Share your Itohs/Intersectionals 2016

Hi LG. Is this thread for blooms or growths?

I wanted to show how many of my Itohs keep viable buds on their stems through our zone 7a winters.
This is 'Smith Family Jewel' taken today.


Here is its bloom from 2015

Hi Karen , it is for everything related to Itohs/Intersectionals.

LG, I've seen buds very low on some of my Itohs but have never had one survive the winter. Wonder if yours increase even faster since your above ground buds make it through.

OK, LG. I too would like to see if the buds on my itohs above ground survive and grow into stems that produce blooms. I mulched heavily my itohs so these buds won't get damaged. Right now, there is no action on the peonies. The pips start to show in March.

I have wondered about pips and buds showing in winter. I have one tree peony left, a nice 5 year old one about 12" tall. It had buds and such on it last year. Well, either that or leaves all folded up. Not sure how to tell the difference. My herbaceous have buds coming from the ground in the late fall and they seem to do just fine the next spring. I don't cover anything anymore since the mouse invasion except my large (well, for me large 4' by 4') rhody. I am so afraid I will set up another 'home away from home' for those dratted mice if I make any sort of comfy cover I just figure the odds are better to just let the plants that will survive do so on their own. Not to say that there isn't some cost to that in terms of blooms.

When I first started growing itohs, I did a lot of reading trying to figure out how far to prune them in the fall Zone 7b). The concensus was the buds at the base don't really serve any purpose so don't be afraid to prune them. They are not next year's growth. New growth will come from the ground up and I have found that to be true. It is still painful to trim those buds off. Of course, it is harmless to leave them also. Just leaves big stems sticking up from the base of the new plant in the spring and can become a nuisance. Tree peonies are different and the buds are important but they don't grow them at the base like itoh's. Just my experience.

Some years I get buds on some plants high in the stems, and I've never trimmed them. I'll have to pay attention to see what they do. They always survive our winters.

Here are few of my Itoh plants from this weekend.

Japanese Itoh, planted fall 2015


Pastel Splendor


Hillary


Takara


Yumi


Bartzella


Cora Louise

Annette yours are looking great. We got more snow, so it will be interesting to see what happens to my buds. I am glad yours do grow foliage from those stem buds.
Are your daffodils blooming now? I have one clump.

Thanks LG!

No daffodil blooms here yet! I do have a few crocus that are blooming. The Fondant hyacinths are also blooming.


We've been getting intermittent snow here as well, and very cold temps. I'm interested to see how the peony plants will fare with this crazy weather.

I am glad to hear that your crocus is starting to bloom, Annette. That means spring is not so far away. I hope we all get an early spring.

I'm hoping we have an early spring as well Karen. We had a brief warm up here, then winter came back with a vengeance! I'm actually enjoying looking for new plants, and planning the garden for this year, since I can't spend time outside.

Adriana has posted the 2016 Intersectional price list comparison on her blog. It is very useful.


http://www.southernpeony.com/2...

I just bought three potted Itohs from a local nursery:
Joanna Marlene
Singing in the Rain and
Pastel Splendor.
I will put them in the ground tomorrow. They haven't broken dormancy yet.
Here's a photo I took of 'Joanna Marlene ' at their nursery in 2015 that made me want her. I got the last one they had today for the Spring, so it was meant to be.

Good catch, LG! You'll love all 3. The Itohs that fade to yellow are my favorites, especially those with side buds. The plant looks AMAZING when it's established and there are so many different colored blooms!

Congrats on finding the peonies LG. I called our local nursery today, and they haven't gotten their shipment of peonies yet. I'll check again next week.

Joanna Marlene is beautiful!

Annette, the place I went today grows their own peonies in a field and then digs them up and pots them up in the fall and sells them as blooming plants in their nursery in the Spring. Last year I went in May and they didn't have any left. So I got the idea to contact them and ask if I could buy potted peonies now, take them home and plant them immediately and let them break dormancy in my garden. Hopefully they will be fine.

I thought that I posted this on ATP, but I haven't. Here is a photo of 'New Millennium' that I took last year at the nursery that I went to yesterday. They have had these for sale for several years, but the price is $200. It is really beautiful.

LG, you have sold me on those two ITOHs just with your pictures. Haven't really been taken by either of them in any catalog yet.

Things to know: it can be dangerous for your pocketbook around here.