me even if I helped by removing the stepping stones and existing plants.

Mary Stella, I did one a couple of years ago, but mine is probably 6 x 8 ft I am interplanting peonies with other plants though. Generally it is worth it and I am thinking about making new ones - may be one every few years - a lot of work involved. However I should switch from wooden beams to concrete traffic curbs - if I can find one. I saw someone doing it and I think it is great as long it is not very heavy to move...
Nick, your peonies look great and far ahead than what we have in Toronto.

Alex you are right about interplanting with other flowers. The gardens I see here with peonies, lilies, tulips, columbine, etc are just breath taking. I have one round bed almost dead center of the back yard. Used to be a putting green but DH never used it so I had it dug up and made into a flower bed. I put a small round (3x4') rhubarb bed in the middle, three bushes along an edge, a Little Lamb Hydrangea in the middle and edged in some Ajuga Bronze Beauty. The ajuga looks kind of crummy first in spring, then the green purplish leaves start to peak out and shortly they send up about 6" spires of an electric blue like small delphiniums. They last a fairly long time. They will spread but fairly slowly and you can dig clumps to start in other places. From there is goes down hill as to what is there. I did dig out a 2x3' section, dug down 1 foot to get horse tail and such out, then refilled and planted with Tangerine Avens, Lambs ears, mouses ear hosta and a coreopsis Moonbeam in the center. Slow to take off this year. I may move it all to another spot and convert that to a rock garden. lol. Never ends.

I had troubles containing Ajuga at my front lawn - with grass it is a deadly mixture. Nice flowers though if you manage to keep it from spreading. Same as lily of the valley and perennial mountain cornflower I am thinking about putting Cleopatra foxtail lilies in the future bed, but not sure how it will handle the wind.

Alexunder, I planted a mix of multi-colored foxtail lilies several years ago but only the yellows have bloomed, think my zone's a bit too cold. They stand up to wind very well, though, as well as our insane hail. So uniquely flowered, I'd recommend them!

The Denver Botanical Garden has several stands of foxtail lily.
I don't think that it is the cold as much as soil, and good drainage, which makes for success. I have one which is sending up a flower shoot for the third year.
They tend to die off after flowering, but the root is there.
I have just planted three more which had dried some, so I do not know if they will take.

Alex, you are so right on the ajuga and grass. I have the same problem with lamium that got invaded. My daughter's boyfriend is coming today to dig out the two portions of beds where just that has happened. No other solution but the dig them out, clean and separate roots and replant while vigilantly watching for any grass missed to be pulled, roots and all, at the first sign. I always rim my beds with professional edging but somehow it gets through anyway. I even use duct tape over the joints where two rolls meet but the dratted grass finds a way regardless. Drives me nuts.

I have found tiny grass slumps growing in my front bed and can only speculate that someone was spreading grass seed and it drifted into my bed. I am digging it as fast as I can before it develops deep roots. I am tempted to dig that bed up also, replant then Preen like mad to prevent germination of new seeds. Course then I cannot spread my poppy seeds. So I have to start them indoors in 6 paks and just plant each pod without trying to separate the tiny seedlings. I have a tiny pair of scissors that I use to thin the plants as trying to pull the excess seedlings just disrupts all the seedlings.

We're typically colder by aroun 5-10 degrees colder than Denver and are higher in altitude. Our bloom season is at least 3 weeks later

Altitude does make a difference.

I will do an update on pictures today now that I actually have something to show. They are still just red columns the tallest of which is about 6" but they leaves are starting to loosen up and I can see who has buds and who doesn't. Early Scout has been in my garden for three years and moved about as many times and now has a bud. And some of the newer older ones have more than one and the stems are very robust compared with last year. This spring and summer promises to make up for several really bad ones in previous years. I may even buy some sweet peas to grow up my new trellis. Soooooo happy. Been a long rather unhappy winter so this is all very welcome.

Liz, I was reading A. Harding "The Peony" and she mentions 3 inches planting depth for peonies. Considering that book was written about a century ago when temperatures were much lower may be there is a point trying something similar at your location? May be with something not too important for a starter ?

Some of her revelations are simply awesome!

" It is a curious commentary on horticultural human nature, and a fact to bear in mind, that all gardeners seem to be passionately averse to digging holes of sufficient size to accommodate properly roots of any kind without crowding or bending." Priceless!