Paeonies

Not familiar with that species.  Our peony are only about 2-3" tall at this stage....June-July is our peony time.

I'm not familiar with P. mairei either... not sure how large the genus is but it seems there are many more species that I know about, I'm a newbie when it comes to Paeonia and I only have a few types.

Two Paeonia species opened recently, adter two days of warm sunny weather (82-86 F, or 28-30 C), P. japonica, and P. wittmanniana.  The general appearance of the flowers is similar, but P. japonica is a smallish delicate plant with white flowers, growing in an open shady location, and P. wittmanniana is an imposing tall brute with cream flowers, which is growing in full sun.

At last! Here are the flower of P. mairei! Some weeks later than last years.

I had one flower open today on P. anomala, which is a week earlier than last year (which was, however, a late spring) - will follow up with a pic when more open. 
I'm excited that P. mlokosewitschii (bought as a 2-year old seedling in '07, if my records are correct) has really bulked up this year and will have 3 blooms!

Hoy wrote:

At last! Here are the flower of P. mairei! Some weeks later than last years.

Trond, now that the buds on P. mairei have finally opened, they are indeed beautiful.  A number of folks on SRGC Forum showed blooms of this species weeks ago, but you are obviously in a late-spring area... looks like they were certainly worth the wait.

McDonough wrote:

Trond, now that the buds on P. mairei have finally opened, they are indeed beautiful.  A number of folks on SRGC Forum showed blooms of this species weeks ago, but you are obviously in a late-spring area... looks like they were certainly worth the wait.

I know, but I had to show that they finally opened! And the spring is much later than normal due to extraordinary cold nights for weeks.

Skulski wrote:

I had one flower open today on P. anomala, which is a week earlier than last year (which was, however, a late spring) - will follow up with a pic when more open. 
I'm excited that P. mlokosewitschii (bought as a 2-year old seedling in '07, if my records are correct) has really bulked up this year and will have 3 blooms!

I have both species and they are as advanced as yours!

I have that peony too Lori...grown from seed.  Took 4 years to reach blooming size.  5 buds this year but not as far advanced as yours...my leaves are still quite purple...probably from the cold!

I have two other species grown from seed, but the tags blew away.  One will bloom this year for the first time, the other still has no bud after 6 years!

Today P. suffruticosa rockii (from seed several years ago, now more than 40 buds!) opened.

Over the past few weeks I've had most of my peonies open. First came P. mascula, the blooms of which were truly  ephemeral. The buds opened, the winds came, then the rain, then the petals became history. 1 beautiful day. Following that was the bloom of P. veitchii, which I have had for 13 years and which is almost 4 feet in diameter. The blooms have been opening for almost 4 weeks, and today the final few are done. I got 1 bloom from my P. suffruticosa rockii, which is 4 years old. This was the first bloom, but it was beautiful! And now I've got two P. lactifolias in bloom, which I purchased from Harvey Wrightman 2 years ago, which he grew from Halda seed. This had been a particularly good year for my peonies, and it portends well for the next few years as they grow and mature.

Hoy wrote:

Today P. suffruticosa rockii (from seed several years ago, now more than 40 buds!) opened.

Wow, what an amazing bud count, Trond!  It must have been spectacular to see all through the bloom!

George wrote:

And now I've got two P. lactifolias in bloom, which I purchased from Harvey Wrightman 2 years ago, which he grew from Halda seed. This had been a particularly good year for my peonies, and it portends well for the next few years as they grow and mature.

George, both are gorgeous but the first P.lactiflora is especially stunning!  I've never seen a peony with that sort of substance to the petals.

Well, I never did get a good picture of P. anomala, which is finishing its bloom now.  Getting snowed on a couple of times did not help the its form, or that of any of the peonies, which are all somewhat splayed out now!
But anyway, here are a few to date:
1) P. anomala
2) P. officinalis 'Anemoniflora'
3) This plant, which I've assumed is a P. tenuifolia hybrid since the leaves are somewhat wider than my other P. tenuifolia, is starting to bloom.  Any thoughts as to its ID?  Edit:  P. intermedia?
4) A freebie out in the front yard, which came along with a daylily we ordered... guess I should be able to figure out its lineage from the leaves.

And... P. mlokosewitchii, starting to bloom:

Your Paeonia anomala, Lori, looks very much like what I saw last June in Kazakhstan, although the form in the Altai is usually a bright magenta. My form is also a softer pink: it has a huge range and I suspect varies quite a bit over that range.

