Mystery John Simkins

Mystery root JS Yellow

I received this roots from Mrs. Simkins last year.  She couldn't remember what the name was and no longer remembered where the list of roots was kept ( maybe at the RBG in Hamilton?) .  She asked that I take it and if any others were found to donate to the CPS members for the root sale.
It is a very pale yellow, single.

Cora Louise

Intersectional Hybrid "Cora Louise"

Cora Louise (Roger F. Anderson), Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, 1986. Itoh, Double,24" Mid. 

Seedling #A80-02. First bloomed 1984. 
Parentage, double white lactiflora x Reath hybrid tree. 
Pure white double with lavender flares flat in form, reliable with average amount of bloom on good strong stems, dark green foliage. No pollen or seeds. Some fragrance.

Illini Belle
(P. lactiflora x P. offiinalis) Ruby red, 32", semi double, Early (Glasscock 1941)
Pronounced Ill-li-ni, this semi double hybrid has symmetrical ruby red blooms, purple stamen filaments and pale green carpels with pink stigmata. Requires staking



Burma Ruby Bright red, 28" single, early (Glasscock 1951)
Tulip shaped buds with enticing fragrance, red blooms in spring with green foliage.

Starlight


Smouthi



Tree Peony Red




Claire de Lune,



Peter Barr

P. Smouthi

SMOUTHII (France 1845) HH, red, single, very early, 36" (tenuifolia x lactiflora)
This herbaceous hybrid with bright scarlet blooms flower very early, just a few days before Tenuifolia, but is distinctly different from the Chinese varieties and is not as hard to propagate. Cut leaf foliage looks good even after blooming making a wonderful border plant.

P. Suffruiticosa

I received this tree years ago from a family member purchased from one of those boxes you get at the store in the fall.  It took a couple of years to give a flower and then two years ago it started give multiple blooms. I can't wait to see what next year brings.

Halycon has finally bloomed. This peony has been in the yard for a few years and with exception to the year I bought has not bloomed until now. It gave me 3 flowers. Welcome back!!



Mlokoslewitchii / Veitchii cross is a new addition. A friend through the CPS gave me this cross he hybridized for a garden I am working on with Peel Teaching Garden. The blooms are tiny and so is the plant standing about 10". I believe it will get taller as it gets older.





Mlokoslewitchii has been in the garden since 2005 and I was originally disapointed to find that I had the pink variety. Since I have been enamoured with the way it grows and the colour in the blooms.



Veitchii is a new acquisition that bloomed its first year. Its tiny nodding blooms make this an excellent peony for rock gardens and small yards. Remember to put it in the front of your border.

The Blooms have started for 2011

I have been anticipating this years blooms with bated breath. At last count I now have 150 peonies in various stages in the yard and despite the rain, which is making everything bloom about 2 weeks behind, it all looks very promising.

As if to herald in the spring P.tenuifolia single and Species "Mollis" start off the parade of blooms.


P. tenuifolia single red, 8 to 10", single, early (Species)
This fernleaf single has identical foliage to the double fernleaf except it has masses of single red blooms. It is among one of the first to bloom in spring.


Species "Mollis" pink, 30", very early, single (Species)
This possible hybrid has been known since 1818 and is still in cultivation. It has simple pink flowers that are cup shaped and give the impression they are sitting on top of the foliage.

To round off the day Little Red Gem made an appearance.


Little Red Gem Red, 15", single, very early (Reath G-9, 1988)
One of the first to open this fern leaf foliage forms an attractive low mound over small single red blooms. Strong and disease resistant this plant is only 15" tall.

Gift of a Tree Peony

Two new additions to the garden this year, gifts I will treasure for a long time ......

Marie Laurencin

Age of Gold

Photo's from http://www.paeo.de/

Gill #18 This is a currently unidentified peony from the Wally Gilbert collection.

Seeds

People have asked me, "Where are the seeds on the peony plant?"

The simple answer is, after the plant has finished blooming many cut off the spent flower during there cleanup and have lost the seed head. If you leave the plant shortly after the flowers are finished it will slowly start to grow this fuzzy 3 pronged capsule, inside each if fertilized will be a number of fat seeds.


Around mid July to early August you should start to see some of these fuzzy capsules splitting and little black, or blue balls inside. These are your seeds. Collect the seeds as soon as the pods begin to open (The harder the outer shell, the longer the first dormancy period) Using barely moist vermiculite or soil less seed mix place your seeds into a sealed plastic bag.
Place bags in a warm area of the house (not in the sun), check them every week to see if roots have emerged and ensure they are still moist (but not wet!) Roots can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months.
When roots appear and are about 2.5 cm or 1 inch in length, place them in the fridge. This is their cold period. Leave them for about 10-12 weeks, checking to see if any shoots have appeared. As soon as you see a shoot remove from fridge and pot in a soil less mix. At the 12 week stage remove partially germinated seed and pot them.
If you can, (weather permits) place them in a cold frame outside or under lights until March / April. Do not over water. Transfer outside as you would tender seedlings, making sure to have them all out in a seed bed by late summer.

