Hi. I am looking for anyone with experience with Joker peonies. I ordered 10 of these - 9 from Supplier A (BC) and 1 from Supplier B (NB) since the Supplier A did not have 10. I planted these in the fall of 2021 in southern Ontario and 9 of 10 bloomed this year for the first time.
The peony from Supplier B bloomed as described in all of the online resources I have seen. It bloomed pink and transitioned to white with some pink highlights (not quite picotee edges). The first photo shows the initial bloom while the second photo shows it after petals started to drop.
8 of the 9 peonies from Supplier A also bloomed, but quite differently. They bloomed white with pink/red flecks and did not change colour at all before dropping petals. The third photo shows these blooms.
The foliage between Supplier A and B also looks different. In the fourth photo, Supplier A is on the left and Supplier B on the right.
I contacted Supplier A indicating that I did not think they provided me with Jokers. She said what I have seen with the peonies she supplied is typical. These are her responses:
"Yes it is very very normal for Joker to bloom either in an off white with dark pink flecks or in an off white with pink edges. And the same plant can change year over year. So one year it might have the pink flecks and one year it might have pink edges. And some years it might have both flowers growing from the same plant. It is indeed Joker. Many times, with all types of flowers, not just Peonies, when the variety is a dual coloured one, the shading of the colour can be seen throughout the petals. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this and perfectly normal."
"They bloom in all shades of white/pink and the edging is also virtually none to lots."
"It can be exactly the same variety Peony. There are slight variations to foliage at times during it's growth cycle."
Does this make sense? I question it as these do not exhibit the key attribute of changing colour and has almost no pink at all. The fact the the foliage is quite different is a red flag in my opinion.
Thanks in advance.
