Last summer I had seed pods on some tree peonies and Sandra Marie peony. THe seeds were nature crossed so I do no know their pollen parent. I just wanted to experiment if I would get any seedlings by sowing them in the ground directly and then covering them with a thin layer of soil. I harvested them as soon as the pods cracked and immediately sowed them. Didn't think I would get many but am pleasantly surprised. I found some seedlings growing in places that I scattered the seeds. I think about 1/4 of the seeds germinated.





Lemon Chiffon seedling from Mary's seeds. Mary, I found one germinated from the ones you gave me. Maybe more will come up later? But so far there is this one! So excited!

Karen, congratulations! Really exciting!

How very cool! I have one plant, Dancing Butterflies, that reseeds like mad, but seedlings seem to all be very like the parent plant. I found a seedling by another plant this year, Early Scout. Maybe I should try actually crossing these 2. I hope yours produce something really nice.

Congrats Karen! This will be fun !

Thanks, Anya, Nancy, and LG! I think you should go for it, Nancy! It cannot be simpler. Just make sure you harvest the seeds as soon as the pods open and then scatter them wherever you like and then scatter some soil over them. THe only set back to the method above is low germination. But anyway, I have not had much luck germinating seeds on my own, not even one so I am glad that this experiment gives me some positive outcome. I am planning to do more intentional crossing this year and will use the same method above to germinate the seeds.

Congrats on your seedlings Karen! Please share how your seedlings do over time.

Don't be discouraged by the germination rate Karen, more will probably show up next spring or even a bit later this. Congrats on your seedlings! Exciting, isn't it?!

I have to admit that the seeds I saved from LC were not as fresh as possible. I had them in a baggy for maybe two weeks before planting or mailing. I again planted some last year in pots but did so more quickly. We'll see. The poppies I planted and left in pots outside are germinating now. After I preen, and they mature a little, I will plant them in the garden. Then re-Preen around them on the disturbed soil

@Oberon46 Mary, your LC seeds sprouted one seedling for me this year. It was found 20" away from the place that I sowed them. The animals or the rain must have them away from their original place. But I am glad that I have one seedling! The poppies are doing amazing. They are still little. When is it safe for me to thin them out? Should I thin them out when they reach 1" or 2"?

I don't think I'd do anything with them until at least fall 2019, Karen. You might have quite a few more come up next spring! The roots will still be smaller around than a pencil and probably less than 6" long after another year. I left my Molly seedlings that first emerged spring 2015 in place until last fall, they are all up and doing well! Also have tree peony seedlings that emerged spring 2015 that are actually going to have a woody stem this year, whoo hoo!!! Still quite a while away from a bloom, though. Still have a couple of tp seedlings that I didn't transplant, only 1 each in a 2 gallon pot buried in the garden, as well as a couple of Lemon Chiffon seedlings from the 2014 APS convention. Also have some species and Rockii crosses from 2016 convention that came up last spring, still in the pots in the ground.
One thing that I found out the hard way is that you need to keep watering those seedlings through the summer if it gets dry, Karen. I lost several Phoenix White seedlings because the ground dried out too much--the established peonies were fine but the seedlings shriveled and died away.

Karen, regarding the poppies I just use small scissors and thin them as they grow. Generally it is survival of the fittest. Mine are just now germinating in the flats out back.

Karen, how exciting! It's up to you if you want to move them. Just take as much soil as to disturb the root as little as possible and they hardly miss a beat, especially early in the season. Water them in well and mark them in their new location.

I'm transplanting some today. So fun to look forward to the day of first unique blooms.

Congrats on your new little seedlings!

Thanks, everyone for your encouragement. It is wonderful to be able to get some seedlings from seeds. I have tried various methods but failed miserably. Except for the Lemon Chiffon seedling, I am actually going to give these seedlings away. Anya is interested in some. I am going to offer these for postage in the fall if there is any other taker. I just have no room for them at this time. I still have a bunch of daylily seeds that need to be planted and there is precious little space left. And my DH is complaining that I am taking some of his veggie bed space away for the seedlings.

Who needs a vegetable garden when that space is needed for Peonies! Your DH needs to adjust his priorities, Karen!,

I am afraid I need to take some space on a veggie bed for seedlings too

congrats on being a peony seedling mama! I have never had any of mine seed around themselves, but I may try harvesting/planting seed this year...you have inspired me.

Please tell DH he can buy perfectly fine organic veggies at the Farmers Market. You can't buy exotic peony blooms anywhere!

Peonies might be good companion plants for some veges !
Or maybe some veges are good for peonies ?

We need to experiment !

@In2Art

Welcome to the Peony forums of the NGA !

I know you guys will give me some good ideas to counter his argument for growing more vegetables. I am terrible at growing veggies! I just don't seem to get the hang of it. Most of the things I grow come out misshapen or have holes in them. Veggie growing is not as easy as it sounds. I much prefer pretty flowers though. They seem to respond to me better than veggies. Who knows? Maybe the veggies are jealous of all the TLC and love that my flowering plants get.

Linda, please give it a try. Before you know it, you may get more seedlings than you ever want.