Wow. I especially like the last one.

hey, hey now...you can't go posting stuff like that without putting names on them for those of us who are looking for EXACTLY that last one to adorn a space where rhody x 2 apparently doesn't want to live!

I want names, man...spill it!

And staking is over-rated...yours is gorgeous all spilling over like that!

Uh - no clue what the names are. A lot of times tree peonies are just sold as "white", "red", etc.

Would you believe the white one was a no-name bagged wonder I got for about $10 at the one of the Big Box stores something like 13-14 years ago?!?

I bought two more this year - a dark purple (which was labelled as pink - big error there I'd say), and a light pink one. I'll grow these on in pots, I've nowhere to put them at the moment (but a landscaper is coming this week to take a look at the front house, hopefully can work them in)

*These can get addictive*

So lovely! Thanks for posting these pictures!

Tree Peonies were blooming in April in my zone. A couple of mine:

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Alina - Gorgeous!

I love tree peonies! MXK3, your white one is incredible! I agree that it looks great not staked up. Do you like the mis-labeled tree peony you got? That has happened to me on a couple of occasions but fortunately it turned out to be colors that I like. Although I think I like ANY tree peony! You're right about them getting to be addictive.

Alina, do you know the name of the first one? I'd love to get a darker pink one.

Here are a couple of mine from this week.
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You are all so evil!! LOL! What a wonderful show!

I planted one three years ago and see buds coming up for the first time. I can't wait. The leaves have burgundy in them and the flower is a peach/coral colour. I know the name starts with K but it's too dark to go check right now. Thanks for letting me know that patience is well worth it when it comes to these beauties. :O)

Thyme - beautiful!

Not really sure if I like the mis-labeled one. My first impression was no, not really - it's kind of a jarring deep yet bright reddish-purple. I was tempted to return it (haven't planted it yet) but then realized that sometimes when planted/under different conditions colors can differ, so I decided to keep it. Then it kind of grew on me after a couple days of looking at it. Still, not what I wanted, not a color I'm thrilled about - but truthfully I don't know if such a thing as an ugly tree peony exists.

(watch - it will turn out to be one of my favorites as years go by LOL!)

oh, groaaaaannnn. they are so wonderful!! i want! i want!!
congrats on all your green thumbs. i'm only 1 for 3 these last few yrs.
mindy

thyme2dig,
The first one is supposed to be 'Rimpoh'. It is actually very dark; the picture was taken against the sun light.

Here is one more bloomer that amazed me this year - 'Kamata-nishiki':

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Smaller blooms, does not flop. Wonderful lavender/lilac with lighter edges. Love it!

Mindy,
Tree Peonies were surprisingly easy to grow for me. I did not loose any (except those that were dead upon arrival).
Also, I've never spent more than $30 on a TP.

My new addiction - intersectional Peonies are blooming right now. I am hooked :o) Sorry for OT, but I hope you will enjoy. After all, they are descendants of Tree Peonies:

Bartzella:

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Julia Rose:

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Singing in the Rain:

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Hi, I love them, too. Our peony tree had so many blooms and
they were very big and beautiful. But I have a question, if you cut off the spent blooms will the tree bloom again. Our
hasn't but I read somewhere that the peony blooms twice. Has
anyone had that happen?

Oh Alina!! You are KILLING ME!!! I am ready to delve into intersectionals. Your photos are gorgeous! I love all 3 of them!! I'm waiting until next year but now I'm definitely going to spend some bucks on a few intersectionals. Where have you bought them? I never come across any in local nurseries. Yours are a very good size. How long have they been in your garden. Excuse me while I get a towel to wipe the drool off my keyboard!!! LOL!!

Alina - wow!

Patttytricia - no, they are not re-blooming.

Thanks guys! I am glad you like them!

I bought 'Singing in the rain' from Wayside garden for $35 two years ago. It was a 1-2 eye division. Other four are from the local nursery. They were 1 Gallon plants also two years ago. The prices were $45-$55. None of them bloomed last year. The foliage stayed neat and lovely all season, so I was OK with this.

