Search This Blog

Friday, May 18, 2012

Peony blooms

 I don't have that many of them at blooming size yet, but generally tree peonies have the largest blooms, and herbaceous types have the smallest blooms. Itoh or intersectional peonies should be somewhere in between.

Kinshi Tree peony







Keiko Itoh peony: One interesting thing about this species is that the flowers start out with a very bright pink tone, but after they are open for enough days, their coloration will fade to almost a white while the center stays pink, and petals completely open up. Buds also seem to mature at different rates making for a longer blooming season than herbaceous peonies.

























They tend to close up when it starts getting dark

Herbeceous pink and white peonies






4 comments:

  1. Were all of those pink ones the keiko? I'm trying to choose 4 itoh peonies and am really struggling. What are your favorites? I'm thinking of Cora Louise, Misaka, Tamara and Callie's memory. Also you buy on eBay. Have you had any trouble? I've purchased many things on eBay but never plants.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes.

      The only one that has bloomed has been the Keiko so far, but they are very rewarding with a nice long bloom time, and changes in color/ form. I bought them from macao2000, and he sells very good sized tubers. The only problem I've had is when people send non-dormant newly divided plants with little root mass. The most important thing to consider with these is that they are DORMANT and that you get them in the spring.

      Here's the other blog on the itoh peony purchase. http://stevespeonygarden.blogspot.com/2012/05/unpacking-new-itoh-peonies.html

      Delete
  2. I will look that seller up. How long did it bloom? I've heard anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months. Thanks. I read both posts. I don't think I'm brave enough to divide. I'm a veggie gardener. This is my first venture into flowers. It's fun though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. From start to finish took around 3-4 weeks for keiko to bloom which is pretty long for peonies.

      It's safer to let them get nice and big and then divide however I've been propagating stuff for years and have a pretty good idea of how to get all the pieces to survive. They happened to all survive and I ended up giving some away.

      If you really want to speed up their growth rate, try using an earth box. I bought the materials at home depot to build my own 35 gallon earth box to experiment on one of my bhut jolokia hot pepper plants to see how much it can speed up the growth on a plant.

      Delete