Paeonia

When planting, plant deep, 6-8" below the
soil line to the top of the graft union. This does
double duty. First, herbaceous roots cannot grow that
far. So, it does not allow them to take off. If they
are planted shallowly like other peonies, the
herbaceous growth will surpass the tree graft and
thus, all will be lost. Second, it forces the tree
graft to produce it's own roots.

My experience prompts me to disagree strongly with this advice, although
I'll agree up-front that it is advice often given.

Yes, it's true that we want to do everything possible to enhance the growth
of the tree peony scion. One of the important things to do for newly
acquired grafted tree peonies is to encourage the herbaceous stock. If it
does not take hold and grow well, the tree peony scion is doomed. In fact,
you want the herbaceous roots to take off, take hold and grow vigorously.
Those are the only roots the scion/stock unit will have during the first
season. If you think tree peony scions are itching to root into the ground
on their own, you have not grown many tree peonies!

Furthermore, the herbaceous stocks used to graft tree peonies rarely have
buds for vegetative growth. Indeed, it would make a huge difference in the
propagation of herbaceous peonies if they did. It is true that buds for
herbaceous growth do sometimes appear years down the road, but in newly
joined stocks and scions, I'll bet they are pretty rare, if only because no
propagator paying attention to what is going on would use such a stock.

Thus, it's extremely unlikely that the herbaceous stock will overwhelm the
tree peony scion during the first season.

And when you say:

Second, it forces the tree
graft to produce it's own roots.

my response is that it does nothing of the sort. In fact, if it forces the
tree peony scion to do anything with any high level of predictability, it
forces it to die. Tree peonies scions are not like coleus cuttings; they
produce roots very deliberately. Even plants which have been in the ground
for several seasons will often have very few tree peony roots.

While it may seem very desirable to have tree peonies on their own roots,
don't rush the process. It takes time and patience.

Jim McKenney
jimmckenney@starpower.net
Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, USDA zone 7, where I have not seen any
basketballs under my tree peonies, but I think there may be a soccer ball
or two.

Jim M,

When you said:

"Now this is getting interesting. In recent years,
Chinese-grown tree
peonies have appeared in local shops. Generally they
are less expensive
than the Japanese-grown plants (and they appear to be
different
cultivars).
The Chinese plants are bigger, twiggier plants than
the Japanese-grown
plants, which typically are little more than a scion
and stock stuck
together. Those Chinese plants are very tempting. When
you unpack them,
they seem to be a much better deal than the
Japanese-grown plants.
There
are often multiple stems and a superficially much
better developed root
system. "

Rick actually said of Chinese imports:

"The plants are ruthlessly trimmed of all the small
roots and out growing roots, leaving only a few down
growing main roots. My Oregon State inspector said
this is for two reasons. Number 1, is to take off any
roots that have been infected by soil bugs, namely
nematodes and symphylans. The presence of both are
readily seen as root knots on the young roots. I have
seen plants so badly infected that it looked like the
root had marbles inside. If you strip these roots
off, then no one can see that the plants are infected.
Number 2, is that if you take away all the small roots
the plant is far less likely to rot or mold in
transit. My inspector said that he sees this with
bare root roses from China too.
After all this trimming, they put the smallest amount
of moss in the middle of the roots and pack in plastic
bags with 5 rubber bands. This promotes mold
where the plastic touches the root.
In '01, I had to destroy a whole shipment of 3000
plants that had mountains of mold. My inspector was
so excited because he said that there were so many
kinds of mold, many that he had never seen."

And about Japanese varieties:

"For the last two years I have been ordering through a
different vendor from Japan. These plants are huge,
packed bulk, one layer of plants then a thick layer of
moss, and so on. The plants are NOT TRIMMED AT ALL.
The best part is that 98% grow out in the spring. I
can send you a price list from our best vendor if you
like. The proof is in the pudding. When I put the
plants from different vendors side to side, there is
no comparison."

As far as roots and grafting, most tree varieties are
increased by grafting onto herbaceous roots. This
serves several purposes. First, the tree peony roots
are not as strong of growers as the herbaceaous ones.
So, if you wanted to grow tree peonies on their own
roots, you would be waiting some time for the cuttings
to form a sizeable enough root structure to be
marketable. But, the Chinese are master gardeners when
it comes to their prize plants. So, they take their
time and wait, and thus, the prices go up with it.
But, there are ways to remove the herbaceous root from
the tree peony. Rick, again, was kind enough to tell
me his trick for such an act with minimal impact on
the plant. When planting, plant deep, 6-8" below the
soil line to the top of the graft union. This does
double duty. First, herbaceous roots cannot grow that
far. So, it does not allow them to take off. If they
are planted shallowly like other peonies, the
herbaceous growth will surpass the tree graft and
thus, all will be lost. Second, it forces the tree
graft to produce it's own roots.
Now, to the trade secret. Get a very strong piece of
metal wire. Use it like a twist-tie and put it right
at the union of the tree stem and herbaceous root and
tie securely. So, when the herbaceous root starts to
expand, it slowly girdles itself and does not allow
the tree to get more food from it. Thus, it forces the
tree to produce it's own roots to compensate for it.
So, over the years, you will have a tree peony growing
on it's own root system.

Now, about the names, I will go with the irony of old
translaters and say that they are great. Even if they
were meant to be sarcastic, they are very artistic and
sometimes quite descriptive in their own right.

=====
John Ingram in L.A., CA.
http://www.floralarchitecture.com/ check it out
Floralartistry2000@yahoo.com
310.709.1613 (cell, west coast time, please call accordingly. Thank you)
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