Diane: I got Coral Sunset last fall (or so I was suppose to LOL) and your photos are just wonderful. Hope mine will bloom just as beautiful.
How old is yours? Does it get alot of blooms?
Julia - I planted Coral Sunset in Nov. 2011, so it is quite young, in my ground a little over a year. So, I am hoping it will get a lot of bloom too as it gets older.
Caroline - just to be accurate, the full name is Pink Hawaiian Coral - don't want to throw anyone off because I got lazy and just called it Hawaiian coral. The colors of the photos above are fairly true. The main problem I have with my camera is capturing the purples - purple always looks bluish.
The Itohs have also expanded nicely. Here are Misaka, Pastel Splendor and Keiko. Pastel Splendor was planted in December, and it has grown nicely and already has 2 buds. This is the 2nd spring for Misaka and Keiko in the garden.
One of my ITOHs bloom last week. It is supposed to be Singing in the Rain, but the color does not look like any photos of Singing in the Rain that I have seen - most photos are yellowish with a peachy or pinkish flush. Annette (and anyone else) Are you familiar with that variety? or did I get a mislabeled plant? (Red Charm is to the left)
Just beautiful Dianne. I dont know which Itoh that is. Did you buy it locally, or order from a nursery? If its the latter, I would email them a picture to see if they could identify your plant. The blooms are soooooo pretty.
I ordered that one from Park Seeds. I just emailed them, and it would be interesting to see what they say. I bought it in 2009, and nursed it from a tiny plant until it got to blooming size last year. I know that sometimes the first year blooms may not be indicative of the real color of some plants. This is year 2 for the blooms, and it is the exact same color as last year. While it is a lovely plant, I planted it in the middle of my reds, yellows, and oranges. That purple color was definitely not what I had in mind.
Park Seeds was very quick in responding - within a few hours. They said that it is probably "Morning Lilac." In another spot, it would be a lovely specimen, but after waiting 3 years for a bloom, I was disappointed that it was not the yellowish Singing in the Rain. It is supposed to go with the red charm and festiva maxima that I have in the same bed.
They did say to call their customer service number and ask to be compensated for the error, so I'll see what they can do. They do not have any ITOHs in stock right now, so I may just wait until the fall and see if they will send me another one then.
Has anyone seen twisted stems like this? I had some on the same plant last year but I wrote it off as too early growth hit by hard frosts. This year has totally different growing patterns.
I have not seen that happen here.
I found this pdf file and perhaps this could be a resource to look at. http://www.missouribotanicalga...
Look on page 5 regarding herbicide damage.
I do not spray any herbicides around the peonies but I have speculated the problem may be excessive growth due to over fertilization. That particular plant sits in a lower spot which could catch runoff from its neighbor. I want to dig it this fall and move it to a better location since it hasn't increased much since it was planted nearly 10 years ago. It is a really nice red or dark pink and is worth salvaging.
