First Week of Peony Blooms 2016

We are a week behind compared with last year.  There was just the right amount of rain and it was a wonderful week.  As predicted the weeding is too much.  I tried to hire some students to come and help, but it is hard work.  After one day, they did not come back again.
The backyard looks like a nursery, not like a backyard any more, but it is fun to walk around and see what is blooming.

There is going to be too many peonies to post this year.  I will try to pick a few and post a little about them.  There is over three hundred different peonies.  Since so many were added last fall the blooms may not look the same in the few years.  Let me explain.  When peonies are moved it could take up to three years for the peony flower to mature.  One example is Heavenly Pink or Lemon Chiffon.  Lemon Chiffon may be a single for a couple of years before it is a double again.
The grass is starting to grow between the rows, but my foot prints, from putting soil on the plants that heaved,  have hardened making the ground uneven.
The first week looks very much like last year.  There are only a few, so I can post all of them.
This week had one of the new peonies that was planted in the fall bloom.  The peony was called Little Red Gem.  It is true to the name.  Peonia Officials Mollis, Little Red Gem, Nova, Nosegay, Fernleaf Hybrid, Red Spider, Double Fernleaf all opened this week.

May 20th 2016 Mollis opened.

Mollis has great form as a plant and has leaves with a slight silver hue.  It is the first to open each year.  It is considered a species plant, but is no longer found in the wild.  Last year it opened on May 13th.

May 22nd

Little Red Gem is a short plant that is part of the fine leafed peonies.  It makes a great border plant.  Little Red Gem is new to the garden and handled the move well.

Nova has been slow to recover from the move four years ago, but is worth the wait.  It has a strong stem so the flowers do not need support.  The flowers are yellow, but do not capture well in the pictures.  It always surprises me.One day it is closed and the next it is open with little warning  Each year I expect other flowers to open, but suddenly it is open before them.

May 23rd

Nosegay is tall and full of flowers this year.  It keeps sticking the buds through the fence trying to catch the morning sun.  The flower itself is like a morning sunrise with all of the colours in the flower.  The early flowers I have are mostly red, so Nosegay breaks up the mix with something more to add.

Fernleaf Hybrid looks very much like Little Red Gem.

May 25th

Red spider stands out in the garden. It too is a short plant with silver hues in the leaves.  The flower is wonderful.  I look forward to seeing it each year.  

Double Fernleaf finally opened after sitting there with the buds half open for over a week.

That is all for the first week.  I did go to visit the Oshawa Botanical Gardens where many more flowers were blooming.  Now I want more peonies for next year.

Thanks for stopping by  and don't forget to go to www.PeoniesFromTheField.com and check out the peonies there.

Spring Is Just Around The Corner

What a fall!  I had my normal delivery of peonies for the fall.  Then I was lucky enough to buy the stock from a peony grower.  I needed to bring in more soil to give the peonies a good start.

The winter was mild, so it is important to walk around and cover any peony that is heaved out of the ground.  I have been having a hard time with all of the mud in the backyard.  The spring should be lovely with all of the new peonies.  They will need a year or two to recover from the move, so the web site only has a limit amount of peonies.  Please visit www.PeoniesFromTheField.com

There is a facebook page Peonies From The Field too.

The fall was so wet that any equipment that was rented to help move the 75 yards of dirt, got stuck and the ground engulfed the rentals like quick sand.  A lot of the dirt was moved by hand.  There was weeks and weeks of planting.  In the end, some of the peonies I had planed for the square garden did not get planted.  I forgot where I left off and what was planted.  The plan changed several times. The spring will bring lots of  new flowers to the garden, and a new adventure.  I will be doing more work with the Canadian Peony Society.  

The Canadian Peony Society will be at the Peterborough Garden Show in April.  Members will be at the Oshawa Peony festival in June. 

To help get the word out, about the peonies in Bowmanville, there will be talks presented  to some gardeners and garden clubs.  There was news letters to get people up to date.  There will be garden tours, even though we are not ready to receive the public.  There will be some much weeding I will not be able to keep up with everything.  Spring is almost here.  Some of the peonies are starting to peek through the ground. As the spring progress I will have lots of pictures to take along will all of the challenges.  Have a great spring, and keep dreaming about peonies.