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davids10

whos that guy talking trash about peonies

davids10 z7a nv.
9 years ago

post your pix to show he is so mistaken

Comments (35)

  • lilsprout
    9 years ago

    Lol

    Beautiful! Gorgeous!! stupendous!!!

    I would love for my surprise peonies to look like yours ;)

  • sara82lee
    9 years ago

    Haha. If I posted my pic I would just give him more credibility. My peony is in it's third year and has yet to bloom. But it's on the side of my house so I'll leave it alone to sink or swim.

  • paul_
    9 years ago

    meh LOL.

    I'm not that guy, but while they're nice enough, they do nothing for me. Peonies are one of those flowers for which I prefer the single flower types as opposed the doubles like those. Not sure why, though. I like double roses better than the singles and the flower forms are similar.

  • mxk3 z5b_MI
    9 years ago

    Beautiful!

    Mine aren't blooming yet outside of two blooms on a division I stuck in the ground not too long ago, but they are certainly are full of luscious fat buds!

  • valtorrez
    9 years ago

    I am that GUY and I still say Yuck! They bloom right before it rains so I get to see the flowers 1-2 days. Then they r UGULY. I went out side and trimmed them up so I guess the foliage looks nice. It's just that I am not a shrub person but a season long flower person.

  • DiggingInTheDirt
    9 years ago

    Beautiful pictures! I love them and am adding more to my garden. I pick them as soon as they bloom and add them to bouquets in the house. They look so beautiful with other spring flowers.

  • TexasRanger10
    9 years ago

    Laff! I'm not drawn because they don't fit my garden AT ALL. Here is what I call 'Cowboy Peony' Its about the same size. Mine just put out its first blooms, its got dozens of buds all over it and will be a spectacle in a few days. The real name of the plant is Mentzelia decapatala or Ten Petal Blazingstar or Stickleaf because the leaves feel like velcro. Its a native that I grew from seed. The person standing behind it shows the scale. I'll post a 2nd pic to show a close up of very fragrant large white flowers.

    So Valtorrez, do you like the Cowboy version? It takes up the same amount of space and blooms just as heavy but for a while longer and this plant will never flop.

  • TexasRanger10
    9 years ago

    Close up of flower. Smell is heavenly.

  • davids10 z7a nv.
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    very nice but there is probably room for both-the ones in my pic have been blooming for 2 weeks and probably have another week-as for season long bloom are we talking marigolds and petunias here? what does the stickleaf look like after it blooms?

  • pam_whitbyon
    9 years ago

    Mine haven't bloomed yet this year so this pic is from last year. I love the singles very much, need to get more!

    Wow, TR. Gorgeous flowers... what do they smell like?

  • gardenweed_z6a
    9 years ago

    Sorry, what's not to like? It's spectacular, critter + maintenance-free, lives 50+ years and asks nothing in return other than a nod that it's stunning in bloom.

    Again I wonder, what's not to like?

  • TexasRanger10
    9 years ago

    Just ignore me, I'm just being ornery and OT but honestly, if you saw my garden you'd know a peony wouldn't work at all here. Point is, I have a native/desert garden so we do what we do and give them made up names. The plants are of a completely different flavor and since I'd named it Cowboy Peony I'm now being a smart-ass and posting it on this thread for the guy who doesn't like peonies. Its sort of like calling a cactus flowering a 'Desert Rose'.

    It only blooms at night. I don't know what it will do next, its a new plant for me but since its a biennial it will probably go to seed and die except some sources say its perennial. I find it a fascinating plant.

    Another flower opened tonight, they are only open from 9 until midnight. We are experimenting with night photography but its planted under a spot light and it literally glows. This photo isn't that great, the flowers look yellow, actually they are huge & brilliant white.

    This post was edited by TexasRanger10 on Mon, Jun 2, 14 at 1:00

  • davids10 z7a nv.
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    amazing-does it draw hawk or sphinx moths as the pollinator?

  • jean_ar
    9 years ago

    wow1!!!!! all these flowers are gorgeous.I will have to break down one day and give the peonies a try to see if I can grow them.they are beautiful.i tried growing one, once and bought what was suppose to be a red double but, when it bloomed it was a white one so I gave it away, besides it looked like a single and I wanted a double.

    jean

  • auron22
    9 years ago

    I personally find peonies highly attractive the entire season, but I used to dislike them....When I stopped focusing on the flowers and directed it at the foliage, I grew to love them. They start the season with cute pinkish eyes and new reddish growth, bid spring adieu with a big bang, hold up through summer with glossy foliage, and welcome winter with fantastic color (not sure all of them have good fall color). Plus they are carefree and long lived. I'm a flower guy above all else, but this year I'm hunting for interesting foliage and fall colors.

