I was thinking of the same thing! Though the flowers are very double and a beautiful bright yellow, I think that Alice Harding's flowers presentation may not be as nice as Sonoma Yedo. From Craig's pics, SY appears to have strong stems which provide better support for the heavy flowers and they also bloom above foliage.

Karen,
Yes, the stems on YeDo are very strong with no support required. They were very visible as well, just an all around fantastic itoh!🙂

I just got YeDo from Adelman's this year, saw it growing first on shrub at Henry Chotkowski's garden and it was AMAZING. I have Alice Harding and it is a gorgeous bloom but maybe needs support doesn't even come close—-every single bloom tilts down. Carol Adelman suggested planting it somewhere that it will be at eye level which is what I did, it's on a 3' retaining wall adjoining our back yard, very happy with it in that situation since the droopy flowers are perfectly situated. I agree the flowers are just as pretty as YeDo but you really need the right spot for it. I now have all 3, YeDo this year, Halo for a few years and Alice Harding for around 5 years. Halo bloomed beautifully first year, didn't bloom at all 2nd year (Mother's Day weekend blizzard that year) and lost buds and almost all foliage in the May hailstorm this year. REALLY hoping for a better bloom season next year!

I look forward to see blooms from your SH, SY, and AH, Liz! My hope and wish regarding the weather for your area is the same as yours!

The pinky one is Julia Rose; the yellow is border charm.

Very nice, Agapanthus! I hope you are on Planet Peony on Facebook. The peonies in Australia and New Zealand are blooming right now, and I am drooling over them!

kousa said:Keiko is a beauty! I have heard great reports from everyone who grow it.

She truly is lovely, even though I call her 'Pink Double Dandy', having bought it before the Monrovia era..

Being an itoh lover, I truly enjoy all your photos. Getting hold of the new sorts is not easy in Europe, most of them will probably never reach us. I have about 54 different kinds of itohs (and a Bartzella hedgerow - a great idea which I hope more people will copy!) Stella Blue and his collection are a huge inspiration for me - thanks! Here 'Strawberry Blush', 'Sonoma Welcome', 'Gordon E. Simonson' and 'Love Affair'.

LeenaSweden said:Being an itoh lover, I truly enjoy all your photos. Getting hold of the new sorts is not easy in Europe, most of them will probably never reach us. I have about 54 different kinds of itohs (and a Bartzella hedgerow - a great idea which I hope more people will copy!) Stella Blue and his collection are a huge inspiration for me - thanks! Here 'Strawberry Blush', 'Sonoma Welcome', 'Gordon E. Simonson' and 'Love Affair'.

Wow, I really love GES's color! So gorgeous! Does Love Affair get fuller than this pic?

Wow, Leena! Beautiful pictures, beautiful peonies! I also like original names not commercial. It's probably not so bad if only the best Itohs reach Europe, many look alike and some have distorted flowers. Your collection is wonderful!

There was a 7.0 earthquake in Anchorage, AK, where Mary, @Oberon46 lives.

I've sent her a tree-mail to make sure she's okay. Anchorage is also under a tsunami warning. Praying for the safety of all the people that live there!

Glad to see you here, dear Leena! I love following your Swedish Peony Society Facebook page. It is fun to see different areas' peonies.

I'm glad you love Itohs like quite a few of us on this Forum do.
Please continue to share photos with us to get us through the winter months. !!

That's true, I work at the Earthquake center right now processing earthquakes (until January). Tsunami warning was canceled. There are damages in Anchorage but fortunately no reports on injuries, at least so far...

I am glad to hear that Anya! Hope Mary, her family and other residents in Anchorage are well and safe.

Mary replied to me, everything is OK, small damages in house. Another my friend replied also they were fine. Amazingly with so much damage in total there are no reports on casualties.

Glad to hear Mary is okay, sorry to hear about the damage to her home. And, I'm glad that there are no casualties.

Thanks for the updates, Anya! Glad everyone is okay and the tsunami warnings were cancelled.

So glad Mary's safe! Thanks for letting us know.

So glad to see you here Leena, looking forward to seeing more of your amazing peony pics!

So glad to hear that Anya and Mary are safe, hope you all recover quickly from this and the damage is minimal.

Beautiful photos Leena and so glad to see you back and looking forward to seeing your photos again.

littlebin said:Halo, Yedo compared to Alice Harding at Adelman's flower exhibition:

Halo at the flower bed of Adelman.

Semi-double of Yedo (back) with Lemon chiffon (front) and other peonies (Flowers from this year's APS exhibition):


Frankly speaking, I am not much into Halo, I feel its flower is too flat, like a big plate and a bit too shrinked.

I really like Alice Harding. I think it is a wonderful TP.