Hi Liz,
Do you think that the peony I got from A & D will be okay? It did not look diseased to me.
I am going to disinfect my shovels tomorrow. I only dug up one peony yesterday- the one from GW, but 2 or 3 roots broke, so sap would have gotten on my shovel. Thanks for the heads up on that disease. I googled it, and I haven't seen any peony roots looking like that.

I've had no problems with any that I've gotten from A&D but that scared me...if they dig their plants with the same equipment they could easily transfer from peony to peony. I should probably call them and get a first hand story instead of inspiring fear here, I'm sorry for that....They might've unknowingly sold it with no knowledge about the possibility that it was a Lemoine's disease carrier or they might have proof that their roots were clean, hopefully the latter. I'll try to contact them and find out, easy enough to send an email and post their response here or to call them if they don't get back to me in a reasonable amount of time.

There is a study going on (just started) on Lemoine's disease in the U.S. The botanical garden was contacted about sending in samples to be tested. You need to send 24 different plants. We shipped outs off a week ago. We have no reason to think our plants might have it. Botrytis, yes, Lemoine's no. Some large gardens are sending up to 500 samples.

Got a response to my email asking for info already:

The Alice Harding we have comes from Rijnbeek Nursery in Holland, one shipment of 50 root divisions.  These days nurseries in Holland that ship to the US   go through some pretty elaborate heat processes that are performed under the direction of the large state of the art inspection facility operated by our own USDA.
 
In the past, as I understand it, …long past…there have been some infected European roots sent to the US.   You probably heard what I heard…that in the past plants infected with Lemoines did enter the US…an entire group of them is in total containment in the University of Michigan peony gardens and aren't going anywhere.  We had Alice Harding for 4 years…we do not have any of the infected plants that arrived in US probably in the 30's or 40's or whenever.  Alice has been very hard to find until Rijnbeek offered in some four years ago.   Any infected plants were destroyed long ago in Holland and only "properly cooked' roots were replanted for future crops.
 
I doubt you'll ever see Lemoin's in your garden, unless you have traded old cultivers with old individuals who may have had access to much older stock than is available now.
 
Sincerely, Don Smetana
 

kousa said:

I buy bulbs from Van Engelen every year. Their bulbs supplier is great! Love those fall sales! Annette, can I ask what did you get for your Moonstones from Van engelen?

Karen, I don't know which peonies I got from VE. The 1st year they had white blooms, and this year, they had a hint of pink, and certainly were not doubles.

Annette, that is a gorgeous bloom. Unique!
Moonstone is readily available, so you can get another. Keep that mislabeled one for sure.

Liz, thanks for that great email. I feel much better about my roots from A & D now.

I got my order from Country Flower Gardens planted today. Joyce really sends nice roots for what you pay for them, and I have never received a mislabeled one from her.

I will be stiff as a board when I go back to work tomorrow.

Got my bulbs planted today but no peony orders in this week. Did manage to get a room painted and 3 others cleared out to get carpet laid on Friday then mostly straightened after and the Queen Anne's Lace cleared out in my front garden. Back to work tomorrow will be a break!

Would love to see pics of your "field of peonies" next year and the years to come, Liz! I think it will be so awesome.

Annette, that looks similar to mine. Did you get 3 of the same plant?

Yes I did Karen, and 2 of them have bloomed so far. Do you know what variety they are?

I sure hope so, Karen, it's been a lot of work. Still don't have the last of the edging up and the last 2 beds still have the clear plastic on them....

Received a Kopper Kettle replacement from Michigan Bulb. Not a huge root, but it does have 3 eyes.

Got the shipping notice from Adelman's for the three replacements (Mackinac Grand, Cytherea, Buckeye Belle) for plants that failed from last year (planted in 2015). Was quite pleased. I sent pictures of how healthy all the others were, even the tree peonies bloomed, so they could see that it was not due to incorrect planting. MG is an all time favorite with me so was happy to have one for the botanical garden.

I was there (ABG) taking GPS coordinates, correcting locations, etc and noticed that Bartzella, which we moved from the research bed to one of the main beds toward the entry, has 10 or so pips growing already. Really pleased with that. It made it through the winter and we moved all those that did from the research beds to the main beds.

Forgot to mention that all of my Lemon Chiffon seeds were 'sinkers' which I take to be a good sign. All seeds WILL go into the ground today.

Yes I did Karen, and 2 of them have bloomed so far. Do you know what variety they are?

Frank your Kopper Kettles are indeed rather small but hopefully they will grow but maybe not bloom for a year or so?? I love that plant. Don't know why I haven't gotten it yet. Price maybe?

My Swenson's order arrived today. I'm thrilled with the large, healthy roots, full of eyes that I received. I do believe they rival the size of the Fina roots I've received in the past.

They look great, Annette! I got mine in from the Peony Shop today, haven't opened the box yet but will get them planted tomorrow. Still waiting on Hidden Springs and Pure Peonies. Our weather has been crazed for the last couple of weeks--seems Colorado is in denial of fall this year--the nights are getting really chilly and we've had one hard frost but the days have all been fairly sunny and warm. Supposed to be in the 80s tomorrow! I'll remember periods like this with longing in March through May next spring when winter won't let go....

Thanks Liz! I've put mine in the fridge for now. It's still too warm here, with more days left with temps in the 80's here as well. These are the only peonies that I ordered this year. I have a few in pots that still need to be planted in the ground. It's also been very dry, and I'm dreading digging in our red clay.

This is the strangest, warmest weather for this time of year. I'm looking forward to the cooler temps arriving. I hope that your spring weather won't be too crazy!

Those look awesome, Annette. Hope you get blooms from them next spring. I particularly love to see blooms on your Sunny Girl.

It'll be interesting to see how it does in a warmer zone. Have any of you had good growth on any of the yellow herbaceous peonies? I think I lost Gold Mine this year, barely had any growth this spring, decided to move it since it was pretty crowded and the root wasn't as firm as I'd like....I replanted it but think it's a lost cause.