    Davids10, your peonies are gorgeous, and i really like the bomb types. wish I had pics to show, not just in their prime, but out of bloom too. Mine are new though....

  • calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
    9 years ago

    And besides all that, nothing eats them! We live in a woodland teeming with deer, gophers and rats and they never touch the peonies. Al

  • woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
    9 years ago

    I wouldn't want to be without peonies! It doesn't bother me a bit that they are only in bloom for a short period. Many things in the garden only bloom for a short time - it's the ever-changing tapestry rather than a static picture that is a key part of the enchantment of a mixed garden. Peonies are a highlight because they offer much drama, but they are ultimately just another player in a large ensemble cast, to be appreciated while they are starring but then the play moves on and their role changes to be part of the supporting cast (to mix a lot of metaphors!). I do prefer the singles these days and keep adding more when I can find them. The singles are utterly charming - and have the advantage of not needing support! The trade-off though seems to be that they are less likely to be strongly scented. To extend the bloom period, consider growing peony-flowered tulips (e.g. 'Angelique') with them which makes it look like the peony is blooming at tulip-time. 'Queen of the Night' tulips also look very good with the purplish young foliage of the peonies.

    A single pink one from last June:
    {{gwi:236514}}

  • ms_xeno
    9 years ago

    I have a double pink that came with the house. I believe it's "Bowl of Beauty." I also have a single called "Moon of Nippon" that's been doing well for about ten years since I first planted it. Bloom season here is just finishing up, and I even remembered to bring one of the "Bowls" in for some time in a vase. The scent is glorious.

    If I get organized enough to upload the pics, I'll add them later. We had very little rain here compared to most Mays, so they've lasted quite a long time-- almost two weeks. Woo!

  • duluthinbloomz4
    9 years ago

    All this peony talk. Can't imagine being without them - singles, doubles - and they do so well here in this climate and the big garden eaters and little nibblers leave them completely alone.

    Just got back from a quick trip to Walmart and found big healthy, fully budded "Wladislawa" and "Imaculee" from a grower here in Minnesota. Couldn't pass those up. Added benefit; their garden center was buzzing with hummingbirds.

  • aseedisapromise
    9 years ago

    I like the cowboy peony! And I looked it up and it says I could even grow it here! Well, I bet it needs a really dry place to grow. Anyway, there are a lot of peonies here that were here when I moved here Here is one, it's huge! I had Bowl of Beauty at my other house, and I really liked it a lot. I kind of like the singles. I bet I wouldn't be so enamored if it rained a lot here. Nothing uglier and more disappointing than the wet-tissues-on-a-stick effect.

  • TexasRanger10
    9 years ago

    Well if for some reason you can't have the frilly fluffy type, the Cowboy has lots of big flower fragrant flowers to enjoy -- if you are night person that is. Ants don't mess with it. Its native to a fairly broad range in the US. and I think Mexico. There are several types of Mentzelia.

    Peonies are very common around here but they aren't my cup of tea. We are having a lot of fun observing this newest native species in the garden. After last year's large rosette, it spent winter as a thick rounded knob sticking up out of the ground. Weird, it looked like a buried top of a wooden shovel handle. In early spring the knob was covered in very tiny leaves which looked weird too, these then branched out into the large plant it is now. Quite interesting to watch. I don't think there's another like it within the whole city. I purchased seed from Plants of the Southwest.

    One other gardener in my family has a conventional garden and she grows lots of peonies - sometimes I get a flower for a vase after rinsing off the ants. All you guy's above have ones my sister in law would be jealous of.

  • terrene
    9 years ago

    Pretty pics! Those voluptuous blooms are gorgeous. Mine are budding away and should have lots of blooms starting sometime in the next week.

    Saralee, if your peony is not blooming it may be in too much shade or planted too deeply.

    Woodyoak is your single Peony fragrant? My favorite thing about Peonies is the fragrance. Don't care for non-fragrant cultivars. I usually cut several vases for the house (and usually for somebody else), and enjoy the fragrance wafting through the house.

    However - I inherited my peonies and wouldn't buy any new ones unless they were singles because they are a high maintenance perennial and require fussy staking in the Spring. And the OP is right, they DO flop easily and the blooms get ruined if we get more than 2 drops of rain. 8-P

  • woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
    9 years ago

    terrene - I'll have to double check when it blooms, but I don't remember the single pink one as having a scent. I have a white double (possibly Festiva Maxima) and some semi-double pink ones (possibly Bowl of Beauty) that provide the scent :-) A couple of years ago I made peony support rings from copper tubing and copper pipes, which provide a nice sturdy support I can leave in place all year. That has taken care of most of the flopping problem for the double/semi-double ones (although a few stems sometimes grow outside of the rings if I forget to tuck in the strays early in their growth!)

