Curious Seeds

I haven't had much to post about this season, or maybe just lacked the motivation. Today's break from habit is due to a mystery or curiosity of sorts.




A bit of background: over the past couple of years I have finally had two plants of Paeonia anomala f. alba flower (mind you, not from seed labelled as having been collected from that form). One was planted in a flower bed, the other remained in it's pot but was relocated to sit next to the first, to enhance the chance of white on white cross-pollination assuming the bees to be uncooperatively colourblind. Well, that was the plan.



As it happened, last winter was disgustingly warm, with sparse snow. As a result, the plant which was in the ground never got it's roots cold enough to make it decide to flower, while the plant in the unprotected, uninsulated pot experienced the colder unmodified temperatures, much more to it's liking (it's a Siberian species) and did flower again. So, no white on white crossing, just the chance of self-pollination or crossing with a normal pink-flowered anomala, a few of which were in the 10-20m distance range from it.



And, there was seed set, a first for my white anomalas (I often find that peonies do not set seed in their first year of flowering; after all, a plant that lives for decades needn't be in a great hurry to reach full fertility).



Earlier this week, I noticed that the carpels had opened and went to collect the seeds. Well, they're brown! as opposed to the usual shiny black which graces anomala. The photo shows the half dozen of seeds from the f. alba plant, and one black ringer which is from a normal anomala.

It will be interesting to see what emerges from this small sample of seeds, but it'll be about 2017 or later before they flower. Not sure I'll see it!

More of White Anomala

As hoped, a better photo of the flower.

And a close-up of the reproductive parts. The stigmas seem very small.

My report of the possibility of a few more coming into bloom shortly was premature. Along the lines of "don't count your peonies until they flower"; all the others were the normal pink/rose. The relative paleness of the early foliage either a figment of my imagination or unrelated to the eventual flower colour. Well, now we know.

My two plants are co-located, but bloomed sequentially this year so no cross-pollination. For that matter no by-hand selfing either, since I never managedto get any pollen onto a brush for transfer. I hope the insects have done a good job for me. If there is a seed set, it will be about 2015 or 16 before I know if I have true seedlings, so don't start writing cheques yet.

An Anomaly of the Anomaous Peony

After years of waiting, and from the wrong seed batch!, blooms of a Paeonia anomala forma alba: the white-flowered form of Paeonia anomala. One bloomed after a fashion last year, but the flower was stunted and damaged by weather and insects, so this year's is really my first. There is again some insect damage to the outer petals, which I don't ever see on normal pink anomala or any other peony for that matter! This is the first day, and the flower I think is not completely open; should get a fully-open photo added soon.

The foliage is lighter green than the species normally has (especially when first emerging), and without the reddish stem that marks most of my other anomala's, but is otherwise within the normal range for size, shape and narrowness of segmentation.

Two known plants (the bud of the second has coloured up but not yet opened) and a couple of others that I think will be white but the buds are still green. Which means that with a bit of skillful paintbrush hand-pollinating a decent seed set should result (if not this year then soon? I have noticed that some peonies do not set seed in their first year of flowering; and there is always the weather issue!)