Your mlokosewitchii looks even brighter yellow than mine. I blogged recently about our peonies (at the Gardens and my house):

http://www.botanicgardensblog.com/2010/05/29/let-us-now-praise-peonies/

P. mlokosewitschii flowers are history but here are some others: (The name of the Chinese plants are unknown)

Trond, all those paeonies are beautiful, but the unnamed Chinese one really captures my attention.  Did you grow it from seed?  What's the source?  Have you tried keying to the Flora of China, if you believe it to be a wild plant and not a cultivated hybrid?

And, for Panayoti... while you consider which movie star beauty with which to compare its "billowy charms" (great description!  :) from Panayoti's blog: http://www.botanicgardensblog.com/2010/05/29/let-us-now-praise-peonies),  here's another P. tenuifolia.  The fact that this one is a buxom, double-flowered form must be taken into account... (Hmmm, I'm tempted to suggest Jane Russell - loved her in the role as the smart, wise-cracking pal in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.  Or, if we're going for more refinement, Rosalind Russell - not so buxom but absolutely brilliant and hilarious in His Girl Friday. :D  Is it obvious that I grew up in the movie theatre that Dad ran?  But I digress... back to peonies!  :) )  

McDonough wrote:

Trond, all those paeonies are beautiful, but the unnamed Chinese one really captures my attention.  Did you grow it from seed?  What's the source?  Have you tried keying to the Flora of China, if you believe it to be a wild plant and not a cultivated hybrid?

I have not yet tried keying the plants. It is the first year with such well developed flowers. Last year the flowers were small and rudimentary.
If I remember right (I have told you before, Mark, that I am not good in keeping records of my plants!) I bought the plants as small roots from a Chinese nursery (Chen Yi, you probably have heard of it) some years ago.

Hoy wrote:

If I remember right (I have told you before, Mark, that I am not good in keeping records of my plants!) I bought the plants as small roots from a Chinese nursery (Chen Yi, you probably have heard of it) some years ago.

Well then, buying from Chen Yi says something and rules out certain possibilities... your Paeony is almost certainly of wild origin (all her stuff is wild collected >:() thus your Paeony being a nursery hybrid or cultivar can be ruled out, and nearly 100% of stuff she sends out is misidentified... the only thing to count on is... it is indeed a "species from China", and as such, one needs to go through the keys and check the identification regardless of what name it was sent under.  Or, just enjoy it as Paeonia sp. China.

McDonough wrote:

[Well then, buying from Chen Yi says something and rules out certain possibilities... your Paeony is almost certainly of wild origin (all her stuff is wild collected >:() thus your Paeony being a nursery hybrid or cultivar can be ruled out, and nearly 100% of stuff she sends out is misidentified... the only thing to count on is... it is indeed a "species from China", and as such, one needs to go through the keys and check the identification regardless of what name it was sent under.  Or, just enjoy it as Paeonia sp. China.

I read about her wild collected plants in our bulletin last year (?)  after buying twice and have not bought from her since. I do not think the peonies had a name either, just a description.
But thinking of it, it is a (small) possibility that the plants are from seed gotten from HPS (Great Britain). Have some other plants from that source.

Even being a little disappointed about the plants origin, I enjoy the plants!

Hey, it's still peony season here in the northern hinterlands!  I've got a couple that haven't even bloomed yet.

My last peony has still two flowers but I think they won't last the week out.

I have 15 seeds of Paeonia mlokosewitschii (picture). Too few to sent to seedex. Anybody who wants them?

Peonies have lovely flowers but I wish they would last longer...such large plants for so little bloom time makes them unsuitable in my small garden. However, I have grown some from seed at work.  Paeonia mlokosewitschii does well (I also have seed but too few for the seedex's) and P. mollis bloomed for the first time this year.  I have yet to see blooms on P. veitchii.

Todd wrote:

Peonies have lovely flowers but I wish they would last longer...such large plants for so little bloom time makes them unsuitable in my small garden. However, I have grown some from seed at work.  Paeonia mlokosewitschii does well (I also have seed but too few for the seedex's) and P. mollis bloomed for the first time this year.  I have yet to see blooms on P. veitchii.

Todd, I see your point, particularly with species such as P. japonica that have flowers that last only a day or two.

In addition to flowers, many species have fanciful seed pods, opening late in the season to reveal showy clusters of fleshy seed, bright red infertile ones and plumped up blackish fertile ones. I was touring a garden recently, and the "fruits" on several paonies stopped visitors dead in their tracks.  Some paonies do indeed look quite ordinary in foliage, others are gorgeous in foliage.  And lastly, some have attractive fall foliar color.  I have a couple common P. lactiflora hybrids that turn a warm orange color in late summer, lasting for a couple months in this stage.

