Flower color intensity (was Soils and flower color)
Jane McGary (Tue, 12 May 2015 17:09:43 PDT)

Thanks to Nathan for the detailed note, particularly about night
temperature possibly affecting peony flower color. In fact, My former
garden was about 400 meters higher than the present one, and the nights
were always cooler. I can't do anything about that, but I can apply an
iron supplement (perhaps that used for rhododendrons?) and see if the
color of Paeonia officinalis returns to its former beauty next year.
Interestingly, Paeonia tenuifolia does not seem to have changed after
the move, and it also has pure red flowers.

The soil pH here is probably similar to what the plants had before, but
I will test it something this summer to be sure.

Incidentally, I just returned from a trip on which I saw Paeonia
mlokosewitschii in the wild in Azerbaijan. It was very similar to my
seed grown plant except that the leaves had more red pigmentation.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA