Soilsandup, the peony season is too short, isn't it? :/ I love the colour combo of Nymph with your orange azalea. I used to have an orange azalea (at a previous house). They are hard to find here.

Liz, I have a plant just like that. It is one shoot with a bud. I don't think any were that young, so I'm wondering about the rest of the plant! I'm glad to see you're getting a lot of peony activity. Yours seem to be growing quickly now that they've emerged, or is that an illusion since I'm only getting sporadic reports? My herbaceous aren't done unfurling. For the ones that have, their buds are hazelnut-size now. My tree peonies are still teasing. My shima nishiki, if that is what it really is, is very pink. (I thought it was supposed to be red?) I'll see what happens when it opens.

Annette, wow! I wouldn't just walk away either. Did you get one? Sometimes, they have a name tag wrapped tightly around the stem (at least, they do here, but not for the American varieties).

I got all 3. They were such a good size, and looked so healthy, that I couldn't pass them up.

My Shimanishiki is not blooming this year I don't know why? It's grown beautifully, with nice healthy stems and leaves, but no buds.

Pwinget, I'm seeing some growth now, more every day! None getting tall yet. I do have a bloom on a fernleaf (tiny) and Sunny Girl has a couple but isn't past the dry up and fall off stage. The P Japonica is a small peony to start with with small blooms, supposed to be a woodland plant, I was just surprised to see the bud on that really thin stem. Seems to be holding it up pretty well so far. I'll cut off any other buds if they form on that one, just want to make sure it's the color I wanted. I'm planning on weeding and tidying my planting beds this weekend so I'll post pictures of the growth. I'll try to group the new ones by where they came from and how big the tuber was; should be an interesting project!

Annette, I hope you came home with all three!!! Great find!!! No one local sells tree peonies here. Tagawa Gardens did confirm that they would have 2 Itohs this year, Misaka and one other. Nothing else exciting....

Sorry, I started my reply then had to walk away for a bit so missed your post, Annette. I say yeah!!!! I'd have gotten all 3 also!!!

My first ever peonies, either Sarah Bernhardt or Festiva Maxima, three buds, you can see the big one in top left corner ready to pop soon. So excited.

Liz, I look forward to seeing your peony growth I'm glad it's gotten warm enough for you to start seeing growth.

I have 2 peonies growing in areas where I don't recall planting anything. One showed up a foot away from Sarah Bernhardt. The other is in a spot where I moved Primavere that has white blooms several years ago, but this plant has pink buds. I'm interested to see what's going to bloom with these 2 plants.

Annette

Judy, at least the flowers on those 2 are different so you can tell what is what once they open!! You'll be addicted as both are beautiful!

Annette, I had that same thing last year, 3 tiny little peony plants with miniature leaves near but not near enough any plant to be growing from the same roots. Looks like we both had some seeds drop and germinate, looking forward to seeing what they do this year!

Liz, I hope your seedlings continue to do well.

The blooms are really popping out here. Here are a few from the last few days. This is the first time that Requiem and My Love are blooming, since they were planted in 2011.

Moonstone


Red Charm


Requiem


My Love

Torch Song bud


Salmon Dream bud


My noid, I wish I knew the name



Merry Mayshine, the bloom closes at night

I love Moonstone. Maybe next year I will get one. As it is I have three others coming this fall.

Hi Mary,

Moonstone came from Van Engelen, 3/$24. I was pleased with the size tubers they sent, last fall, and 2 of the 3 plants have buds.

Great. I will go look. I can't remember if they ship to Alaska or not. Thanks Annette.

I just looked and they are out of stock. Plus it says "wholesale" at the top. But they sell to individuals?? And it appears that they don't ship to Alaska but I would just have it transshipped in Oregon by "Shop the 48". Maybe next time. I don't know that I would have ordered from them as the price is so low I would worry about quality.

Annette, lovely! Please take pics of those when they open; I'd love to see them. The noid is very pretty. I appreciate the whole plant pic.

That's great, SC. The two varieties you mentioned are popular. I hope the blooms impress you and you grow to be as addicted as the rest of us!

The Van Engelen peonies tubers were very healthy. I was more pleased with them than some I got from another vendor. I would definitely order peonies from them again in the future. They do ship to individuals, I believe there is a minimum order that must be placed. I order so many bulbs from them every year, that I meet the minimum order easily.

Pwin, I'll be sure to post pictures of the open blooms. Some days I get home so late, the blooms have closed.

Annette

Here's Keiko, about to bloom


Scarlet O' Hara


Command Performace


My Love, planted in a bed with bearded iris Gnu Flash, and Again and Again

You have a pretty arrangement of plants, Annette. What is behind and in front of your My Love? The one behind it looks like it's going to burst with dark flowers. What a stunning backdrop it would make against your My Love.

It's clematis Arabella, on a short trellis. It will bloom until the fall, it's non-vining, and provides color the entire summer. Here's a picture of another Arabella with the blooms open, in the bed with peony Kansas to the right and Keiko to the left. I have 2 of the Arabellas in my peony beds on either side of the garden, and 2 in my back bed.

Oh lovely. I have to look that one up to see if I can grow it here. The clematis that is.

Mary, Arabella is a wonderful clematis, and I hope you get a chance to grow it.

You have a handsome garden, Annette. You must have flowers throughout the growing months. Do you post on other forums? I'd be interested in seeing non-peony related pics as well!

I love clematis. It grows well here, but deer sure do enjoy eating it. I had bought one and planted it and the deer ripped it out of the soil trying to eat it all. I thought it was dead, but the roots still touching the soil were enough to revive the plant, which the deer then ate as well. lol. I replanted what was left for the heck of it and next spring, it produced new leaves. What a survivor! I put it in a small pot on the balcony and it is growing without fear