I am in zone 6 and only have a few but have noticed some do better than other.
What are your best growers? I am looking for pink and yellow singles or semi singles. I saw Abraham Lincoln, any reports on it? THanks!

Teresa

This isn't first hand knowledge, just some notes that I made last year...

Alertie - quick growing
My Love - Blush that is a hardy, vigorous grower
Juliska - grows like mad (pink)

I did get Alertie, but just planted it this spring.

Hi Teresa! For a yellow single check out Nova, it's very vigorous. There's also one sold as Astarte by Gilbert Wild, really early and a vigorous grower but I'm not convinced that it's named correctly. Lemon Chiffon has dropped enormously in price the last couple of years, it's amazing and the breeders have been getting some fabulous seedlings off of it. All of the coral named ones are vigorous, Coral Charm, Supreme, Sunset....Abraham Lincoln hasn't been vigorous for me but we've had some really bad spring storms here the last several years.

We have a very short growing season and peonies usually develop slower than in other regions. One of my pink singles is a VERY fast grower, it is not registered, I bought it in BulbsDirect (online) as Apricot. Another good pink single grower of me is Sparkling Star (bought in Adelman's).

Blaze is really a strong grower for me, even in partial shade. That is, if you like deep red colors. I can't believe I've never posted a picture of Blaze. I'll do it this year. Here are some pics from the database.

Peony (Paeonia 'Blaze')

That is a pretty one. Lemon Chiffon Any reports on that one??

Lemon Chiffon is one of those that come up bud first. I believe that is the reason that mine has not bloomed double. I do have hope that as the peonies get adjusted to my climate they won't emerge so early, and hopefully they will bloom double. I have 5 LC plants from 4 different suppliers, and none were double this year.

Mieko2 said:I have 5 LC plants from 4 different suppliers, and none were double this year.

Ages? I'd like to get a sense of how long they have to go before they double-up and you seem to be running the best experimental station

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with Top, LG! I would love to see your Lemon Chiffon blooms from the 4 different suppliers. Are any of your LC supplier the Peony Shop? I got my LC double blooms from a root from the Peony Shop. I am anxiously waiting to see my LC blooms. I wonder if the Peony Shop LC plant will give me double blooms again this year or it was just a fluke last year. At this time, the LC from Adelman is putting out huge buds - buds even bigger than the LC from the Peony Shop.

Second on lemon chiffon! I got mine from Hollingsworth and the picture was double, but mine bloomed single. The rough start might of caused it though and I'll move it if it doesn't do well this year again.

Coral Supreme, Sonoma amethyst, and Sonoma blessing are all doing crazy well. It's my second year with the two Sonoma plants (Adelman thanksgiving sale!) and they're already 3-4x bigger than all the Itohs I planted the same time or two years before.

Well, none of them were from overseas or Hollingsworth.

One was from a nursery right here in TN. It had difficulties after last year's floods. It had a tiny little bloom and I did not take a photo.

My oldest is from 2015. It had problems because it came up very early the first year and got frozen. It is from a very reputable source.



This one was bought in 2018. From a very reputable source. It bloomed single last year and the same this year.




These last two look very vigorous and came from the same place in the Northeast in 2018.








I also have some others that are supposed to be double that bloomed single.

When is 'doubleness' determined ? In the late summer when the buds are formed or during the Spring when the buds emerge ?

Good question! I also wonder. To my very limited experience, at least in my garden if peonies lack nutrients (due to being not developed too) the flowers can be not full enough. That's why I can get singles in the first blooming season or side buds open single or semi-double. I was surprised last year that the first flower of my Kansas opened single and 2 others as doubles, I expected the opposite. I also think it depends on a variety. LG, do you have double peonies that bloom at the same time as Lemon Chiffon? Are they double?

Thanks for sharing the comparisons, LG!

I don't have an answer for your question about doubleness determination. One would think that it has a bit to do with a combination of maturity (i.e. plenty of energy for flower creation), overall health, and weather conditions.

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Anya, I had Christmas Velvet blooming at the same time , and Bess Bockstoce. I'm going to check the bloom date sequence, and see when Lemon Chiffon normally blooms. It is a + 3. Other + 3 that I have are Cytherea and Ludovica. It seems that my LC's are much earlier!

I am not going to give up hope on them. My Faithful Dream seems to be blooming at a better time and opened up two very pretty blooms that were normal.

I will be interested in seeing everyone else's LC! I hope your blooms are doubles 🤞🏻😊

I had a flower of LC from Peony Shop last year which I planted in the fall so the bid was formed in Holland. It was close to double, not sure it will bloom as a double again or at all this year.

Anya, that bloom from PS looks pretty. I hope yours will bloom again this year.

My LC from the Peony Shop blooms exactly like Anya's. In the case of LC, I think it depends on where you get the stock. The stock from the Peony Shop produces fuller and more double blooms than any other that I have seen. The other LC from Adelman blooms exactly like LG 3rd and 4th pics. LC from Adelman blooms 5 days before LC from the Peony Shop.

Thanks for your input, Karen. I look forward to seeing your LC blooms this Spring.

Nice to know about PS....I just checked and he is sold out of LC.

I am sure it will available next year, and cheaper than in US!

I just posted a question on the American Peony Society Facebook Group about when is 'doubleness' determined.

Hopefully some experts will reply and we will learn more.