Peony update, almost fully leafed

In the last post, all the peonies were just waking up, but it has been 4 weeks since then, and they are almost fully grown for the year. Peonies tend to make almost all their growth before June which is when they typically flower.

Here are a few Japanese tree peonies which are noticeably larger and healthier than they were last year so most of them shouldn't be relying on their herbacous nurse roots anymore.

Some of them have flower buds already on their 2nd year as grafted plants.

The Itoh peonies appear to be exceptional performers despite being only 1 eye fragments last spring. Many of them are already loaded with flower buds this year.

There are plenty of itoh peony buds on a lot of them, but you really have to zoom in to see them as they are still covered up by the leaves.

My peony bed is really filling in. There aren't that many blooms this year, but next spring, there should be blooms on most if not all of them in this bed.

3rd year tree peony seedling up front, 4th year grafted kinshi Japanese tree peony middle, mature herbaceous peony back, and 2nd year tree peonies on the sides.

Another angle

3rd year tree peony seedling

That 3rd year tree peony seedling in the front is already developing its flower buds to go to flower next year. After growing peonies for a while, it is pretty easy to tell which buds are likely going to flower the following year.

Here are some typical 2nd year tree peony seedlings

All the smaller 1st year seedlings are marked with chop sticks so they are easier to locate.

The herbaceous peonies are still the biggest at around 3ft, and close to flowering, but the tree peonies can eventually surpass it. Here's a closer look at one of the herbaceous peonies.