This year, all five are blooming and look very healthy. Again, virtually care free plants for me.

They are amazingly fast to grow. Folks on Peony forum say that they should be divided every 3-4 years, so the price should go down.
Perfect plants for landscaping IMO. I planted mine at the most prominent spot of my garden :o)

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Sigh. Thank you.

Alina, WOW! How lucky finding a couple at your local nursery and for only $45-$55. I'll definitley order a handful online next year for sure. I've been collecting tree peonies and really want to start collecting the intersectionals. Thanks so much for sharing those beautiful photos. Those 3 are first on my list to get!!

MXK3, I agree that there may not be an ugly tree peony. I've also gotten a few that were mis-labeled. I try to only buy them in bloom but sometimes that's just not an option. I really like all of them, but I have most of my tree peonies in the same place so I wouldn't have necessarily planted a couple in close proximity with each other if I had known they were going to be a different color than labeled. Now I have a very dark, hot pink (almost red) blooming next to a purple and I can't stand it!! I love them both, but not next to each other. They're doing well so I'm not going to move them.

Do you have a picture of the mis-labeled one you picked up? Was it from a local nursery or mail order? I've had mis-labeled from both. I'm curious to see the color.
When you say you'll grow them in pots, do you mean for this season and plant them in the fall? Or do you actually keep them planted in decorative pots to overwinter?

Thyme - no, no pic, it bloomed already.

I'll probably keep the new ones in large pots for a while, overwinter in garage. I've done this before countless times (with all sorts of plants) - that no-name white wonder above was overwintered in pot for a few years before I finally got it planted, and you can see it turned out just fine :0) .

Know what you mean about colors clashing - the deep purple one would look *awful* next to my red-pink one I snapped a photo of.

When I started my TP collection, we lived in a townhouse. I did not have a garden. I grew my TP in pots. For overwintering, I kept the pots close to the house foundation and covered with dry leaves. Sometimes, the soil in pots was completely frozen. I did not loose any TP. They are rock hardy! As with all potted plants, an excellent drainage is essential.

The bigger problem is keeping them moist and perky during summer heat. They tend to droop...

Alina, what zone are you in?

My poor peonies are a wreck today. We had some steady rains for a full day and some were actually almost laying on the ground. Then today we were in the upper 80s so the blooms are hanging like wet tissue paper. Well, they were beautiful while they lasted.

alina, puhleese add your zone and location to your i.d. so we can relate that to your/our TP experience (if only for me to be able to say to myself. "oh, THAT'S why hers look like that!!)
best,
mindy
(really, the reason why my 2 are doing poorly is that trees have grown up; i need to move them to sun.) btw, this is the 1st i'd ever heard of an intersectional. gotta get me some of them beauties! th so much for the inspiration. btw, nice skirting job w/ the heuchera and lysimchia numularia aurea!

I am in 6/7, MD. Sometimes, our winters are more harsh than zone 5 winters because we rarely have snow and often have strong winds combined with hard frosts, so no excuse for you Mindy :) You can grow them too!

If you grow your TPs under the trees, the problem could be in the root competition, not in the lack of sun. Some of my TPs do not get more than 1-2 hours of direct sunlight. Dappled shade for the rest of the day. They do quite well. In fact, they do even better than TPs grown with lots of sun if we have temperature 90F or more - the flowers stay fresh longer.

Intersectionals are amazing. I am so pleased with their strong stems, nice neat foliage, longer blooming! I especially appreciate that they look decent after flowers are gone.

I just bought 3 more!!! Nice lady (a fellow Garden-webber) helped me to find a local nursery that sells Itoh Peonies for a very low price ($35 for a trade gallon two year old plants). I bought Cora Louise, Hillary, and First Arrival (happy dance here :o))) Since I am out of space in my garden, I will replace some herbaceous peonies with intersectionals this falls...

Alina, you're killing me! I am green with envy!! Yet so happy for you on your major score!!! We used to visit family in MD every summer and I remember some very nice nurseries down there. Too bad my sister moved so now we don't have a reason to travel down. I'm glad we got to Ladew Topiary Gardens before she left though. What a great place!