All wonderful selections, Joanna! Garden Treasure took 2 years to bloom for me but it's gorgeous when it does! Seems to be the very last Itoh to bloom for the season so I'm partly sad to see it open....I had Bowl of Beauty at my last house and loved it. Got a tiny root from somewhere a couple of years ago, hasn't bloomed for me yet here. I'm SUPPOSED to have Henry Bockstoce--one of the oldest ones in my current garden and one of 3 or 4 NOID red doubles that I'm trying to figure out....maybe one year I'll have some luck!
Having more space is a double edged sword--I have plenty of room but you have to be able to weed, feed and take care of all of the plants you acquire. I'm madly trying to figure out more efficient ways to keep my beds up. Created 4 new 5X50 beds this summer that will need to be emptied and replanted later since I didn't get them done in time to raise the soil level as much as I wanted. 3 of the 4 are filled already with new peonies and ones that have done poorly in different established beds. I have 14 new peonies to plant this afternoon and will finish out any remaining space in the 4th new bed with peonies that have been poorly located elsewhere, that have too much shade or poorer soil than that in the new areas...These are the first beds that I created that I have no intention of mixing other perennials in. I put a heavy weed cloth down in hopes of minimizing maintenance on those, if it works I'll do the same for any future beds. The established beds need better edging and some need to be raised in areas that have poorer drainage--the jobs never cease!
