Peony Count 2012

[tsubasahome]

Here are last year's numbers:

Green on White Jade Tower: 7
Blue Butterfly: 3
Moonstone(planted last year): 3
Philomele(planted last year: 0, but it looks fairly healthy.
Cheddar Charm(planted last year): 1
Louis van Houtte(planted 10 years ago): 39
Coral Charm(planted 3 years ago): 0, got the funk.
Duchess de Nemours(planted 3 years ago): 50
Paula Fay(planted 3 years ago): 1
Bowl of Beauty(planted 7 years ago): 19
Coral Supreme: (planted 7 years ago): 9
Msr. Jules Elie: (planted 8 years ago): 70
Bartzella(planted this year): 0, but it looks really jazzed.

And this year's:

Green on White Jade Tower: 13
Blue Butterfly: 12
Moonstone: 9
Philomele: 2
Cheddar Charm: 6
Louis van Houtte: 43
Coral Charm: 0, still alive.
Duchesse de Nemours: 67
Paula Fay: 4
Bowl of Beauty: 32
Coral Supreme: 11
Msr Jules Elie: 76
Bartzella: 0, but it got huge.

And the new peonies:

First Arrival: 2
Salmon Dream: 3
Lorelei: 1
Scarlett O'Hara: 0
Coral Sunset: 2
Buckeye Belle: 4
Minnie Shaylor: 1

Shocking!

Comments

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

Wow, Duchesse looks like it's a massive plant!

[tsubasahome.livejournal.com]

It used to be so petite, too! I'm normally kind of iffy about the heirloom peonies, as they tend to have overlarge flowers and weak stems, but the Duchesse is pretty impressive. Maybe that's why it's still in commerce. It also seems to have some kind of resistance to botrytis blight.

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

Resistance to blight would be helpful around here, too.

[tsubasahome.livejournal.com]

The ones in my garden that seem to have the best resistance are the Duchesse, Moonstone, and Bartzella. Moonstone is incredibly tough, even though I was bad and let it pop 3 flowers in its first year. Bartzella went through a very wet 2011 with spotless leaves until October, even after pretty much everything else went funky.

Buckeye Belle seems to have issues with blight. In fact, I think all the hybrid herbaceous peonies have issues. It must be what they're crossing them with to get the red/coral color. It's too bad that with the exception of the intersectionals, nobody really seems to be breeding for disease resistance, only stem strength and color.

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

Ahh, thank you, good to know. I get into occasional spazzes (when I'm willing to redig beds or fill up pots) every five to seven years, where I must buy more peonies!