I Won This Prize

I attended the Garden Bloggers Fling years ago when it was held here in the Washington DC area, in 2017. The two things I remember fondly are winning this peony in the grand raffle, and how incredibly hot and steamy the wewather was.

This Itoh Peoony is named 'Garden Treasure' and it is that. It was dropped into the side yard garden along with lots of other plants that I had no idea what to do with at the time.

This peony has been remarkably hardy and resilient. It survived the polar vortex, the hot humid summers, has not grown much over the years, but has slowly increased in size and number of blooms every spring. Never having been moved from its location, it seems to like the clay, and the mostly sunny area that gets about 4 hours of shade during the day.

The fragrance to me is nothing like a peony. This has a spicy, sassy smell, which is pleasant when brought in the house as a cut flower. Now, if I can only get a regluar fragrant peony, I will be set.

May Bloom Day

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day
What's blooming in the garden on the 15th of the month

The smaller perennials are still growing, while some of the larger ones are blooming.

Siberian Iris are in full bloom. I picked these multipliers up at a master gardener plant swap, and now have 3 stands with 100 blooms.

Columbine Aquilegia from my mom's garden years ago.

Pea blossom. Hey, veggies have blooms, too.

Mountain Laurel Kamlia latifolia. A very red 'Sarah' cultivar.

White camassia -- not as popular as the blue.

Bearded Iris. This reblooming cultivar 'Clarence' was purchased from Walmart many years ago.

Geranium sanguineum close up.

I don't know the name of my black bearded iris. It's really hard to get the color right, when taken with a cell phone camera.

Spiderwort grows well although in a sunty location.

The white ruffled bearded iris came from another plant swap.

The tree peony 'Garden Treasure' that closes up at night.

Find other garden bloggers' posts at May Dream Gardens

Garden Bloggers Fling Prize

So here we are another year later, and I am reading the posts from other gardeners on their fling expeditions in Austin Texas. Although not attending, I want to add a contribution to their excitement by introducing the results of one of last year's Bloggers Fling prizes. The yellow tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa).

Fling Host Tammy had several prizes at the table which we could take our chances on. We were all given something like 25 tickets, and could put them all into one prize's pot for the drawing (increasing your chances of winning that one) or spread them around in other prizes' pots. I did drop a bunch into the peony pot, and won. Good for me because I lived in town and did not need to pack up the large potted plant (no blooms at the time) and ship it home as many of the others would have.

Tammy, I must confess to being rather lazy -- the peony stayed in your pot for most of the summer, and only got planted into the ground around September. At first I did not know what it was, other than a peony. I was not familiar with tree peonies. But, its leaves were differently shaped than other peonies, and it was developing a woody stem. With the help of the internet, I learned that it was a shrub (meaning I have to get it out of the place I planted it) and that tree peonies are expensive.

The tag that came with it cannot be found, so sorry I can't remember the name. I thought is was something like "American Garden Beauty" but cannot find that anywhere online. If Tammy remembers where the donation came from, we can track it down. The flower is really exquisite -- a soft pale yellow tinged with some rose in the central area. The fragrance is, ...well, I prefer the regular sweet peonies. This was more subtle, with some "talc powder" smell mixed in.

Also note: for the first time, I placed a support ring around the regular peony plant this year, but it was only about 10-inches high (25 cm) above the ground. But, it worked wonders to keep things on the straight and up.

For The Record:   • Heavy clay soil with organic amendments   • Mostly full sun   • Small amount of fertilizer   • On a slope so well-drained soil   • A little munching on leaves from some insect Garden Calendar:   • Blooming: peony, rose, daylily, yarrow, coreopsis, phlox, poppy   • Harvested: snap peas, cilantro

Three Year Wait Is Over

The 2012 plant swap peony has finally bloomed today. It was the only peony (Paeonia lactiflora), and I got it. Its owner did not remember its color or variety.

In its third year now, the thing sent out several stalks this spring, and there was hope in the air. One of the stalks had three buds, and the first opened to a deep magenta, double-ruffled flower. There is a nice fragrance. We had a violent rain downpour last night, and it survived without incident.

It was planted in the side garden bed, the newest and therefore the one with the poorest soil. I placed a wire support disc as it grew, just in case it needed one, and it grew through. Rather tall at about 40-inches high (1 meter), the bloom is normal sized. It might be tall or lanky because it gets morning and afternoon sun, but is in shade around midday. Full sun is what I believe they need.

I don't have the heart to cut and bring indoors to enjoy it.