Paeonia 2025

[Gail]

Tree peonies in full flower now;



Paeonia 'The Captain's Concubine'


Paeonia rockii UK form

[Jürg P]

I got last autumn a plant from a friend who received the plant as P. emodi, but he believes it is rather 'Early Windflower'. I searched on the internet on the difference between these 2 and I found an article which describes as difference the number of segments per leaf.
https://www.peonysociety.org/p-emodi-or-a-windflower/
I checked the plant in my garden and I also wanted to see if the plants which I bought from 2 different sources as P. emodi are correct or are P. 'Early Windflower'. As the plants of my P. emodi's and the plant which is probably P. 'Early Windflower' are not planted far apart from each other, I noticed another more obvious difference between P. emodi and P. 'Early Windflower'. The leaves on both P. emodi plants are glossy, while the leaves on P. 'Early Windflower' is mat or semi-mat. A plant of P. veitchii is also close to the P. emodi and P. 'Early Windflower' and its leaves are mat. I believe this could be another  possibility to distinguish P. emodi and P. 'Early Windflower' (maybe together with the number of leaf segments).

What do you think and what are your observations on this?

[Jürg P]

Many years ago I got from a friend P. rockii 'High Down', a very wonderful P. rockii clone with the dark purple basal blotches. I pollinated it in the year 2020 with itself, but did not protect the pollination. While last year the first few seedlings flowered, some more flowered this year. One of them showed the outer filaments as small leaflets with anthers on it. The plant showed 2 flowers this year, but as it was the first year of flowering, I hope it will be like this also in the future years.
Attached is first a photo of P. rockii 'High Down' and second are 2 photos of my seedling, which also shows dark purple basal blotches (but also hidden by the leaflets of the outer filaments.

[Gail]

What do you think and what are your observations on this?

Here are mine if it helps -photos just taken so not in full flower yet.

Paeonia 'Early Windflower' from I think Paul Christian


Paeonia emodi CC1764 - Kashmir wild collected seed from Chris Chadwell


compared
the wild emodi has noticebly larger leaves with less segments but the flowers tend to stay cupped and look smaller. I received two seeds which both germinated but one promptly died so I only have this one clone and am sure they will vary. If you only have space for one then I'd suggest a windflower as the better garden plant - flowers are better displayed and it makes a fantastic specimen.

[Mariette]

Many years ago I got from a friend P. rockii 'High Down', a very wonderful P. rockii clone with the dark purple basal blotches. I pollinated it in the year 2020 with itself, but did not protect the pollination. While last year the first few seedlings flowered, some more flowered this year. One of them showed the outer filaments as small leaflets with anthers on it. The plant showed 2 flowers this year, but as it was the first year of flowering, I hope it will be like this also in the future years.
Attached is first a photo of P. rockii 'High Down' and second are 2 photos of my seedling, which also shows dark purple basal blotches (but also hidden by the leaflets of the outer filaments.

Very beautiful seedlings, Jürg! Unfortunately, Paeonia rockii and it´s F1 hybrids do not tolerate my heavy, waterlogged clay. Yet the seedlings of ´Gessekai´x ´Major Howell´ do all well in my garden. Maybe because they are growing on their own roots, or maybe because they are F2 hybrids.







The same flower somewhat later

[Jeffnz]

Some great photos, have never grown tree paeonies as my conditions are to wet over winter.

[Jürg P]

Also your seedlings look great, Mariette!
I also have heavy clay in my garden, but most of my peonies have no problems with it. Also P. rockii and its seedlings are growing well. P. rockii 'High Down' had a few years a problem but I guess it had to do with its grafted root, which probably started to die, and P. rockii's root were not well developped so far. But you can mix sand into your clay which would certainly allow you also to grow P. rockii.
I mixed my clay with sand and compost for some peonies which are naturally growing in more shady or forest conditions, like P. japonica, P. obovata and P. mairei. All these are also doing fine in my garden due to that.
However I do have some problems with some peonies, as they do not like their current conditions. Some I have replanted and given either more light or more shade and meanwhile I give also fertilizer, as I have not given any fertilizer to my plants in the past (as in nature there is also nobody fertilizing the plants; I have not done it in the past, but I realized in the last 2 years, that several plants started to get smaller and weaker).

[Mariette]

Thank You, Jürg!

My problem is the layer of clay - the kind You make bricks of - below the 30-50 cm of topsoil. This means an almost complete lack of drainage. I should have to build raised beds for plants needing good drainage, another problem in our increasing number of hot and dry summers. Not only P. rockii on its own roots, but also several Chinese varieties on their own roots succumbed to the conditions here.

@ Jeff: As long as Your soil is well drained, it may be worth trying tree peonies. Preferably grown from seed or on their own roots.