Fall color for a couple months!? 
If that happened here, I would think there was something wrong with the plant... 

RickR wrote:

Fall color for a couple months!? 
If that happened here, I would think there was something wrong with the plant... 

Yup, with this particular variety, named 'Koningin Wilhelmina', the foliage turns light orange in the summer, especially when it is hot and dry... it has looked this way since mid summer.  Just ran out to check my label, I planted this in 2004, and this one always colors up this way.

Interesting color, Mark, of 'Königin Wilhelmina'! Does it get real fall colors?
Anyway, it is an interesting plant. Most peonies are dull when out of flower.

Here are the pseudo-seeds on Paeonia mlokosewitschii..the real seeds blew off during the hurricane.

Peony season is in full swing here in the Southern hemisphere.
The first is one we've grown (in Australia) as Paeonia mascula ssp russii but there is a suggestion that it's actually P. kesrouanensis. Not looking the best this year, but that rose may have to go!

The next is Paeonia cambessedesii which I grew from seed.
cheers
fermi

Lovely, Fermi!  A reminder of what to look forward to.
By contrast, the state of peonies here... so much interest throughout the season!

Peony time!
Here are some, mostly unknown from seed - some are possibly hybrids.

Very nice, Trond.  There  are none in bloom in my yard yet.

Everyone who hasn't should see this, from the SRGC site!
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6964.msg201588#msg201588

The weather here has been atrocious, more like the Falklands than Massachusetts, and my first peony to open, P. mascula, lost it's flowers to the rain before I had a chance to get a decent picture. My P. veitchii, which I've had for 14 years, is in full bloom and because it's flowers are nodding, it has survived the rain well, and is looking absolutely superb. Over the next few days, assuming we'll actually get some sun, most of my other species peonies will be opening, and I'll post some photos as they do.

Gorgeous, Peter!  People talk of the value of lawns for "setting off" plantings but I think a sand bed does just as well, and with much greater interest!

I am always confused by P. rockii... is it a tree peony, or a herbaceous one?

Skulski wrote:

Gorgeous, Peter!  People talk of the value of lawns for "setting off" plantings but I think a sand bed does just as well, and with much greater interest!

I am always confused by P. rockii... is it a tree peony, or a herbaceous one?

P. rockii is a tree peony!

Finally... an unknown from the front yard:

Skulski wrote:

Finally... an unknown from the front yard:

Good foliage, Lori.... and the flower seems promising too.

More colourful foliage, Maggi, on a named cultivar whose name I have, unfortunately, lost:

P. mlokosewitschii will have 5 flowers this year!

The unusual pointy buds of P. veitchii (unusual to me at any rate  :)):

Lori, your first peony reminds me of one that my grandma had in her garden!
Molly-the-witch looks very healthy.

Maybe my unknown peony is a veitchii?

The P rockii-type has about 40 buds but not all open simultaneously. The flowers last for less than a week even in this cool weather we have now - but the rain crush the huge flowers.

Left picture shows two plants from the same seedbatch, they are a little different but clearly of the same parentage. The right picture shows a plant I rescued from an old neglected garden in Oslo many years ago.

This was labelled as Paeonia japonica... do you think it is?  If so, it should have white flowers.  I'm not sure the leaves are correct.

Doesn't look quite right to me, but when it flowers, we should know better.  Here's a shot of my P. japonica from 2010.

The same unknown from the front yard (a hitchhiker with a daylily order, some years ago)... looking rather like the subject of a Redouté painting...

Paeonia anomala, starting to bloom... soon to be followed by a few others!

The unknown one is very nice, Lori! You have to take care of it! BTW I thought Redouté painted roses? ;)

Well, he painted lots of roses but not strictly roses...
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&q=redoute%20paint...

I don't really think it needs any special care at all (none of them have got any to date) - herbaceous peonies seem to be pretty well indestructible, aren't they?

I realize that peonies are probably done blooming in most of the northern hemisphere but here goes...
The first flower open on P. mlokosewitschii:

P. officinalis 'Anemoniflora' (I've always wondered about this cultivar name?) in bloom:
 

What I assume now to be P. intermedia(?) (from the ID of Anne's plant at the SRGC forum); this name is a bit confusing though, as it seems to be used for quite a different plant in Halda's Paeonia... ?

Lovely Paeonies everyone, I should grow more of these as I'm a big fan.  One that just finished up is 'Buckeye Belle', a shocking deep red one.  This year the plant is smaller than last year, and with fewer blooms, I believe showing the effect of last summer's draught on a number of plants that seemed weakened this spring.

