Gorgeous blooms, Annette, Gary and LG! Seeing all of your lovely blooms induces some zone envy. Shouldn't be far too long for me. But still, once you see buds, you can't help but be impatient. It is really nice that peonies blooms come in different times because I can't wait to see some early bloomers.

graycrna4u said:Now that I have gone back and looked at the pics on Adelman's website, I can't tell that bloom from Apricot or Welcome. Unfortunately, I didn't label them. What does everyone think? I guess I will know when the other Sonoma itohs open.

Gary, I have 2 buds on my Sonoma Apricot. When they bloom, I will post some pics of them for you to compare with yours.

Oberon46 said:That bed has only three peonies, all early bloomers (PHC, Roselette, and Coral Sunset.). Not good planning I guess. Should have planted peonies that bloomed in succession but won't move them. Especially since Coral Sunset is only there since fall 2016.

Mary, I try to plant peonies according to color and blooming time so I would consider your bed with early bloomers is just perfect! You can plant other flowers that bloom after the peonies to the same bed if you like but for me it would be not necessary.

anyagoro said:
Mary, I try to plant peonies according to color and blooming time so I would consider your bed with early bloomers is just perfect! You can plant other flowers that bloom after the peonies to the same bed if you like but for me it would be not necessary.

I agree that your bed with early bloomers is just perfect! I had a few early bloomers interspersed among a sea of mid-season bloomers in a shrub-and-perennial border, and the early bloomers looked lost. So I moved them closer to the house and added nine more earlies in hopes of seeing greater bloom density earier in the season and closer to the house. The shrub-and-perennial border doesn't need the early bloomers; they just look strange there. Time will tell if this experiment succeeds or not.

LG, I'm glad to see that you're finally geting some blooms and they are beautiful! We also continue to get a lot of rain here , with more expected for another day. The garden is a soggy, sodden mess, and the plants that are blooming are just floppy.

Karen, thanks and you'll have blooms soon as well that I will envy!

Mary, I agree, putting the early bloomers together was a great idea, it will make the garden in that area appear more lush!

Anya and Carol, I'm looking forward to seeing your combination of blooms. Carol, I hope your experiment is successful with the plants that you move.

Yumi from this evening. Pardon my crappy pictures they were taken after 7:30 PM, and it was drizzling and misty.


Kansas with clematis Arabella intruding. This one is blooming much earlier in my left bed. The Kansas in my right bed still has tight buds, I guess the microclimate is at work in my garden


More of Lois Kelsey



Misaka


My noid white, that kinda looks like Lois Kelsey when it blooms. The package said it was Festiva Maxima. This was started from a very small root that cost < $7, that was planted in a pot, then put into the garden.


These are not peonies, but they're so pretty, I had to share.

Iris Chasing Rainbows, I'll have to figure which peony it's going to get planted next to. The buds in the background are from Bowl of Beauty.


Rose Variegata di Bologna, with the most amazing scent, is in the same bed with Raspberry Charm, that has no buds this year😔! There goes my color echo🤨!

That rose is beyond gorgeous. I have never seen one like that. How I wish we could grow roses like that; well, grow them and not have to pot them or dig them up for the winter. lol

Annette, maybe your garden is soggy but the flowers are gorgeous! And I agree with Mary that this rose is amazing! I wish I could smell it! No roses in my garden (one of my favorite flowers) and this is OK because I have peonies! I call them Northern roses

Annette, everything is beautiful despite the rain! I love seeing other flowers too!

So sorry Mary Stella and Anya that you can't grow roses up there! I had no idea!

Beautiful photos Annette! I think Chasing Rainbows would look great with one of the coral peonies- at first the beard color would echo in the peonies, then as they fade the standard color would be a close match. An apricot Itoh might work nicely too.

Thank you all for your kind comments!

Mary and Anya, I echo LG, I didn't know that you can't grow roses in Alaska😳.

Neal, you've got such a good eye for floral combinations, thanks for your suggestions!

There are some hardy roses and zone 2 roses.
The Explorer roses and the Finland rose grow here.
Well they are not as pretty, but they do grow and survive winters.

Caroline is right. There are some cultivars that we can grow that will survive the winters like those she mentioned along with the Morden roses and of course any rugosa's. But while they can be really lovely, they are not like a real tea rose or a floribundas. I do have one rose, and Austen, that I was given as a thank you by the botanical garden. Also as an experiment to see if it would survive and it did! It has been in my garden for three years and obviously likes its environment. All those at the garden died but they either left them outside in pots above ground, or buried in pots. They are almost a zone colder than I am. So who knows.