Growing from seed is very time consuming taking up to 5 years for your first flower to appear. Even after this your first blooms may not convey the end result of your plant. It may take 7 years before you see the true flowers on a mature plant.

You could also sow your seed directly in the ground where natural temps provide the dormancy and growth conditions required. You may have to wait until the second spring before you see shoots. (Delay is precipitated by a hard seed coat not having enough time in fall to overcome first dormancy)

Seed sits in soil until following spring, bringing warm moist conditions to break first dormancy.
Near the end of summer roots should be produced.
Over winter seeds overcome second dormancy before producing a shoot the next spring.

Give it a try and see what happens!! I have several that should give me blooms sometime in the next year or two.

CPS Root Sale

I have compiled the list for this years offerings to the CPS masses and am always surprised by the quantity and diversity of what members have in their possessions. 20 roots in this years sale are being offered for the first time and I cannot wait for the CPS members to receive the lists and the requests to start pouring in.
'Sweet Melody'






















'Stellar Charm'














Both of these are being offered by one of the CPS members and in the root sale for the first time.

The newsletter may go out a little late this month due to translating issues but it will go out.

Both photos courtesy of Hollingsworth Peonies

Spent another morning at the Simkins home. Vi was out today so we missed them both. Hubby and I spent a couple of hours removing peony roots from the back of the home. Still plenty left behind. And we removed a couple of yellow's that Vi said to take for myself. Loaded the trunk and a couple of buckets in the back seat. It's already 12pm and its sooooo hot. We packed up and headed home. I left a note in the door thanking them for the roots with my mailing address. Vi had said she wanted to send me some seeds if they were ready before they moved. She has also stated that she wanted me to come back if Sheridan didn't take any. I should hear from her in August or September.(or sooner if they sell)
Hubby and I arrived home at 12:30 cleaned up, had something to eat, relaxed for a bit.
Put the car in the garage with the trunk lid up to help the roots stay cool. Had a couple of blue boxes in the back in the shade. After a small break I headed into the yard to pot up some of the smaller roots and Hubby entertained his dad, who popped in with a 3 tiered plant stand he found and stayed for a beer.
About 5:10pm I came back inside to get dinner going and found hubby napping on the couch. Sat down to do some things on the computer and 20 minutes later we were eating left overs.
After the dinner cleanup we sat and talked for a bit and then loaded the car and headed off to PTG for the peony roots final resting place before identifying and shipping to CPS members. (They will grow here for a year or two) We arrived at PTG at 6:40pm and finished planting at 8:45pm. Alan gave me a row to put this batch into. We put in 61 roots and a couple of very young hosta plants. Stopped on the way out and took some pictures of the hemerocallis blooming in the front beds along the building.
We arrived home just as the sky started to open up, spitting little droplets but not quite making it rain. Put away a few things, loaded the washing machine and headed for the shower.

Time to put up our collective feet and relax for a few days. Hubby and I will be heading up to a friends cottage for a couple of days. We hear the lake is a balmy 28 deg C (81 deg F).

Arrived at the Simkins home at 9:45am. They were getting ready to go to the doctors, shopping etc. for the day. Left the back door open so we had access to the bathroom and water if needed. (Very trusting people)
We set off clearing the weeds from the back of the property. I checked for peonies and hand cleared anything around them, Hubby came by with the grass whipper clearing the rest. By 1:40pm we had the back porch, back of the property and one of the larger beds cleared of weeds. We had dug several roots (50) and loaded the car.
The Simkins arrived home about 1pm and were astonished at what had been accomplished. Mrs (Vi) Simkins took me on a tour of the front yard to show me a couple of roots she thinks I should have for myself. Sheridan if/when they come by are to take everything in the front but Vi would also like me to have a piece of a very large yellow tree, which she will have Sheridan split and leave a piece behind.
I thanked her for their generosity, and told them that we would be back tomorrow to finish the cleanup and dig up any of the others we could find and had the energy to dig.

