Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Peony, May 23, 2012


I bought and planted 3 herbaceous peonies almost 8 years ago. One of them survived and grows back every spring but it never bloomed. This spring it finally bloomed. The flower is huge, almost 5 inches across when it fully opened after a few days.



The flower is off-white with a streak of pale salmon pink towards the center. It is fully double with lots of petals. Peony flower is not usually available in flower shops in Southern California. Trader Joe’s sometimes sell the flower in spring but they are rather tiny with only a few petals. Not the one that I planted.

The leaves are dark green with reddish veins and they look very healthy. The flower stem is about a foot long.



I usually keep the label of plants I plant but I have somehow misplaced the label for this peony since I bought it almost eight years ago. In fact I almost dug it out as it was bearing no flower. Tried to look it up in the internet but I couldn’t find a similar one; so I don’t know what variety is this peony.  

4 comments:

  1. The peony you had must be called Solange. Solange type are huge, double and buff white with streaks of dark salmon pink.

    Congratulations for having one that bloomed in Southern California. Herbaceous Peonies are cold climate plants. They need cold to produce blooms.

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  2. I have never seen an herbaceous peony blooming in Southern California, I heard they need the cold of freezing winter to produce booms. You are one lucky gardener.

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    Replies
    1. I bought a peony at Armstrong Gardens 2 years ago, the plant is in a bot and already blooming when I bought it. It blooms every spring.

      The peony I bought is the Itoh type which does not require freezing temperature during winter in order to bloom.

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  3. Blooming peony in Southern California is very rare. I planted 3 plants several years ago and they are thriving but never bloomed once. They look healthy but I don't know why they never bloom.

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