Paeonia obovata 'Alba'

Judy Glattstein jglatt@hughes.net
Tue, 22 May 2007 12:04:38 PDT
It was always the white one that I knew and grew in Connecticut, and 
grow here in New Jersey. My original plants came from John Osborne, a 
noted rock gardener in Westport CT. He got his original plants from 
Harold Epstein, a travel agent who lived in Larchmont, New York. He also 
had a marvelous garden. Harold (always spiffy in a sport coat and tie, 
conducted trips to Japan. and brought back plants.

My P. obovata 'Alba' grew quite happily in woodland shade. The plants 
produced lots of viable seed, and I would just poke the seed around 
"mother", then in 3 or 4 years move seedling plants around. I also had 
P. japonica. One difference I noticed was that in the early stages (just 
before or when first pollinated) the green ovaries of P. japonica were 
taller / slimmer than those of P. obovata 'Alba', which were rather 
squat by comparison.

I have several 'Alba' here in NJ, but cannot say they are doing as well 
as in CT. More compost is probably the answer, it's the answer to most 
of my gardening problems.

Judy in NJ where nights are delightfully cool and days breezy and 
comfortable. Last Wednesday's storm (16 May) dumped 3/4 inch of rain in 
20 minutes.


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