PeonieS!
James Waddick (Tue, 13 Apr 2004 18:38:12 PDT)

Dear All;
I have briefly spoken up about accepting peonies into our
geophytic company. They certainly has the life style and structure of
most fall planted hardy bulbs.
I recently heard of person who managed to grow P. corsica
from seed to bloom in only 2 years. I'm not sure if that was seed in
summer of year 1 and bloom in spring of year 3 or seedling in spring
of year 1 and bloom in spring of year 3. Probably the latter, but
still extraordinarily fast.

I have my first bloom on P. mlokosewitschii yesterday and
more species are full of buds..

I think all the species have consideration above and beyond
the fleeting explosion of gorgeous flowers. There is a range of size
and form from the smallest rock garden types (a foot or even less) to
near shrubs over 4 feet tall (and not including the woody species).
Foliage can range from needle like and ferny to large, rounded oval
and rough with many variables in between.

This also gives me an opportunity to mention the new book
(The Genus Paeonia) by the eminent Czech botanist Josef Halda with
help from me (Timber Press) that is just out and available from all
the usual sources. More details than most casual growers will ever
need. Some incredible color plates and line drawings that alone are
worth the price.

I'm leaving Thursday am to lead a group of intrepid
travellers to the annual tree peony festivals in NE China. We're
hoping to see hundreds of thousands of tree peonies in bloom. Our
group includes some well known names of peony growers from the US,
Canada, Germany, Australia and Denmark.

And more to go. Best and thanks Jane. Jim W.
--
Dr. James W. Waddick
8871 NW Brostrom Rd.
Kansas City Missouri 64152-2711
USA
Ph. 816-746-1949
E-fax 419-781-8594

Zone 5 Record low -23F
Summer 100F +