In love with the impossible.

[tsubasahome]

Now that all my peonies are in the ground, I start to think of the rare ones that have alway caught my eye...and having done more research, I wonder if I should just give up on them.

I admit, I fell in love with Prairie Moon at first sight...it kind of looks like a ghost plant, with its pale yellow flowers. But I've heard that it's problematic. It grows too slowly, blooms the wrong shape and wrong color...but other people have said they love it and it's their favorite. Which is the truth? Is there some kind of climate-related difficulty that makes it hard to grow? It isn't as expensive as the other rare peonies...but I don't know if I want to wait 5 years for a plant that gives me trouble.

Goldilocks, the rare yellow bomb-shaped peony, apparently is raggy and looks like Cheddar Charm for most of its young life.

Golden Wheel, aka Oriental Gold, apparently is a complete nightmare and has died on practically everybody who planted it. Peonies die...? Not even my poor beat-up Coral Charm died.

Summer Glow, which isn't really yellow, is hella expensive for an herbaceous peony...it's allegedly a strong plant, but a slow grower. Is it really a strong plant? I don't know if it's worth risking the money.

I've love to try growing Paeonia mlokosewitschii but I can't find a source for plants OR seed. I also can't justify paying through the nose for a plant that might not thrive/bloom even with careful culture. I can justify paying that for an intersectional...because I know it will do well.

Comments

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

Have you checked if there's a peony gardening society near you? You'd be able to see the blooms at display tables, and talk to people about them. You're doing a great job with your peonies--and yes, peonies really can die, at least out here and pretty easily, out here. Some started out as much weaker divisions for me, and some of it is just sloppy clay soil that stays wet all winter. But also, they get a blight that looks like the foliage got burnt.

[tsubasahome.livejournal.com]

There doesn't appear to be anything like that in CT, but we do have a nice Chinese tree peony display garden here. It's kind of surreal. ^^

The few peonies I've seen in person that don't grow in my garden were in White Flower Farm's display garden. Most of the flowers were heirlooms that they don't even sell! ^^ That's why I was attracted to Scarlett O'Hara, though.

I've heard that Zone 5b on the East Coast is the ideal for peonies...it gets a bit hot here in Zone 6a in the summer, so the foliage deteriorates late in the season. We've got problems with botrytis but not with root rot, probably because it can be very wet here but the drainage is okay. I've found that Actinovate works really well on fungus...too bad I didn't get a bag until a lot of the peonies were already infected! It took the powdery mildew off my yellow lilac with just one application.

There are some peonies that are more susceptible to root rot than others. I've heard Buckeye Belle is bad like that. Maybe the officinalis crosses? I've found that the white peonies are a bit more tolerant to that kind of thing. Duchesse de Nemours and Moonstone(which is pale pink) went through almost the entire season without a mark on them(as did Bowl of Beauty, but that one's pink and yellow). Louis van Houtte and Msr. Jules Elie got bit by the botrytis blight pretty bad this year(thankfully, botrytis blight isn't fatal...)

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

Ah, thank yo for the reccies on varieties, that might be helpful. The blight that mine get will kill them if after they bloom (or they're too weak to bloom at all) I let it run down the stems too far, meaning I don't don't cut it off promptly when I see the first few leaves scorching and blackening. I've used Daconil in years past to help with that, but haven't been taking care of things that well in the last couple of years.