At 09:38 AM 7/30/2004 -0700, Jane Mc gary wrote: >I like the large form of P. lutea known as "ludlowii" to >gardeners. I raised a plant of this form (from a very big seed) back in the early '70's. It grew outside in a somewhat protected place for about twenty-five years. It grew a lot more vigorously than typical garden tree peonies - each year it would send up several stout, 3'-4' canes. In all that time, it never bloomed even once. It had been given a prominent site, and I eventually moved it. Out in the open garden it did not survive the first winter. Others in this area have had similar experiences with this form. On the other hand, I have heard of something being called Paeonia lutea ludlowii being grown in south-eastern New York. What say the experts? Jim McKenney jimmckenney2starpower.net Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where for a quarter-century I hovered over that #*&^%#$*&&^$ plant muttering, apparently, the wrong incantations. >Jim Waddick wrote, > >The intent of this brief introduction to peonies is based on two >assumptions: 1) that this is an introduction to the whole genus and 2) that >garden peonies are not widely grown in western gardens. > >Well, if the West Coast consists mostly of Los Angeles and environs (an >opinion held by many East Coast persons), then that may be true. However, >almost any garden worthy of the name in the Pacific Northwest contains at >least one peony, and in my Oregon county alone we have three major peony >nurseries. Furthermore, stock I have purchased from them has been much less >disease-affected than stock bought from Midwestern nurseries. Even farther >to the south, I recall my relatives in Lodi, California, northeast of San >Francisco Bay, growing peonies, and I've seen them around houses in the >Sierra Nevada foothills. Apparently you just have to pick varieties that >don't need a deep winter chill -- and winter temperatures in northern and >inland California are routinely at least as cold as in much of England. > >I haven't grown P. brownii, but if I had it I would put it in a slightly >shaded part of the bulb frame. I have heard of it being grown in the Czech >Republic. > >In my own garden I have many species peonies, mostly grown from seed >collected over the years by Josef Halda. Josef told me to keep the young >plants in slightly shaded sites, and they are indeed healthier under that >condition than if planted in full sun. Apparently mature plants can take >more sun, but many species spend all their lives in scrub and light >woodland. All my peonies are in parts of the garden that receive a bit of >summer irrigation. > >Among the woody peonies that Jim discussed in the first part of his >introduction, I like the large form of P. lutea known as "ludlowii" to >gardeners. I was given a seedling of this years ago by Margaret Mason of >Portland, a great gardener now departed. My original plant is now quite >large, and its seedlings have popped up here and there. The seeds, which >are huge, must be moved around by animals, since one seedling is in the >woods about 50 meters from the parent plant. I also have a little colony of >P. delavayi, which spreads stoloniferously in the shade of some Styrax and >Cercis trees; its emerging red foliage is pretty in spring, and I've been >told the flowers of this plant are large for the species. Both these shrubs >are rather ugly in winter, since the old pedicels and leaves tend to hang >on like rotting rags to the awkward woody stems. Many kinds of bulbs can be >grown under woody peonies; under P. delavayi, for instance, I have a carpet >of pale blue Puschkinia, which is pretty with the beginnings of the red >foliage, and there are clusters of yellow erythroniums under one P. lutea, >and many Cyclamen hederifolium under another. > >Jane McGary >Northwestern Oregon, USA > > > > > >_______________________________________________ >pbs mailing list >pbs@lists.ibiblio.org >http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php >