Paeonia - seeds and sources
James Waddick (Sat, 31 Jul 2004 14:51:46 PDT)

Dear All;
Germination of peony seeds has more mystique than hard fact,
but I'll toss out some observations. Imitate nature. Peony seeds
ripen in early fall/late summer and fall to the ground. They
germinate the next spring in the shade of their parent or nearby. The
best, easiest and laziest method is to follow this lead with NO seed
storage. Plant seed as soon as ripen (the seed pod splits open) and
allow them the warmth and moisture of mild fall weather, followed by
winter chill. Seeds germinate after a warm moist, then cold period.
Germination is in two stages, the first a primary root/radicle after
the warm moist and the embryo after a cool period i.e. spring warmth.
If seeds are stored warm, dry or cold, this cycle is interrupted and
germination will be delayed. In a prime situation seed planted in
fall can bloom in the third spring following.

Expect much variation in species in regard to demand for
warmth, cold, duration of each etc. Seed can take as short as 1 month
or over 6 months to complete their germination requirements and if
delayed expect another year or longer.

Sources of tree peonies are few and far between. Prices are
somewhat artificially high due to few propagators and few cvs
available in the US. Some cvs are harder to graft than others and
some are slower to produce their own roots than others so many
factors are at work. The major grafters of tree peonies in the US
are 'Song Sparrow Nursery', 'Brother's Herbs and Peonies', 'Reath
Nursery' and then it goes down to a few here and there.
Tree peonies are grafted in higher numbers overseas with
Japan probably being foremost, then the UK and various EU countries
and Australia (yes Australia). Some of these places offer grafted TP
in large (wholesale) numbers for a few dollars each.

Grafting itself is a fairly simple process and easily
learned, but something of an art to become proficient. Beginners have
a very low success rate, but the pros get over 90%. Practice,
practice.

Seed germination is covered in some detail in 'The Genus
Paeonia', grafting in the APS 'Handbook of Peonies'.

Good luck. Jim W.

ps Jamie mentioned these cvs 'High Noon', 'Kamada Fuji', 'Souvenir de
Maxim Cornu' and 'Shimane Chojuraku'. The first is one of the easiest
of the Saunder's Lutea hybrids to graft and is usually available
cheaply from Japanese sources. "Souvenir" is an early French hybrids
that you either like or hate. Huge orange-yellow flowers hide in the
foliage and hang down. It is usually sold in the US under the
Japanese re-named 'Kinkaku'. These are identical plants. The other
two are Japanese cvs, but slightly less common then the others.
Jim S. should do fine with any of the Japanese or Saunders
cvs. in his situation. The vast majority of hybrids will stay well
under 6 ft and most rarely beyond 3 ft.
--
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 +