ShawnSteve said:You might also want to consider, that the article you had first linked to, was for Kansas & conditions, in Missouri, may be quite different, than there.
It is hotter here and probably a bit more humid. I would wager that peonies here would be a bit more prone toward heat and moisture related problems.
ShawnSteve said: I'm not suggesting, you are going to "rust away", but one never knows what health problems, may occur in the future, ten years from now...
We can only act like we're going to live forever. I built my home 15 years ago and I made it wheel-chair friendly. I am taking fairly good care of myself - and my wife does does a good job of poking me when I lose focus of that.
ShawnSteve said:The point I'd intended to try & make about "harvesting'"peony flowers, is that, you can only harvest, but so many, from each "root", without causing the plant to deteriorate, regardless, of your, rather short, "window of opportunity."
My flower production estimates are all based on taking less than 50% of the available stems. I also took the lower end of the per plant bud numbers (18 to 25 was the range that I seem to recall for a 5 year old plant) because I wanted to have conservative estimates. I appreciate that you trying to make sure that I don't damage my plants - I get it.
ShawnSteve said:There are many variables to consider, but at very least, you'd end up with quite a collection of peonies & ought to try & first find out, which ones perform best, in your area, from all those "big time growers' for suggestions & good advice, including, possibly including joining the A.P. Society, as other members near you, know more about what to "expect" growing them in your area....
The first thing that I did was to join the APS. I later joined a regional peony society. I hope to attend a couple of fall functions with the latter - and start to network with other enthusiasts.
The herbaceous peonies that I purchased are coming from Iowa. The seller is about a 3 hour drive from my home and I am going to drive there to collect them shortly after they are harvested. My wife insisted that I find a fairly local source because she didn't want me to end up with a plant that was unhappy in my environment. It seemed like solid advice then and still looks good now.
I also have itohs coming, indirectly, originating from Holland. I picked up a pair of itohs from the same company very late this spring (I know, spring is not the ideal time to plant) and they are doing extremely well - a lot better than I had hoped, really. It was a test run for this fall and I ended up purchasing a dozen of two cultivars (24 intersectional peonies).
The itohs may be an expensive misfire. I say that because they aren't noted for cut flower production and I have no idea if they produce straight stems or lasting flowers. I bought more with my heart than my head, I guess. The worst case scenario is that I have a bunch of lovely itohs to enjoy. There is a part of me grumbling about never having masses of peonies flowering for the joy of it and I think that itohs will help me out a lot in that regard.
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