May be worthwhile to check this out. http://www.hiddenspringsflower...

This is a very reputable vendor.

Received my Adelman peonies today. Ordered Oct 1, shipped Oct 4, received Oct 6. Very good service.











The mini tiller is perfect for digging planting holes. Chews the soil into fine particles and leaves no lumps to break apart. I put about a half cup of fertilizer on the ground before tilling so it is thoroughly mixed without leaving hot spots

It certainly looks like the mini tiller does a good job!

Thanks for posting your pictures Jerry. The tuber on Raspberry Sundae is interesting. I've never seen one like that before.

Your soil is beautiful, and I'm sure your tiller gets through it more easily than mine would in the red clay here. I have to do a lot of amending of the soil in order to grow plants successfully.

Hopefully, I should be getting my tubers from Adelman's and Fina Gardens soon.

That area was an iris patch until I tired of pulling weeds and trying to keep a neighbor's tree suckers from choking them. About 20 years ago, it was yellow clay with a slope to it. I put down about 4 inches of sand and about 80 bags of humus. I added probably another 200 bags of humus over the years so it tills into a loose loam. I figured it would be perfect for peonies except it does not have full sun. Sometimes that factor can be a blessing when the temp hits 100+ with no rain for weeks.

Yes, that single root is something I had not seen before. The original clump must have been a monster.

Great pictures. And those tubers are mondo! Wonderful. You should have wonderful plants next year.

Hi everyone! It looks like there will be some beautiful peonies pics next year of newly planted peonies. Wow, your soil looks so loamy, Oldgardenrose. I wish mine is half as good. No wonder your peonies do so nicely! Can I ask how do you make humus? I have been adding mushroom soil to my hard clay but it hardly makes a dent. I have begun to add some sand to my soil. I think it makes a huge difference.

I placed an order with Fina Gardens early in the year and thought wrongly that I was done. When Liz posted the Gilbertwild sale and Select Plus itohs, I could not help myself and added to 10 more peonies to the garden. I should not have ordered this many peonies this year as I do not have ready beds for them. Anyway somehow I found room to fit them all in.

From Fina Gardens, I ordered double fernleaf, Gay Paree, and Raspberry Charm. From GW, I got Lustrous, Carina, Edward Flynn, Dresden Pink, and Madame de Verneille. From Select Plus, I got Strawberry Creme Brulee, Magical Mystery Tour, and Halleigh's Hallelujah. I am really excited about the itohs and the double fernleaf. Hopefully, I get some flowers from them next year.

Karen

I buy bagged humus+cow manure from Lowes. They also have a finely chopped and about 50% rotted hardwood mulch. I usually mix the humus, mulch, and sandy garden soil in a wheelbarrow then dump it on top of the garden soil. I tilled it in by using a garden fork until I bought the mini tiller. Makes a loose fluffy mix which is ideal for peonies and irises.

Went out this morning to check my yesterday's project and found this. A squirrel must have been looking for acorns. I will probably cut off all the eyes but one and pot the crown to see if it survives. S--- happens, get over it is my motto.


This is what I should have done yesterday. It is a breathable landscape cloth used mainly for weed control under mulch.

Jerry, you have a good attitude about it! I'd swear a few times, but then I'd get there, LOL. I have some varieties that grow from blind roots, so who knows, you may end up with 2 or 3 of them.

Karen, you've planted a wonderful selection! Some of those are on my want list.

I kept the original roots and should give them a try but I have read several times that only the crown can produce new eyes. The exception is some of the fern leafs can produce new roots and eyes from planted slices of broken roots. Doesn't cost anything to try and it just may work.

From all the new orders for this fall, next year and the year after should be almost magical with all the different colors and types. Hope everyone takes lots of pictures.

Now that you mention it, it was a fern leaved plant that happened with.

This is the plant that whenever it's moved, a blind root grows back. The leaves don't look as dissect as other fern leaved plants I've seen.

It appears to be one of the many fern leaf hybrids where the species fern leaf is crossed with another species. The clue, as you said, is the leaves are not so finely divided. That does not take anything away from the flowers since they are usually identical.

I've had peonies grow back from broken off roots with no eyes on several herbaceous peonies, I'd try it, Jerry!

Sorry I tempted you to buy more peonies, Kousa! You got some beautiful peonies, though. And the roots from Select + were big enough to get 2 divisions from that might even bloom next year, maybe more divisions if you wanted. They were enormous except for the Strawberry Crème Brulee, huh?

I will give it a try since there is little to lose. I had tried some other roots before but found out later I had done it incorrectly. I left the small pots outside all winter and all but one rotted. Someone has said that will happen with potted peonies left outside where they are constantly in a freeze/thaw cycle. I will keep these in the garage which seldom drops below about 40°F.

That is a beautiful fernleaf peony! Sounds like it has adventitious roots. Some people like that trait and others do not. The corals have a tendency to do that, growing back from blind roots. Has anyone ever grown a peony variety that they do not like?

Thanks, Kousa. You'd think that trait would lead to speedier increase, but it's a really slow one. That's over 30 years of growth there (it's been moved a few times over the years, but has been in that spot for 7 years). It was a gift from another gardener, an elderly lady who lived near where I grew up, my first garden mentor. She'd been growing it for over 50 years at that time, and was no stranger to dropping big bucks for a single plant she couldn't resist- her family thought she was nuts for spending $50 on a single Iris, if they only knew how many of us there are! LOL

Nice fern leaf Neal!

My Fina Garden peonies arrived today. I'm thrilled with the tubers received. I got:

Ann Cousins
Candy Heart
Coral Supreme
Minuet
Miss America
Nellie Saylor
Pink Hawaiian Coral
Pink Firefly




Minuet has huge pips!

Great. I have several of these and really like them. Especially Miss America

They look great Annette. I am sure that you will get some blooms from them next year. Though they all are beautiful, I particularly like Nellie Saylor.