In the American Peony Society group on Facebook, someone referred to a recent APS Bulletin that warned against certain cultivars. The author discussed only a couple, saying that the Bulletin's info shouldn't be disclosed. Well, it's all a matter of opinion, since many comments disputed the dissed cultivars. Growing conditions in a cool, damp climate seemed to be the basis for the poster's experiences. Here is one quote from the post: "they warn against Lemon Chiffon for example as it has a poor growing habit. I've only recently added that one to my collection and it seems their opinion is in accordance with mine. The same can be said here about Pastelegance. It shows the same poor growing habit and except for the colour and flower shape I find little to recommend it." It is true that Lemon Chiffon has a bud whose petals are exposed for some time, encouraging discoloration. However, that has not been a big issue here (though I have seen the discoloration on some flowers). More of an issue in a cooler climate, I suspect. Granted too that Lemon Chiffon could stand some inches in height. The poster would not name other dissed cultivars, other than Coral Charm.

I wonder if someone else has read the APS Bulletin article and is willing to relate more information.

Mantis, here in Middletown, OH, Lemon Chiffon is one of my best growers/bloomers. I have never been able to get Lois' Choice to bloom. Pastelorama blooms it's first spring in the ground, but failed to bloom in Year 2. Jury is out still. I had a whole slew of poor growers that I got rid of this fall. My space is too limited to hold onto bad growers.

I haven't received my bulletin yet!

But the article provoked a lot of discussion and some wonderful photos posted to Facebook.

I'm not an APS member anymore, and I don't subscribe to Facebook - BUT - I do grow Lemon Chiffon (fabulous here) Pastelegance (fabulous here also) Lois Choice (even in the shade it produced tons of bloom - but I moved it this year to more sun)
and Coral Charm grows amazingly here. I should note that I do not fertilize any of my plants/peonies, ever. It's tough love here in my garden!

This will be my third year with coral charm and Lorelei in the ground. So far coral charm seems really nice - I'd meant to post this pic to show how similar they are in color when they first open. I think it's super fun to watch coral charm fade to cream - I had no idea a flower could change color so drastically, before watching it shift.

Thanks so interesting, Val. The nice thing about Facebook is seeing the peony photos that are shared. Quite a few folks share seedling photos! And right now we are seeing peony blooms from the southern hemisphere.

Zelly, I love all the peony varieties that fade. I find them to be absolutely beautiful!

That is a nice photo too !

Thank you!

With our postal strike still on-going, leaving all my new garden magazines piling up - - - somewhere, I resorted to re-reading my APS Bulletins (I have 1997 - 2019) - starting with 2019. That led me to realize I needed to join again so yesterday I subscribed. Today, with access to the on-line Bulletins, I read the last one and very quickly came across THAT controversial article. While I don't think that we should always grow the newest, or that old ones are necessarily bad, it did draw my attention to the fact that one cv (used a lot in hybridizing) tends to pass on some undesirable characteristics, and I can testify to that
Another cv that gained attention in the article, and which I grow, made me realize that I really should move it to a less prominent position and put something gorgeous there
What it didn't mention was the only peony I ever threw away for poor everything - I will only tell via tree-mail

It seems I must clarify the post above; if anyone wants to know the name of the peony I threw away for poor performance - Tree mail me. If anyone wants to know the names in the APS Bulletin (Ten Worst Peonies) then I suggest you take out a subscription as I am not telling It's well worth it!

Thanks Val for your support of the APS.

I still haven't read the article but I can't imagine it was written to be taken seriously. Just about every gardener has a plant that grows poorly for them even if they're wonderful growers for the most part and each of the plants that was given a poor rating grows well elsewhere. Everyone has their poor performer unless you're Gary Bieck, I swear that man could grow a red solo cup.

I am sure I have quite a few peonies that poorly flower in my garden but are gorgeous 400 miles to the south.

And I'm the same except you'd need to move mine 400 miles north!

Yes, Liz! I am so curious how differently your peonies perform in such a different climate! Glad you are back! You have been really busy

Busy but happy! Our new house is right at 2 hours door to door to our daughter, such a blessing to be so much closer!

So I was able to read the article above when I received my APS Bulletin . There was a few peonies that the authors pointed out as "bad" that I do not grow. Three on the list that I do grow are Lemon Chiffon, Salmon Dream, and Festiva Maxima. The author pointed out that Lemon Chiffon has a scraggly plant habit and blackened rotten stamens. A better substitute would be Vanilla Schnapps, he said. Yes, Lemon Chiffon does have its shortcomings but at least, the 2 bushes that I have in my garden reliably and consistently bloom nice flowers for me. VS maybe a good substitute in Wisconsin but it is an extremely disappointed peony for my garden. The buds are very vulnerable to late freezes and often get zapped and aborted. For the last 7 years, I have been able to see only a couple of blooms each year from this peony. And the blooms were never full or perfect. With regard to Salmon Dream, the author did not specify the peony's shortcomings. Though I can guess what they are. In my garden, the flowers of Salmon Dream often exhibited blackened and rotten stamens. It is also slow to increase. The author recommended Dreamtime which is Salmon Dream's offspring as a better and more vigorous substitute. I don't grow Dreamtime. Can anyone who grows it attest to this? As for Festiva Maxima, its stems are floppy and it is not the best white. I do enjoy its flowers and like to grow it for its historic quality and reputation for being the oldest flower still in commercial market.

Karen, your observations are spot on from my experience here. Salmon Dream is rather short and not that vigorous. I think Nate Bremer has also commented on this. Yes, Lemon Chiffon has been very reliable here. I will tolerate some blackened stamens and not-ideal plant habit, given that its bloom does not have much herbaceous competition. We all know that Festiva Maxima has floppy stems, but it is nicely fragrant here and certainly reliable. A number of us are growing Dreamtime, so I think we will get more reviews. Takes a while to let a plant establish for evaluation. There probably wasn't much said in the article that was that new, but in the Facebook post, the poster's comments about Pastelegance did raise some hackles: "I find little to recommend it."

I didn't feel that the intent of the article was to call out the "10 worst" peonies. It was more that people often gravitate to the same few popular cultivars without regard to their failings. They didn't explicitly say it, but this could result in a disappointed gardener if only a handful of peonies were grown. Of course this doesn't apply to anyone on this board, anyway.
It was a bit tongue in cheek - I believe they also commented that trying to plant every cultivar from a given hybridizer, even the not very successful ones, was not wise. Given that the APS President is doing just that, I suspect a bit of leg-pulling.

rosebudestates said: I didn't feel that the intent of the article was to call out the "10 worst" peonies. It was more that people often gravitate to the same few popular cultivars without regard to their failings. They didn't explicitly say it, but this could result in a disappointed gardener if only a handful of peonies were grown. Of course this doesn't apply to anyone on this board, anyway.
It was a bit tongue in cheek - I believe they also commented that trying to plant every cultivar from a given hybridizer, even the not very successful ones, was not wise. Given that the APS President is doing just that, I suspect a bit of leg-pulling.

Totally agree! I really enjoy the article and the flippant tone of the dialog. I am glad that they did this because it makes it less intimidating to criticize a peony's bad traits whereas before it seems to be such a taboo subject. I think what we can take away from this article is that some peonies do not perform the same for everyone's gardens. One's duds can be spectacular in another's gardens and vice versa.

I will put my 2¢ in and say that Sunny Girl has been a dud for me. The blooms are misshapened and the stems are weak. I have two plants, from different sources, and have found this to be the case with both of them. Others in long, cold winter areas do not seem to have these issues.