  • auron22
    9 years ago

    I'm wondering if the peony forum is aware of this thread....They would be greatly interested and probably have pics to share.

    Not all peonies have weak stems. Some want nicer flowers, but compromise stem strength when creating new ones, 'Souvenir De Maxime Cornu'/'kinkaku' tree peony for example. One of the most stunning peony flowers in my opinion....but it flops so badly you can't see it very well without support.

    Bartzella itoh, an intersectional peony with double yellow flowers and a touch of orange in the center, has strong stems and vigorous growth. Supposedly a pleasant, slightly spicy fragrance....I shall see for myself eventually. Just got mine this year :) The foliage is very different from most peonies, greatly dissected for a peony.

  • jayco
    9 years ago

    I love them and have quite a few, but as I grow older and wiser (?) I have come to prefer the singles overall, as the doubles do indeed flop and get plastered by the rain. However, part of growing peonies is learning to strategize, and if it's going to rain at an inopportune time for the peonies, I cut a huge lot of them and make gorgeous bouquets.

    Allowances can be made for any flower that amazing that smells so divine!

  • ltilton
    9 years ago

    It's true about the rain. There always seems to be heavy rain right when the blooms are at their heavy-headed peak.

    But the scent makes it worthwhile.

    I always make sure to cut some of the earliest to have them in a vase inside - before it rains.

  • thrills
    9 years ago

    In year four of peonies and they have really come into stride.

  • terrene
    9 years ago

    Yes before the rain gets here, I'm out there cutting a bunch of Peonies and usually trying to pawn them off on someone else too! Might as well enjoy them indoors.

    Fortunately some bloom later than others, and there are a few secondary blooms that come later. I make little vases out of the smaller blooms too.

    The very first Festiva Maxima bloom opened yesterday, they're along the south side of the house.

  • edlincoln
    9 years ago

    Peonies are one of those flowers that often look fake to me...but then, I haven't been much exposed to them.

    Could some of the real peonie haters be people living in a place where they don't do well, yet people try to grow them anyway? I think there are a lot of plants people try to grow in places unsuited to them...the result can be a struggling plant kept alive with massive amounts of water, pesticide and fertilizer, and children who think it is just too much work. One problem with mass media is we all see pictures of plants that shouldn't be growing in our area.

    Where is the "cowboy peonie" native to, and could it grow in a pot? I have a vision of growing it in a big pot with Christmas Cactus and hens & chicks...

  • aseedisapromise
    9 years ago

    It grows all up and down the middle of the USA,

    Here is a link that might be useful: USDA page on the plant with a map

  • TexasRanger10
    9 years ago

    I wouldn't grow it in a pot but I guess you could, you'd need a big pot. It had 19 blooms last night & was quite dramatic, tonight there will be more. It has numerous small flower buds down each stem so I expect a long bloom period. Each flower opens three nights. I'm still observing it to see how it fits in as a landscape plant, so far I am very impressed and the smell is heavenly at night. Information is conflicting, some sources say biennial other say perennial. Time will tell. Its definitely new & interesting --something you won't find at a nursery.

    If anyone has a white or night blooming theme garden, it would definitely make a nice addition.

    I'm not a peony hater, its a matter of garden interests. I had a conventional garden for a long time, then one year I cleared it all out to go in a different direction. Peonies & other commonly used garden plants leave me uninterested because I've been looking at them for so many years now the sense of "wow" is long lost. Make sense?

    so-------The OP's garden is an excellent composition which is more interesting than the individual elements. In other words, we don't have to like the same plants to appreciate another persons garden.

  • Glen4sure
    9 years ago

    I love peonies!!!!

  • mxk3 z5b_MI
    9 years ago

    Speaking of the scent, I was sweeping the front walk after dark last night and the scent of Festiva Maxima was lovely while I was working. :0)

  • Laura twixanddud - SE MI - 5b
    9 years ago

    I got Bartzella two years ago and this is the first year it's bloomed... and Whoa! 14 flowers - I guess I was rewarded for my patience! I really want to divide it and put some in the front yard, but I don't want to risk having to wait years for it to bloom again.

    I love Festiva Maxima too and the fragrance is heavenly. I had it at my old house... and have tried twice since to buy it from different sources and did not get FM. I'm going to buy it from Scheepers with my bulb order this fall.

    Here's Bartzella yesterday evening

  • jazzmom516 (Zone 6b, MA)
    9 years ago

    I like the Japanese shaped flower peonies! I have 4 of them in my backyard. Here is a photo of 'White Cap' and 'Fancy Nancy'.