Updated with some more info I received from Aleksej.
What sets the standard for a normal species and what counts as variation within a species? When I think of our garden varieties, should I really count them as one species or should they all be classified as some type of hybrid with more or less species equal traits?
In picture is a seedling from a P. delavayi![]()
2 Comments![Profile picture of Morgan]()
Thanks, I have some other delavayi and they have much wider leaves, but have seen that reds may have these more fernleaf. For many years mine have been really low only 20-30 cm but this year past 70 cm and still growing.
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Is this P. Intermedia? What I can tell you is that it was grown from seed collected by Jim Archbald. The person who received this seed labelled the plant ‘rhodoptia’?
I understand the seed collector may have visited the area where P. intermedia grows,![]()
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2 Comments![Profile picture of khurtekant]()
No. The leaflets aren’t divided enough to be intermedia. The flowers are also not hanging as in that species. P. intermedia looks a lot like P. anomala. Your peoy looks like P. officinalis to me. I can’t see which subspecies, but the differences are sometimes small. P. intermedia grows in central Asia, P. officinals around the northern…Read More
Thanks for these comments
Bought some seedlings for some years ago and this one with name P. mascula ssp arietina. Never seen any of my other peony seedling with this yellowish leafs color. This is fourth year in garden and it seems to grow slowly… or is this something else?
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1 Comment![Profile picture of khurtekant]()
Not sure what it is, small seedlings tend to look somewhat different. I’ve gotten a few such seedlings with yellow leaves, but here they tend to die slowly. Yellow leaves tend to scorch in full sun and the plants grow slowly. If you’re looking for an arietina (not mascula ssp arietina), then perhaps you could try P. arietina ‘Northern Glory’ which…Read More
A rare gem for most peony hybridizers: B-3, an as yet unnamed and unregistered seedling from Bartzella x Lemon Chiffon, thus an intersectional backcross, of which there aren’t many. It’s a sister seedling to Moonwalk (formerly B-4) and Golden Monika (B-1). All of them hybridized by Hans Maschke from Germany. He has no nursery, and doesn’t sell, no…Read More
![Profile picture of khurtekant]()
It clearly is an intersectional (=herbaceous x tree peony), that’s for sure. There are nowadays many of those and many are quite alike. If you’re looking for an ID, it’s unlikely that it is very new because new ones are very expensive and one usually doesn’t forget the things that you pay high prices for. So if it’s one of the earliest…Read More
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Thank you for your reply, and I will try an internet search for Hillary. I purchased this three years ago, and this is the first time that it has had any blooms. The name tag on the plant was Sarah Bernhardt.
![Profile picture of khurtekant]()
Surely not Sarah Bernhardt. You’re lucky, the seller has made an error to his detriment. Sarah Bernhardt is the most widely grown herbaceous peony, and also the cheapest one. All possible other peonies are more expensive. Intersectionals are far superior (better foliage, better stems) and more expensive.
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I paid the great sum of .50p for it as it was at the back of all the others and looked so sorry for itself and asked for a reduction. Was told that they were going to through it away.
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Endless discussions can be had about what species are. And as you may know, there are ‘splitters’ and ‘lumpers’. Biological (do they cross easily), morphological (do they look alike) and genetic (how different is the DNA) definitions are possible and even there you have the question of how much difference is needed to have another species or…Read More