Caroline, I did know about zone 2 roses, local nursery which sells all possible hardy perennials for our region offers only rugosa's an I don't want them in my garden. One of my friends grows tea roses in pots during summer and dumps them in a big pile of leaves for winter. They survive and I am amazed with this way of growing roses. My other friend keeps roses in pots in a garage during winter and the survival rate is 50%. I love roses but this is too much for me. Once I discovered that peonies grow great here I don't need roses I don't have enough space for all of them I want in my garden so other perennials and bushes are planted where I cannot plant a peony

I had hoped to post more blooms, but the weather continues to plague me.
A nice Sunny Girl bud just rotted without opening up. Several other buds appear to be doing the same.

Here is a new one: Hope



Pink Hawaiian Coral




Fina Gardens Rose Reverence- I really like this one. It came through the bad freezes nicely

Beautiful! I love Pink Hawaiian Coral, it is on my wish list. Wonderful rose Annette, I have not seen one like that. I don't grow any roses now, got tired of feeding the Japanese beetles. I do have one miniature rose, I guess it is so small the beetles cannot find it.

LG, I'm glad that you've got some blooms. It is disheartening to see prospective blooms rot! Hopefully, with the rain going away after tomorrow, the plants will do better, especially with warmer weather coming our way.

Rose reverence is gorgeous!

Cem9165 said:LG, I'm glad that you've got some blooms. It is disheartening to see prospective blooms rot! Hopefully, with the rain going away after tomorrow, the plants will do better, esp7with warmer weather coming our way.

Rose reverence is gorgeous!

LG, so sorry that you are losing some buds from your peonies. Is Sunny Girl a first year plant? Your PHC blooms are beautiful! I hope to see mine bloom this year after 3 years of waiting. Hopefully, Bannister Gardens sent me the right one!

LG, so sorry that buds cannot make it through the rain! But those who made it are stunning! Your PHC is outstanding! Rose Reverence will be even better tomorrow

I hate to hear that you've had buds rot, LG, but those that are blooming are gorgeous! I went outside to see if yesterday's extreme cold did any damage and to take a few pics of growth and saw THAT THE TURKEYS HAVE BEEN DIGGING IN MY PEONY BEDS!!!! They didn't do a great amount of damage, did lose a few eyes, one of which was from one of my new Solaris tree peonies....Didn't have time to get out the stakes and fishing line so I grabbed a bunch of peony supports I had laying in the garage and put them over all of the tree peonies that I could, just to keep them from scratching around them even more. I'll get out there this weekend and get the beds strung up again to keep them and the deer out...
Didn't look like I lost anything to the cold, got down to 23 Monday night into Tuesday morning. Nothing below freezing is predicted for the next 10 days so maybe I'll see some good growth! And I'll post some pics as soon as I can find the cable to connect from my camera is too old, doesn't connect via wifi, and my computer is too new, no slot for the memory cards....
Meant to say--2 of my new Solaris tps have buds!!!!! Both pushed up buds first, Irene Sendler and Ruffled Pink Petticoats! IS has 1 bud, RPP has at least 2, maybe 3!!!! Neither is more than 3" high right now, though...I'll be having turkey for dinner if they break those sprouts.

Good plan, Liz! Looking forward to seeing your photos!

Liz, I'm sending the stuffing and the cranberry sauce😂! Funnily, we DID have turkey with stuffing for dinner tonight😋!

Here some bloom pics from 4/25, the only day that we've not had rain.

Blaze has the biggest blooms ever this year, and they're a hot mess thanks to all the rain this week.


Pink Firefly from Fina planted in 2014 is finally blooming. This plant was a no show for several years. It's tiny and adorable!


Columbine Dorothy Rose is blooming close by


Do Tell has also been affected by the rain


Bartzella is starting to bloom. It's looking pretty good in the bed with Sorbet, Julia Rose, Clematis Omoshiro, and the buds of Kansas intruding



Scarlet O'Hara, I'm loving the shape of this bud


Sorbet's misshapen bloom


My noid that I believe is Angel Cheeks, planted with lily Lollipop, and clematis John Warren




More of Misaka




What is supposed to be Curonne d' Or


Command Performance's 2nd bud starting to open


Georgiana Shaylor also is about to open. I'm thrilled it's not balling this year