• Paeonia tenuifolia, also known as the fernleaf peony, is a very different peony species with lots of finely divided narrow leaflets. Most readers may know the wild form, which is a single red, or the cultivated

    Pink double fernleafs

    Paeonia tenuifolia, also known as the fernleaf peony, is a very different peony species with lots of finely divided narrow leaflets. Most readers may know the wild form, which is a single red, or the cultivated double red 'Plena'....

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  • “Why should we join a peony society?” (this one, or any other), you might ask yourself. After all, you can simply grow them in your garden and enjoy them yourself. Well, a society has the benefit of bringing

    Green Prozac

    "Why should we join a peony society?" (this one, or any other), you might ask yourself. After all, you can simply grow them in your garden and enjoy them yourself. Well, a society has the benefit of bringing like-minded...

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  • In the 19th century many peonies were bred in France and the UK, whilst the center of peony hybridizing was to be found in the USA during the 20th century. It didn’t all stop in Europe however. Here’s an older

    Peonies in Lithuania

    In the 19th century many peonies were bred in France and the UK, whilst the center of peony hybridizing was to be found in the USA during the 20th century. It didn't all stop in Europe however. Here's an...

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  • Fun it may be to always discuss those new advanced hybrids, but they tend to come at a price. Just look at this price comparison list that can be found on Adriana Feng’s very interesting website Southern Peonies.

    Peonies for the masses

    Fun it may be to always discuss those new advanced hybrids, but they tend to come at a price. Just look at this price comparison list that can be found on Adriana Feng's very interesting website Southern Peonies. New...

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  • An interview with Silvia Saunders in the New York Times (1974). Silvia Saunders (1901-1994) is the daughter of A.P.

    Around the garden

    An interview with Silvia Saunders in the New York Times (1974). Silvia Saunders (1901-1994) is the daughter of A.P. Saunders, well-known peony hybridizer, who took over...

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  • P. coriacea is a species which grows in the mountains in both the south of Spain (Sierra Nevada) and Morocco (the Rif and Mid-Atlas). Not too much information can be found, it is difficult to obtain and grow and

    P. coriacea descendants

    P. coriacea is a species which grows in the mountains in both the south of Spain (Sierra Nevada) and Morocco (the Rif and Mid-Atlas). Not too much information can be found, it is difficult to obtain and grow and...

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    1 Comment
    • Blushing Princess’ children were on average far better than Pink Vanguard’s children with the same father. But in the end, the best plants were from Pink Vanguard x Lavender Baby as I had ten times as much plants to choose from. ”

      This is a great article Koen. It’s always educational to hear about other’s hybridizing results. But in the end it can be as you said in your quote : More than the public may realize, rather than intrinsically being a matter of cleverness, hybridizing is often a numbers game.

      We see a wonderful registered result from a cross, but we don’t see all of the others from that very same cross that were duds. Growing many seedlings from the same cross may be the brute-force method it’s true, but that’s often what it takes to get a pleasing result.

  • Bill Seidl, a well-known American hybridizer of advanced herbaceous and tree hybrid peonies, passed away October 8th, 2016.  I’ve only had a few short e-mail conversations with him several years ago, so I

    Seidl's life with peonies

    Bill Seidl, a well-known American hybridizer of advanced herbaceous and tree hybrid peonies, passed away October 8th, 2016.  I've only had a few short e-mail conversations with him several years ago, so I won't claim to have known him...

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  • Lois’ Choice was picked by the American Peony Society (APS) as the 2017 Gold Medal winner and hence also as the 2018 peony of the  year. It’s a quite recent introduction from Chris Laning, not too tall, but with

    APS Peony of the Year 2018

    Lois' Choice was picked by the American Peony Society (APS) as the 2017 Gold Medal winner and hence also as the 2018 peony of the  year. It's a quite recent introduction from Chris Laning, not too tall, but with...

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