Okay, not done blooming yet!  Excellent!  'Buckeye Belle' is an exquisite colour, Mark.

My hybrid Peonies are just beginning to bloom, but all the species except one have gone by. The one that IS blooming, P. lactifolia, is spectacular, and I think it's the best one I have. I have two plants, each 4 years old, and the one in the slightly raised western portion of my rock garden has been blooming for 4 days. The flowers are so bright that I've had difficulty photographing them and given my utterly primitive level of skill, I'm not sure I'll be able to take any decent photos, so these will have to do. The first is from yesterday, and the second photograph is the 2nd plant blooming last year, because it's still waiting to show its stuff this year.

Wow!!  :o :o  I don't have any that are so brilliant as that!  Stunning!

That's a beauty Peter! Need to wear sunglasses looking at that day-glo pink. 8)

One that bloomed a couple weeks ago is Paeonia wittmanniana.  The flowers are nice but not that showy; the foliage is bold and heavy-textured, I like it better for the foliage than the the flowers that only last 2 days.  Here again, fewer flowers this year, no doubt set back from last year's summer drought.

Well, Lori, your assumed intermedia is a lovely plant whatever the name be.

Mark, that 'Buckeye Belle' has a brilliant colour!

Peter, I think you do fine taking pictures in full sunshine isn't easy. And the motif isn't bad either ;D

I think I have to look for more deep coloured forms. When I see all your nice plants I realize mine are bleak :(

I grow a number of species paeonies and I think the highlight in the garden is P. tenuifolia, probably the most requested species on the nursery. Did anyone grow plants from Jim and Jenny Archibald? Jim had a fantastic collection planted out in one of his polytunnels, including the extraordinary and rare P. parnassica with purple flowers like no other. I didn't buy seed but it was a lost opportunity. Another grower I know with a passion for these plants is Robert Pardo in France, where there is a big interest, and probably good climate, for growing tree paeonies - but he also grows many species and gave me P. mairei, which I hadn't come across before (as well as a very generous gift of P rockii). Gardeners are great people!!

I only have P. tenuifolia 'Plena' (though I'd prefer to have the single form, actually) - unfortunately, its flowers have been somewhat spoiled by rain this year:

The first flower on P. veitchii has opened - interesting that the flowers are nodding, unlike on my other peonies:

Here is the mislabelled P. japonica... the leaves seemed to be "off" and I assume the pink flowers (vs. white) further confirm that it is not P. japonica.  Can anyone suggest an ID for it?
 

Interesting that you mention nodding flowers on veitchii, Lori. One of my unknown species has nodding flowers and I assumed it is a veitchii. Now am more certain of that.

Although your tenuifolia 'plena' is lovely, I do agree and prefere the single form. Unfortunately I have never acquired any :(

Unfortunately, my double form of P. tenuifolia is incapable of producing viable seed, so I can't send you any even of that, Trond.

I did dig up some seedlings today of P. officinalis 'Anemoniflora' to pot up to give away - I thought they looked sort of interesting:

Thanks for the thought Lori!

I dig up several of seedlings from my P. lutea and do use the mower of the rest of them!
Here is a late flowering type peony not unlike P. delavayi but yellow.

My kind of botany, Lori...

Typical hypogeal growth, where the root develops first, and then the root (not the seed) sends up a true leaf.

Ah ha, I thought there was something interesting about the shiny black seed still being attached!  Thank you for the explanation, Rick!

Peonies germinate like the common peas! The cotyledons have taken the role that the endosmerm has in many other seed.

Paeonia caucasica:

Has anyone successfully grown Paeonia cambessedesii in a zone 5 or 6 part of the world?

Peter, we have grown P. cambessedesii in zone 3/4, in a sand bed, for a few years. Before that we got one through one winter in ordinary well-drained garden soil and then lost it.
Sharon, near Thunder Bay Ontario Canada

I planted some Paeonia cambessedesii seed from NARGS this year.  Hopefully, they will make it....

Hello Sharon (and Rob)!  Welcome to the forum, and so nice to have you here!  Don't hesitate to regale us with your great garden know how and wonderful photos.  Our Chapter still remembers fondly their trip to you place, and your banquet presentation oh so many years ago... :)

I always enjoy seeing the different appearances of emerging peonies ...
Paeonia intermedia:

Paeonia mlokosewitschii:

Looking like muppets, Paeonia tenuifolia 'Flore Pleno':

Just a single pic of an old peony.
This plant I saved from an abandoned site many, many years ago. It did grow in my parent's garden till last year (had grown to a very large clump though). Now the house is sold so last fall I saved a piece and planted at our summerhouse. So this is the first flower on its new place ;D
I believe it is P. veitchii.

