Update on all the peonies, itoh, tree and herbaceous species

One of the things I learned this year about peonies is that there is an intersectional peony which is a cross between a tree peony and a herbaceous peony which grows more vigorous that both. I find that these guys have woody stems, but also produce new eyes as prolifically as herbaceous peonies.

ITOH Peony

Here's my newest acquisition, a Julia Rose itoh peony which didn't have much root mass, but as long as it gets established in its pot, it should grow well. I planted it as deep as I could to encourage more eyes to form.

Update on the tree peonies

After 2 weeks of very warm weather with highs usually in the lower 70s and lows around 50, all the peonies have really taken off like crazy. It is only 16 days after my initial blog on peonies and some of them have gone from barely poking out to being well leafed out. Here's the link to the peony blog from 16 days ago to show the huge difference. http://stevesbamboogarden.blogspot.com/2012/03/tree-peonies-starting-to-wake-up.html

Starting with the tree peony seedlings, most of them are almost fully grown now. They might need protection if we get a late freeze.

cold hardy succulents ready to take off for spring

One of the small plants I like growing are cold hardy succulents like sempervivums and sedums because they look kind of unique and are completely hardy in zone 6. Some of the bigger sempervivum varieties are prone to getting eaten by deer, but it depends on their color and where they are planted. Planting them closer to objects like a house, bricks, or deer repellant plants can keep them away.

Sempervivums also known as hens and chicks usually start growing in the winter as long as the soil is not frozen and continue growing until the summer when the soil dries up, generally producing offsets by around May and they go dormant in the summer when the soil is too dry for them to grow. They will just sit there until around October when the soil becomes moist again, and they get a bit bigger since these are cold weather plants.

Here are some of them from my huge collection