From these last series, they've received a long warm period and will now go into cold storage. Here the two…
Since about a week this site has experienced unusually heavy traffic. About 1,000 ‘unique’ visitors each hour, mostly from faraway places where peonies cannot be grown (Singapore, Brazil, Vietnam), so it feels like a deliberate attempt to slow down the site, which you may have noticed. Traffic from those countries could easily be blocked, but we’d…Read More
![]()
Hi, this spring i starter breeding peonies, i made a bunch of crosses between lactifloras and i’ve noticed that a few pods have already opened up in june, showing the yellow seeds. I read that viable seeds should be black. Does this mean that the cross was unsuccessful? This happened only with lactifloras, not hybrids.
![]()
7 Comments![Profile picture of Nicola]()
Hi, thank you so much for replying. I’ve waited and now the herbaceous ones are almost all brown. They look kinda crispy though, do you think this will impact their viability?
![]()
![Profile picture of khurtekant]()
As far as I can see, they are not good and will do nothing. Good seeds are more or less round. If they have that shape, it is probably because those were ‘hollow’ seeds. Good seeds are ‘full’ and when placed in water will sink (unless dried out very much). It’s not unusual, I also have some results from crossing giving nearly all hollow seeds. If…Read More
![Profile picture of Nicola]()
Hi, now that the majority of my crossings have matured, i can see the difference! Those in the photo i posted early are no good, thank you! Here’s a picture of healthy seeds!
![]()
![Profile picture of Nicola]()
If i may, i’d like to ask you another question, this time regarding the germination process. I read your article about the germination substrate (very interesting and useful) i prepared the ziplock bag with 20 grams of dry fine vermiculite and i put inside the seeds (they were previously hydratated in water for 3 days) and i calculated the 7% of w…Read More
![]()
![Profile picture of khurtekant]()
Hello. The round seeds look good indeed. As to the vermiculite I can see I wasn’t detailed enough in the article. The 7% should be volume/volume, not weight/weight. For water it doesn’t matter since 1 gram of water is equal to 1 ml of water (since the specific gravity of water is 1). But vermiculite is very light, thus 20 grams is quite a lot of…Read More
![Profile picture of The Peony Society]()
The article was updated to clarify that it is calculated volume/volume and not weight/weight.
🌺 𝗖𝗮𝗻 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗙𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗭𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀? yes! Here’s How!
Hey plant lovers! 👋
Today I’m sharing the SECRET to growing peonies in COLD climates!
As a third-gen peony grower with nearly 50 years of experience, let me tell you something amazing about Rockii peonies :
❄️ They survive -43°C winters!
Yes, really! These to…Read More![]()
Some days ago we mowed down a plot of peonies which was heavily infected with (strawberry)leaf nematodes (aphelenchoides fragariae). It’s one of only a few problems with peonies that regularly occur here, the other being botrytis and, less common, phytophthora. The plants will no doubt experience a setback, but it is hoped the pest can be…Read More
![]()
![]()
![]()
![]()
![Profile Photo]()
liked this1 Comment![Profile picture of Dick]()
Most intersectional don’t have leafnematodes.
Treepeonies don’t seem to suffer from leafnematodes as well.
I always wondered why nobody did any research on this feature.
I just received some images of Matias Krieger’s seedlings and they were added to the page about him and his work. Have a look to see some nice ones for the future… Here’s already one of which I’m just a little bit jealous 😉
![]()
- Load More Posts
The seed pods have opened up too early, but the seeds themselves are good. The yellow ones will turn brown. Leave them as they are, at the beginning of July they’ll probably be ready to harvest. If you harvest them now, they’ll simply rot. Hybrids at this time will be red, those will turn black. You need brown or black seeds, not yellow or red ones.