Hoy wrote:

...........................I believe it is P. veitchii.

I notice no one has given an alternative suggestion Trond.

Lets try to to open discussion. Here is what I bought some years ago with the label "Paeonia anomala???" Since it got to flowering size I have posted pictures of it annually on the SRGC Forum with comments made that it is P. veitchii and sometimes P. anomola ssp veitchii. Looks a lot like like yours!

David, it looks very similar to mine. My plant also fits the description given by Phillips and Rix in their book on Perennials. However, I have another one very similar but smaller and even more nodding in bud and flower bud with the same spreading habit. It's from seed and I suspect it is a form of veitchii too.

Here are a few photos of peonies in my garden. P. delavayi, mascula, and mlokosewitschii were seed grown.  While still not a very nicely formed flower, P. delavayi is getting better each year.  P. suffruticosa was purchased as a yellow tree peony but turned out to be much, much nicer.  The white hybrid was a named variety but I've lost the name.

David, this is what I think is a P anomala. (From seed 2009) The buds and flowers are more upright than veitchii.

Claire, a very impressive "Molly-the Witch"!
P delavayi is very variable. Here are other forms from seed:

I'm surprised, given the climatic differences, that your peonies seem to be blooming at the same time as mine, Claire and Trond!  

Here are a few from my garden.
Paeonia officinalis is really nice this year:
   

Paeonia intermedia (or so it seems, from a determination over at the SRGC forum):
   

What I have as P. veitchii seems to match yours, Trond and David:
 

P. 'Peter Barr', starting to bloom:
 

And, by the way, Claire, it was such pleasure to see your garden while at the WWS - it was just spectacular!  (And I was also deeply impressed by your perfect recall of every plant's name and history.  Though my memory was never so good as that, I hope to regain what little I had someday!)  Thank you for showing your garden, and it's great to see you here!

Unknown Paeonia... it came as a seedling in the roots of a daylily I ordered long ago.  (I like it a lot more than the daylily!)

P. tenuifolia 'Flore Pleno' again... this weekend has been quite nice and sunny, but it's been so gloomy lately that the flowers seem to have balled somewhat.  Still an eye-catcher though - passersby often ask about this plant.

P. mlokosewitchii:
 

Hoy wrote:

David, this is what I think is a P anomala. (From seed 2009) The buds and flowers are more upright than veitchii.

Mine is very much nodding like your veitchii Trond. The leaves on mine are quite divided too, again like your veitchii. Picture below. I think I'm convinced enough now to amend my label.

Hoy wrote:

Claire, a very impressive "Molly-the Witch"!
P delavayi is very variable. Here are other forms from seed:

Here's my grown from seed Paeonia delavayi. The seed came labelled as P. delavayi forma lutea but I think it has some angustiloba blood in it.

I would wonder if that isn't a P. delavayi x P. lutea ludlowii, David, to give that orange shade to the flower.
Rather nice.

You could well be right Maggi. As I said the seed was labelled Paeonia delavayi forma lutea and at the time I posted the pic I wasn't aware that P delavyi was a red shade, hence my assumption that there might be angustiloba blood in mine. Still, it's a pretty thing and now it's released into the garden I look forward to more flowers next year. I also have P. delavayi forma angustiloba from seed which I hope will also flower next year.

Isn't both P. delavayi and lutea lumped together in P. delavayi (P. delavayi var delavayi and P. d. var lutea)?
I once had the "real" dark red P. d. var delavayi but it died several years ago. However it had crossed with P. d. var lutea and now I have several offsprings, some reddish and some yellow but none deep red. I also have another plant with red-striped yellow flowers but none are orange like David's.

I've just had a look at The Plant List Trond and synonyms of Paeonia delavayi are shown for the following, as well as some others:-
P. d. var angustiloba
P. d. forma lutea
P. d. var. lulea

By the way P. veitchii is now shown as synonomous with P. anomola ssp. veitchii.

A lotta lumping going on out there ;D

You have some nice colours there. Mine is flowering for the first time so it will be interesting to see if it changes much next year.

Seeds forming on P. veitchii:

P. caucasica... or so the label said, anyway; it seems an unusual colour if so?
 

It really is an unusual colour of your peony, Lori. It could be a  caucasica or a hybrid maybe :-\

Here is a cross between a yellow delavayi and a red one. Usually they're either red or yellow. Picture taken today: