I am so excited seeing my peonies putting up new growths and some have many buds this year. The weather looks to be really good for the next 2 weeks so hopefully we are safe from late freezes. I planted some peonies Fall 2022 but did not see blooms in 2023. I am seeing most of these peonies are putting up buds this spring. How are your new peonies growing? How far along are your peonies? Please post some nice looking growths.

This is Roselette. It is such a reliable bloomer. It puts up many blooms every year. Love its deep reddish purple foliage too.


Tranquil Dove planted in Fall 2022 but did not bloom last year. It is showing 3 buds this year. I am really looking forward to seeing the peony's blooms.


Vanilla Schnapps is showing many buds! If we don't have any more late freezes, I hope they will bloom as nice as Nick's plant.


This is a seedling from Carnation Bouquet X Lemon Chiffon. It bloomed single but it bloomed very very early. It was the first peony to bloom in my garden last year even before the early tree peonies. I am watching it to see if it blooms this early again this year.


I finally divided my Pastelegance last fall. I got 3 divisions out of it. I was afraid that the divisions may suffer from division shock and not put up buds this year. But it seems that the divisions are doing very well. All of them are putting up buds. Here are pics of the two divisions.

Wow! Beautiful foliage! So exciting!

Your peonies look like they're going to put in an amazing show this year, Karen! Looking forward to the pics!
Nate told me once that Pastelegence is a very robust grower and divider, this was after I'd replaced mine that didn't survive the move to AL. Wonder if, under the right conditions, it's adventitious? Keep an eye out around the original site of your planting, see if it seems to come up like multiple plants. It is such a gorgeous bloom and plant, so glad the division I have in AL seems to be increasing at least a bit. I still have to replace Pastelorama, it was a victim of the move.

I spent Saturday and Sunday weeding the cottage peony beds and am relatively encouraged by what I'm seeing so far. This and the last spring have presented situations that I've not encountered before—I had 3 peonies planted fall 2022 that did not emerge at all last spring that did come up this year! White Innocence from Solaris, Valkyrie from Lyndaker Farms and Sonoma YeDo—purchased from Adelman's Black Friday sale and planted early Dec which was srill gorgeous fall feeling planting weather in AL. Also got Elizabeth Black that fall and it emerged super late, like June/July after everything else had bloomed! So 2 herbaceous and 1 Itoh from 3 different growers…knew growing them in such a hot zone would be challenging.
Sharing a few pics, mainly Itohs this time, of the growth I'm seeing. The plants are increasing slower in AL than they would in a cooler zone, but I'll get used to that.

Bob. This plant was barely holding on when I moved it from CO to AL. It went from a sad, barely there plant to 3 buds on what looks like a 2nd year plant in 4 years in the ground there. If it sounds like I'm whining I really am not, I'm happy with the growth! Now that I'm living in the same state I'm hoping to experiment with shade cloth in the summer to reduce soil temps, maybe work on getting more root growth, but if that doesn't work I'll gladly put up with plants that mature in 7 or 8 years rather than 4 or 5 to be over with Mother's Day, or some years Father's Day, weekend blizzards!


The Sonoma YeDo that did not emerge last spring. I'd say it looks pretty good for one that rose from the dead!


Caroline Constabel was rescued 2 falls ago from the weed bed. She has buds this year and seems to be recovering well from her blackberry jungle adventure.

Everything is looking good Liz! It's very interesting to hear about root divisions skipping a year. That hasn't ever happened for me, but my place stays so wet in the winter.

Your peony growth looks really good Liz! Bob is one I particularly love to see its blooms. I can't wait for your pics of them. I am glad to hear that the peony roots you planted late 2022 finally put up growth this year in spite of going dormant the whole 2023 year. Those are certainly pleasant and nice surprises! Any peony that rises from the dead is always welcome! Yes, I will definitely watch out for any adventitious growth from Pastelegance.

LG, it seems each place has its own challenges for growing peonies. I hope this year's wet condition is not as bad as last year's.

This year, I more excited than last year because I will be seeing more new faces in the garden that did not bloom last year. Among the new blooms in my garden will be Sonoma Halo, Greenland, and Therese Anne. I also planted Blushing Princess and Colonel Owen last fall. I got these roots from Brandamore Specialties and they were super nice. I think I may get a couple of blooms from them this year.

Karen, every year has its challenges! We have been in a drought since the summer.

My Coral Charms go through frosts and freezes without much of a problem, and other varieties get black buds!!

You have certainly added some very nice varieties to your garden this year and I look forward to seeing your blooms.

Wow Karen - your noses are so far up now - amazing what a Zone or two does.
Liz - and Karen - I have in my inventory lists details compiled from articles/lists about cultivars with adventitious roots and Pastelegance is not even in the 'Very Low' group for these; in fact it is listed as being very high for susceptibility to root rot

Thanks for that information about Pastelegance, Val. That may explain why mine fail to thrive.

Thanks LG! I do agree with you about the Coral peonies. They have handled cold spells, freezes, and heat very well. I wonder if any of the coral peonies ever win the APS award?

Val, yes the warmer days are sending the pips up really fast. Some peonies grow a couple of inches in a few days if the weather is warm. I am sad to hear that Pastelegance is not adventitious and very susceptible to rot. I may have to move one of the division to a new spot as that spot may not be well drain.

Yes Karen, Coral Charm, Coral Sunset, and Pink Hawaiian Coral are all Gold Medal Winners .

I have quite a few buds on mine, and can't wait to see them all start blooming.

That is so weird, I've had the Corals succumb to rot every year since moving them to AL! It a been so bad that I haven't had a single bloom from them since they were planted there in fall 2020. Wonder what the difference is?? The native soil is fairly acidic but they're in raised beds basically, behind a retaining wall that was backfilled with raised bed mix that is relatively neutral ph.

I wonder if they are too wet during the summer when you run drip irrigation on them?

Interesting. When I was in the southeast and now the midwest, the corals have always been hardy and resistant to frost damage. Bloom consistently.

Well, our climate is a bit extreme but the best corals for me are Abalone Pearl and Pink Hawaiian Coral. Always have flowers look great. Coral Charm gives less flowers with cold springs/summers, Coral n'Gold is small and gives 1 flower after a few years in the garden, Coral Sunset dies twice so I am not buying it more.

That's quite interesting, Anya. PHC seems to do well everywhere.

In spite of the voles…I am over joyed to find small red pips poking up.
One is from Alexander Fleming which has been attacked by voles .
The other is a Pink Spritzer giving three pips. It was planted last fall and it was my trial using a PineSol and water drench of soil. Seems to have kept vole damage down? But I have peppermint soaked cotton in a little bag tied near it. And as soon as it leaf's….spray with cedar oil to keep voles or other critters from chewing fresh growth.

Glad you are seeing signs of life, Caroline.

I hope your methods work. Are there any snakes living in your area? I have seen two grey rat snakes already this year, and I am happy because they will eat voles!

No snakes…skunks will attack voles ,but I don't encourage them.
Neighborhood cats and magpies and the occasional bobcat are local predators.

Yes, that is very interesting that the corals don't do well in extreme cold and hot zones. I wonder if their genetics maybe the reason? All the corals do very well for me. Coral Charm in my garden is the most vigorous. It will bloom perfect flowers every year in spite of poor soil and no fertilization. Coral N Gold is the poorest grower among my corals but it still produces some blooms every year.

Caroline, I am so sorry that you have to deal with such destructive pests. It must be frustrating but I am glad some still survive despite voles damage. Hopefully the cats and magpies will take care of your voles problem.