More Peonies

It's still peony time here as my mid and late-season herbaceous peonies are blooming!

Peony Bed in June

This is 'Vivid Rose', a big late season double pink. I just love its intense color and flower form. The blooms are quite heavy but it has pretty strong stems, so overall not as droopy as one might expect. Fragrance is sweet and strong.

Peony 'Vivid Rose'

My 'Myrtle Gentry' is a soft shell pink, also with enormous double blooms of a very soft texture. A bit more floppy than Vivid Rose, but holds up alright with support. This is their third year in my garden, so they are starting to bulk up and put on a nice show this year.

Peony 'Myrtle Gentry'

I also have an unkown inherited peony, a midseason soft double pink. It has a ring of creamy petals just above the guard petals. It is growing in almost complete shade and I'm amazed that the poor thing blooms at all. Not sure if I should move it or what. It is a sweet old-fashioned flower, but not as fine as some of the newer varieties available IMHO. It is at least 20 years old or more, planted by the original owners of the house.

Unknown midseason pink peony

Finally, I'm very excited that my intersectional hybrid peony 'Bartzella' is blooming this year for the first time! It has three big stunning blooms, a soft yellow with reddish interior streaks. This is its second year in my garden.

Intersectional Hybrid peony 'Bartzella'

The fragrance of 'Bartzella' is often described as "lemony" in garden books. I don't detect anything remotely similar to lemon, but it does have a soft fragrance that one might describe as herbal. Pleasant and unusual, though not really floral in character at all.

Peony 'Bartzella'

I thought I would like the yellow with the blue iris nearby, but it is the wrong yellow for that, so I will have to move things (the iris, not the peony!). I think it actually looks better with reds and oranges than blues. 'Bartzella' forms a very tidy rounded clump of foliage and looks great all season. In spring the foliage emerges a bronzey-olive. Fades in summer to a fine mid-green.

Peony 'Bartzella' - spring foliage, with tulips (early May)

Peony 'Bartzella' - clump of green foliage in late May

Intersectional hybrid peonies have foliage and flowers that look like tree peonies, but die back down to the ground in winter like herbaceous peonies. They used to be quite expensive, and new introductions still carry a high price in the first few years. But 'Bartzella' and some others are more widely available now, and the price is very reasonable. Well worth growing!

Late Spring Perennial Combos

A brief interlude from the peony avalanche... here is an assortment of pleasing combinations of perennials from throughout the garden in late May and early June.

Cotinus 'Velvet Cloak' with Euphorbia polychroma and the puffy seedpods of Pulsatilla vulgaris

I love the fabulous foliage of Cotinus 'Velvet Cloak' (Ok so this is technically a shrub...) with Euphorbia polychroma (Cushion Spurge).

Cotinus 'Velvet Cloak' with Euphorbia polychroma (Cushion Spurge)

The spurge looks splendid with anything strong enough to stand up to it - here with the strongly-colored magenta Geranium 'Patricia'. The spurge bracts are fading, while the geranium is just coming into bloom.

Euphorbia polychroma (Cushion spurge) with Geranium 'Patricia'

Ice-blue Amsonia hubrichtii (Bluestar) with bright magenta Geranium sanguineum (Bloody Cranesbill) 'Shepherd's Warning'. I imagine some might object to this rather odd color combo, but I love it. The neat dome of foliage in the background is calamint. The amsonia grows slowly - this is a young plant, still quite small.

Amsonia hubrichtii with Geranium sanguineum 'Shepherd's Warning'

Geraniums light up the garden in their subtle way in late May-June. Here is another: softest pink Geranium 'Biokovo' behind Sedum 'Autumn Fire'.

Sedum 'Autumn Fire' with Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Biokovo' in late May

The intense magenta color of Geranium macrorrhizum 'Bevan's Variety' might not work everywhere. But I do like it in the shady spot under a lilac, behind Thuja occidentalis 'Hetz Midget'. 

Thuja occidentalis 'Hetz Midget' with Geranium macrorrhizum (Bigroot Geranium) 'Bevan's Variety'

This is Alchemilla mollis (Lady's Mantle), with as yet unopened buds, and one of my favorite geraniums: purple flowered 'Nimbus' with fine, cutleaf foliage.

Alchemilla mollis (Lady's Mantle) with Geranium 'Nimbus'

 In my shade garden, little bluebells are blooming near the Ostrich Ferns. Some Galium odoratum are still in bloom at their feet.

Ostrich fern with Spanish bluebells and Galium odoratum

In this shady spot, blue phlox divaricata perfumes the air while tumbling through a male fern.

Phlox divaricata 'Blue Moon' with Male fern

Another effective shade garden combo is Carex 'Banana Boat' with a brown-burgandy Heuchera, such as this 'Melting Fire'. Nearby companions are Epimedium 'Amber Queen' and Hellebore 'Ivory Prince'.

Carex 'Banana Boat' with Heuchera 'Melting Fire'

A blue self-seeded Aquilegia (Columbine) complements the yellow leaves of this unknown hosta cultivar.

Blue columbine with yellow-edged hosta

Finally, here is a peony for you after all - I love how the hybrid 'Coral Sunset' looks with the blooms of Filipendula hexapetala (Meadowsweet) 'Flore Plena'. The pinky-peach of the meadowsweet buds match the faded color of the peony exactly.

Peony 'Coral Sunset' with Filipendula hexapetala (Meadowsweet) 'Flore Plena'

This year it rained heavily just as soon as this peony began blooming, so the blooms did not last as long as usual. The tall stems of the Meadowsweet also bent over awkwardly. I'm not sure how to support this plant - but it looks lovely at any angle.

Filipendula hexapetala (Meadowsweet) 'Flore Plena'

Here is the deep coral color of the peony before it faded in the rain:

Peony 'Coral Sunset' - newly opened flower

Tree Peony 'Toichi Ruby'

I encountered this incredibly beautiful tree peony on a recent visit to Olbrich Botanical Gardens.

Tree peony 'Toichi Ruby'

This is a relatively recent introduction, hybridized by Toichi Domoto and Roy Klehm. The color is just fantastic, and the flower form and presentation on the bush are also excellent. (The color is coming out more pink in the pictures - in real life it appeared to be more of a delicious cherry-pop red.)

Tree peony 'Toichi Ruby'

It appears to be a very profuse bloomer. I'm not sure how old these plants are, but this section of Olbrich has only been installed in the last couple years, so they can't be at full maturity yet. I took about 3000 pictures of it. :-)

Tree peony 'Toichi Ruby'

As a bonus, they had a light but very beguiling sweet fragrance, reminiscent of old garden roses. Unusual for what seems to be a (typically scentless) Japanese type of tree peony! I wonder if it has some Chinese/rockii in its blood...

Tree peony 'Toichi Ruby'

By far my favorite tree peony in Olbrich's collection to date - they have several others (see my earlier post about them), most in various nauseating shades of mauve. With its strong bright color, 'Toichi Ruby' would have to be placed with care in the garden - but I'd personally be willing to banish anything that clashed to another part of the yard to accommodate this diva!