Variants, and something cute

Paeonia peregrina, usually deep red but varying towards salmon/coral in some populations in the wild. This is the first non-red flower that has shown itself here. Quite a standout.

This cute little thing is Arisarum proboscoides, called the Mouse Tail Plant. Its foliage is the arrowhead shaped stuff in the next photo down. The genus name celebrates the similarities of the flower with the Arisaemae (jack-in-the-pulpits and cobra lilies) and of the growth habit with the Asarums (hardy gingers); one really has to dig through the foliage to find the flowers.

I would have taken the piece of plastic out of there before taking the picture, but honestly didn't see it!!

Okay, back to peonies. The following 3 photos show variation of flower colour between plants from a single open-pollinated seedlot (collected here) of Paeonia veitchii (Veitch's Peony)
The darkest is really somewhat redder than the photo shows, but there is something about the way the camera catches the light which overemphasizes the blue tint. (and it has nothing to do with blue sky, because there was none that day or most other days since the start of May!!)
The mid-pink is most common, here.

Paeonia peregrina

One of the later species to bloom here, Paeonia peregrina is variably blood red in colour, ranging from quite dark to brilliant. The first photo was taken on a cloudy afternoon, the second two days later in sunshine.



Foliage is distinctly different from any other species. This species doesn't bllom in my shade test patch, and the stems are a bit floppy (or lax, if you will) in my partially shaded bed; so I recommend it for full sun only, in Nova Scotia. A plant in the Annapolis Valley of the same seed batch bloomed a week to two weeks before mine.

Also in bloom here still are a few plants of P veitchii (most are bloomed out), some early obovata's, a few officinalis, some of the lactiflora hybrids; lactiflora's are starting to colour in bud and very close to opening-- a couple more days of sun and they'll pop.

Hmm, World Cup games, the bike on sunny days-- it will be hard to find time to write posts for awhile...

More of Paeonia peregrina

I am delighting in this species since it is the first year that it has amounted to much for me. Flowers and stems may still not be full size, but they are much larger than last year.

Two are now in bloom, one being a bit darker than the other (this is the one shown two days ago). Some variation in petal shape and in



leaf segmentation and shape between them too.

Reds!

Today Paeonia peregrina stopped teasing me with its' huge buds and started to open. (just in time for a rain storm). Known as the Crimson-Flowered Peony, and sometimes as the "single red peony of Constantinople", this species is much used in hybridizing. It's native to southern Europe from southern Italy to western Turkey at elevations up to 1200m. Although this doesn't sound promising for extreme cold hardiness, but I learned this spring that it has grown well for many years at the Devonian Botanical Garden near Edmonton, Alberta: Zone 3 territory. However, although in its native range it grows in scrub and in woods, I have found that here in Nova Scotia it is unhappy in my woods, and less vigorous than most of the other species in the partially shaded display beds, but it has done best in the open field.

The first of my few tree peonies to bloom (and the only type with buds this year), the small but dark red flower of Paeonia delavayi. A shy critter which keeps its face pointing to the ground. All the literature that I had consulted indicated that this species would be unlikely to bloom here, and not much more likely to survive, period. But it has surprised me with a high survival rate and with at least one plant (of the several in pots) producing flowers each of the last 3 years. The flower is smaller than it appears in the photo; the golf ball ended up a few inches below the flower because I had to hold the stem upright and forgot about positioning the ball properly...

Noses, Shoots, and Deploying Leafs (part 1)

The past week or so was cool and miserable; peony development was on hold. Yesterday and today were a sudden burst of summer and things bombed right along in the garden. Mainly for academic interest, I made today a datum day and took pics of most of the peony species in whatever state of development they were averaging (plants in different locations start at different times of course, depending on soil warming rates etc.)

First, Paeonia tomentosa, Woolly Peony. These are moving right along, nice fat buds visible as soon as the leafs start to deploy.



Here, Paeonia tenuifolia ssp lithophila, the smaller form of the Fern-leaf Peony. Buds already formed, cute little clusters of bristles. Yesterday they were just little red blobs a mere cm tall.

Note the lack of red in the barely emerged leafs of this one, Paeonia peregrina; very distinctive. Of 4 plants in close proximity, this is the only one showing yet-- and this one wasn't showing 2 days ago.

Paeonia emodi, the white peony from the Himalayas. I believe there is a single small flower bud forming in the midst of all those leafs (wishful thinking perhaps?) but it is still small and not visible in the photo. Fingers crossed... [and noted the next day, yes there is obviously a flower bud forming. Yay!]

And here Paeonia ruprechtiana; reddish-purple tints, fat buds at the ready.





To be continued...

Paeonia hybrid "Pink Hawaiian Coral"

This plant is a hybrid between Paeonia peregrina and P. lactiflora. Strong stems, great colour (fading to ivory), and some fragrance.


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The absence of posts during the past few days is my fault this time; with a couple of decent sunny days it was difficult to balance some outdoor work, cycling, watching the World Cup football on tv against getting at the blog... expect more gaps this week, but after Friday the football schedule thins out a bit and I think I can get back to normal (whatever "normal" is around here!)

Just opened- Paeonia peregrina

The true red of Paeonia peregrina is a real eye-catcher in the garden and easy to grow although slower than some species to get established. The flower retains a bowl/globe shape. Foliage is green on emerging rather than the shades of red seen in most peonies. Distinctively lobed too. However I note that one of the two plants I photographed has a more pointed leaf, although both are from the same seed lot. Whether this is natural variation or a bit of hybridization I don't know; the seed was from a commercial source.

The plant with the twisted stem was caught in a nasty wind storm a month ago, during which the wind reflections changed direction several times. Normally the stems would be upright and on mature plants in the wild can reach to 3 ft tall.

This is the first year of flowering of this species here. I expect the flowers to be larger once the plants are a bit more mature.

This species is native to southeastern Europe, from Italy to Turkey, growing in ravines and open woodlands. Here it is happiest in sun, a bit less so in partial shade beds, and pretty unhappy in my woodland bed to date so far.