Tree peonies are traditionally the first ones to open for me here in California - several weeks before the herbaceous ones.. This single red gets morning light and is always the first to open.

Very nice!! Do post more pictures as your peonies bloom.

Thanks, Diann.

Peonies are my all time favorite flowers. The single red one above blooms for only about a week and though people may wonder why I would plant something with such ephemeral blooms, but I think they are worth it. Next up blooming now is my double pink one. This one has a little more staying power - blooming over a 2 week period




Finally got a closeup that does the blooms justice

Your peony pictures are an inspiration.
Please do post more as they bloom.
Mine are not even poking through the ground yet,
and blooms won't be for another two months.

Very nice Soils! We had a major freeze here last night and Monday night and my peonies are not the happiest campers in the world. One more cold night and we'll see what happens.... Keep your pictures coming!!

Thanks Caroline and Diann.

Caroline - with your extended cold, I bet you have great peony plants.

Diann - we don't have freeze here, but we got a fairly big storm last night, and more rain tonight. Good thing I took that photo above before the rain - the flower heads are so large that they are quite droopy with all that rain.

Yes, Peonies do really well in Calgary, but we are a little too cold for most tree peonies.

This is a good time to have a tree peony discussion among the members growing them. I am sure there are others who would like to grow them but, like myself, have no idea of how to go about it. Usually, mixing all the different types of peonies together results in important tips and demonstrations being lost in the clutter. I love the pictures in catalogs featuring tree peonies because they are different from the regular peonies. Same thing applies to other peonies such as fern leaf and species type.

Good idea, Jerry. I enjoy your posting your experiences with the fern leaf and species type, and one of these days, I will get some of those.

One thing about tree peonies that I want to mention is that they are not easy to move. I had a gorgeous red one that was fine at the beginning where it was, but then the surrounding plants started to overshadow it. I tried to dig it up carefully, but did not realize how deep the tap root was and snapped it off. Needless to say, that tree peony did not survive. It would be interesting to know if others have successfully moved theirs. I am not about to experiment again.

Tree peonies are some of my favorites among all peonies! Your photos lend me inspiration. So beautiful!

Blooming in our gardens at the moment are two tree peonies, soon to be three:


Shimanishiki


Red (lost the tag)

Very nice, Larry!

Yes, very nice. I especially like the red one. I have been wanting another one since I killed mine.

Thanks, ladies!

White one just finished blooming. This one is in the backyard so it rarely gets seen. But, I am going to try a little harder this year to see if I can root some branches since I need to trim it anyway.

Have been very busy but would like to contribute to tree peonies blooming this year. Here are some lost tagged ones I have. Many were shipped wrong.

Very nice assortment, Doglover. Don't you just hate it when plants are mislabeled?

In the 5th photo of the pink TP, is the wooden structure used for support? or is it a part of something else, and you just happen to plant the TP there?

Very nice!! Soon I will get around to posting some of my Tree Peonies...

Hi Peony fans: I planted this Tree Peony 'Koukamon' in my daughter's garden in Salt Lake City about 3 years ago. It's in a terrible state with iron chlorsis as you will see in the picture. My question is, can I, and better still, should I move the plant after it finishes blooming, or wait until it is dormant in winter? It's otherwise growing, and obviously blooming! Each year it has shown a little bit of chlorosis, but never the whole plant , like this. We've been able to correct it with iron chelates but it keeps re-occurring. Her soil is heavy clay with contractor waste mixed in generously. We amended heavily with compost when we first planted the garden, and top-dress each spring (and whenever I am there visiting).

I planted the whole garden for my daughter and hubby when they bought the house. They are not gardeners, although they do try hard. So it will not get moved or cared for unless I do it. I'm visiting there next week, and will also be there for Christmas, so those are my two chances to move this plant.