When we got home we unloaded the car taking everything to the back in the shade, Hubby had a shower, and I headed for the greenhouse to pot up seedlings. Came inside had several cold drinks and sat for a few moments. Kids were both home and talking like crazy about what was going on with them.
We had dinner, hubby ordered pizza, then loaded the car with the roots and headed for PTG to plant. We put in 67 roots after dividing some of the larger ones into a row close to other peonies. I will let Alan know and ask for another row in the block for the load that will be brought up tomorrow. We finished planting and watered packing it up by 9:10pm.
Finally, home for the evening I showered and sat down to check my email,blog etc. then at 10:30 crawled into bed and watched a 1/2 hour of TV before slowly drifting off to do it all over again tomorrow. Thanks to hubby for all the help and taking time off work to be there for me.

Stellar Charm

Stellar Charm, Lactiflora, Anemone Bomb, White, 40", Early Mid to Mid
Seedling#1822 First bloomed about 1989.
Opague milky white, guard petals cupped. Centre segments clear yellow when staminode/petalode form or narrow white petals, forms often both present in
same flower, colors mixed. Flower a symmetrical bowl, Carpels off white
stigmas white. Seeds easily


Photo from: Hollingsworth

Meeting the Founder of CPS

Mr & Mrs John Simkins

Mr Simkins (John) is one of the founding members of the Canadian Peony Society. Hubby and I were given the opportunity to meet the man and his wife. We arrived at their home at 2:20pm and Mrs. Simkins (Vi) was at the door to greet us. She gave us the grand tour of their yard, showing hubby and I where the roots use to grow, the beehives use to be, the greenhouse stood here and so on.

John had a fall in the yard last week and couldn't get up. They had to call emergency services for help. He was okay but at 6 foot something John is not an easy man to maneuver. Vi is extremely concerned, as anyone would be when you have past 90 years of age, celebrating their 64th Wedding Anniversary next month and still living in their home. They have some outside help for John but family and friends have now convinced them it is time to look for other living arrangements. All of this means that over the last little while they have been giving peonies away to various groups. The church took most of the backyard in 2008 & 2009 to sell at spring plant sales. A few friends received specific plants, their children (a son and daughter)have or will receive a few roots, Sheridan Nurseries will be taking the front yard. John tells me that Sheridan worked in conjunction with John on the hybridizing project supplying land to grow them. When I called several weeks ago to find out how they were and if the CPS Root Sale could acquire anything, Val Hosty made the trip to find out, I was told that we could have anything from the front so I had Val take some pictures of anything that was still blooming. When I called and set up a time to come by Vi informed me that we could have anything we could find still growing in the back or left behind. The yard had become overgrown and would need a keen eye to find them but that shouldn't be a problem. We arrived with garden tools in tow with the intent of helping her weed and tidy up, to take stalk of what we might be able to have and to tag for later pick up. Hubby and I started clearing a lot of weeds and overgrown plants finding little treasures at almost every turn. 45 minutes into the work the sky thumped and turned black and after a quick clean up, putting everything into the car and closing the windows, the sky opened up dumping buckets of rain in an instant. We said goodbye to the Simkins making a promise to back later in the week to help more. This time we will bring buckets, bags and anything else we can think of to make the work a little more pleasant.

Mystery Peonies

We have started a Mystery section for the CPS root sale. Sometimes donors have beautiful blooms but no longer know the name of the root. We offer these as Mystery roots and it gives the members an opportunity to share.

sidebuds, week 5 slight fragrance pink

Sidebuds, Week 5 fragrance, white with pale pink blush, best when staked

Photos by Chris C.

Drying Peonies

For the first time I have decided to try drying peonies. Blooms last such a short time and with the way weather has been this year enjoying them will be even shorter.
I have taken some silica gel and placed a small layer in a container, carefully I placed a bloom of Little Red Gem with the stem poking into the gel. I then slowly filled the container with more silica gel until the bloom is completely covered. I will wait 3-5 days before removing. If it turns out well I will try a few more blooms. These will make a nice addition to the displays at some of our flower shows.

Little Red Gem, (Reath 1988, Red, 20", single, very early
Delicate blooms on nicely rounded plant with filigree, cut leaf foliage.
This was added to my collection in 2000 and purchased from La Pivoinerie D'Aoust operating out of Quebec, Canada.

I purchased Peter Barr from Parkland Perennials in 2001. Single bright crimson hybrid with cut leaf foliage. Blooms are early and is highly fragrant.

Per Brian Porter of the CPS (2004)
Peter Barr (not registered by APS). I believe in the past some authors have attributed Peter Barr to P. anomala, but think that is an error. In my garden it is nearly identical to Smouthii. I suppose it is possible that mine and that sold in Canada is not authentic. In any case, what I grow as Peter Barr appears to be a P. tenuifolia hybrid. The blooming period coincides with Smouthii and I believe the fragrance is similar. (My Smouthii was purchased from Smirnow in New York).

Peter Barr is possibly an historical cultivar of uncertain origin. According to some this group of cultivars are mainly extinct, but, had been used for breeding in the past.