Annette, I'm sure your neighbors know how much you care about your flowers!

One more night and then the rains return, just in time for the weekend

Unfortunately here in NC, it has been below freezing about 4 days in a row. Tonight, mid twenties with wind chills in the teens. Highs in the forties for the next week with lows in the twenties and thirties. Possible snow on Sunday. Pray for the buds on the peonies.

LG and Gary, sorry to hear about the not so nice weather further north. We're going down to 29 tonight, but we'll warm up for the next few days.

More flashlight time tonight, recovering a few plants that the wind had blown the covers off of, I left them on today.

My Sea Shell wasn't covered yesterday, and it looks fine tonight. We'll see how it does over the next few days.

This cold spell has been a real bummer, especially after that string of days in the 70s at the end of February that kick started everything in the garden growing. I don't think any of my peonies are far enough along to cause concern, except maybe for Coral Charm and Pink Hawaiian Coral- they're up 8-10".

Neal and Gary I sure hope your buds were spared.

It got down to 27° F at my place this morning. When I get home I will uncover everything so it can get some light and rain over the weekend.

I ended up putting a 30 gallon Rubbermaid storage bin over Coral Charm. I was wide and tall enough !

Thankfully I do not have any neighbors.

My herbaceous peonies are still in their pip phase so no concerns there. Only the tree peonies buds are what I worry about but some are not too far along yet. I am so sorry that temps in some of your areas got down to below 30F. I hope the cold front quickly moves on.

Neal, your Corals are really coming along fast! And you are in zone 6A.

It keeps snowing here but at least I don't have to worry about freezing growth. That is strictly a 'southern' issue I guess. According to my calendar my fish appeared in the pond (the one covered with a foot of snow right now) two weeks from now. Doesn't seem likely. I keep looking at last year's pictures and the one before which was a bumper year for snow. Hard to believe it will only take a month or six weeks for the snow to be mostly gone.

Those 2 corals always seem to be in a hurry. Last year I covered them when we had a late freeze and the plants were laying flat on the ground when I uncovered them the next morning. By the end of the day they were standing back up, and then they bloomed normally at the proper time. I was pretty astounded, but keeping that memory in mind keeps me from stressing too much about them now.

So far everything has weathered the temps well. I just remember last year we had a stretch of 4 to 5 days of low teens/single digit days that really froze every thing that had buds already. Just got to believe Mother Nature knows best.

LG, I hope all of your plants are ok, and Gary, I'm glad your plants are fine!

Mary, I can't even fathom the amount of snow you have right now!

Neal, glad to hear your CC and PHC aren't that far ahead.

Here are both of my PHC, the larger one was not covered, the smaller one was. Both are fine.



Sea Shell, that wasn't covered, is also fine.


The potted Hot Chocolate was taken into the garage, and surprisingly 2 branches were damaged.

I uncovered everything as soon as I got home today. They all looked fine, but I will give them a good inspection tomorrow.
I just cannot believe how many buds are showing already!!

It will be so wonderful to see new peony blooms of the season from all you guys in warmer zones. By the look of things, they should not be too far along now. Hope that there'll be no more frost or freeze from now on so that you all have a great blooming season.

Here are the pips on my Coral Charm. Boy, this peony is very vigorous and multiplies so much every year eventhough it is planted near the street and not in good soil.

The sun is shining here where a few months ago it would still be pitch black. And the temp has been in the low 30's. The roads are drying out and you can just see the snow mounds starting to recede. But still a long haul, at least six weeks, to see the ground itself in the yard. But it is coming.

Karen, your Coral Charm is huge, I'm looking forward to seeing your blooms this spring.

LG, I'm glad your plants are okay. We have 2 to 3 more nights of freezing next week, then it warms up.

Thanks Annette. We are in the same pattern as you. Another night to be in the upper 20's next week!
It is so worrisome went you have so many showing buds.

When do you think you will have your first bloom?

I'll hopefully have blooms starting in the next month. Last year Koukaman was the first to bloom on March 22nd. I don't think that's going to happen this year, thanks to our colder weather this winter.

Thanks, Annette. Last year my first fully opened bloom was April 8. So less than one month it starts for me!!
Unless a terrible cold front moves in!

Here is a shot Lan Bao Shi with today's snow



And my hybrid from Tree Peony Garden



Both full of buds. So far, they are ok.

Gary, I sure hope they are okay!
We are going below freezing tonight.
My Coral Charm has grown so much that it is too tall for the storage container that I used last time. I used a frost blanket tonight.

Gary and LG, I hope your plants are ok!

I didn't cover anything last night. I was too busy, cooking, and getting my son ready to head back to college in Durham, NC, he left earlier today. This morning, I noticed another stem of Hot Chocolate took a hit, and so did a small stem of TP Lavender Hill. Oh well😔! I'll have to check the rest of the plants in the garden later.

I'll be definitely covering what I can today, it's going to be even colder tonight.