Mid-season Peonies at Olbrich

I am very behind in my postings! Let's start getting back on track with some memories of mid-season peonies at Olbrich Botanical Gardens. Olbrich has a fantastic peony collection, with lots of unique selections from Klehm's Song Sparrow. These photos were all taken in early June.

Beautiful Senorita - this striking Japanese type has strong pink petals and fabulous spiky centers.

Herbaceous peony 'Beautiful Senorita'

Fuchsia Jazz - the shape of this herbaceous cultivar is almost tree-peony like. As you can see, eye-popping color!

Herbaceous peony 'Fuchsia Jazz'

Bowl of Cream - one of those super-packed doubles I am so fond of. A very good white with strong fragrance. Seemed to have pretty strong stems for such an enormous flower.

Herbaceous peony 'Bowl of Cream'

Fluffy - I like Fluffy although the name is perplexing. It's not particularly "fluffy" at all - perhaps they had in mind the gold poof at the center. The petal edges are nicely fringed.

Herbaceous peony 'Fluffy'

Coral Supreme - this is one of those WOW peonies. I love coral peonies in general. It would be hard to choose a favorite between this one and 'Coral Sunset'. The dark coral pink slowly fades to apricot-cream. The gradations of color, floriferousness, and overall plant habit make a breathtaking show in the garden. I took about 18 pictures of this one... here are a couple for you!

Herbaceous peony 'Coral Supreme'

Herbaceous peony 'Coral Supreme'

Sweet Shelly - another nice Japanese type, this one with very large soft yellow centers, and short, flat pink petals.

Herbaceous peony 'Sweet Shelly'

Karl G. Klehm - the flowers on this rose-shaped creamy white peony are simply enormous and heavily double. I love the antique look of the blooms, but as you can see the flowers are so heavy they droop seriously - the plant really can't hold itself up at all. The plant in the picture is well-supported, but still the stems fall and weep.

Herbaceous peony 'Karl G. Klehm'

Flame - the picture here does not do this peony justice - the color is an indescribable coral-red, which really does seem to burn with a mysterious inner fire. It was also growing, for some reason, in what appeared to be nearly complete shade. The color carries across the garden amazingly well, and from a distance it appears like a stand of enormous but delicate tulips.

Herbaceous peony 'Flame'

Pink Luau - I remember not liking this peony when I saw it... but the picture sure does look attractive. Certainly a unique peony, perhaps more effective as a close-up than for garden effect.

Hope you've enjoyed my memories of June... Visiting Olbrich is always so torturous - if only I had endless space to add more peonies to my garden!