Kato 002 (PVLB)

First bloomed 2006 from seeds collected 2002, first propagated 2007. Parentage; 'Lavender' open pollinated. Has had limited distribution since 2009 to breeders, and a few others, as 'Lavender Baby'. Early bloom season (6 days before 'Red Charm' in 2012). One flower per stem, flower size 5 inches (13 cm). No fragrance. Flowers are single, colored dark lavender, approaching purple tones. Carpels are light green, 3 on average, with dark purple stigmas. Filaments are the same color as the petals at the base, fading to near white at the tips. Has pollen and readily makes seeds under open pollination and also when crossed with tetraploids. Foliage with strongly divided narrow leaflets, grey-green color, with a matte finish. Average height at maturity 18 inches (45 cm).

Parentage: Blushing Princess x Salmon Dream. Blushing Princess is an F2 from P. lactiflora x Gwenda. Gwenda is an F2 from P. tenuifolia x P. mlokosewitschii. Salmon Dream is from Paula Fay x Moonrise. Paula Fay is from P. lactiflora x P. peregrina. Moonrise is an F2 from (another) P. lactiflora x P. peregrina. So Pink Vanguard has 4 species in its ancestry.

Seidl seedling number H-17. Early-Early Midseason, light milky pink, cupped Semi-double flower on a strong growing plant. Long, broad guard petals surround several rows of smaller inner petals having excellent substance, and stamens. Flower resists late freeze damage. Medium tall (40 inches) and erect, the plant is clothed in large blue-green leaflets. Side buds extend flowering. Seeds and pollen, parent of wanted forms.

Herbaceous x tree hybrid. Pollen parent. D-75. Seed parent. 'Martha W.' seedling. First bloomed 1989. First propagated 1992. Yellow, semi-double to double. Height 26-28". Light beige in bud, opening semi-double to full double. Some blooms remain light yellow while others become very brilliant in color. This is a very deceiving plant. It has long stems and good green foliage. Should make a good cut and drying flower. No pollen or seeds.

Awared of Landscape Merit (ALM) description: 'Canary Brilliants' (Anderson, R.F., 1999) Itoh Group, Yellow Semi-double, Mid-season to early late-season, 26" (although accounts of height to 32" have been reported). — A somewhat variable bloom that at its best is a full semi-double, with six or more layers of creamy apricot yellow petals. The interiors of the petals are more hue saturated, with faint traces of red flares in evidence at the base of the innermost petals. Multiple ghost green carpels (up to a dozen), encompassed by cream colored sheaths, are tipped pink and are surrounded by a ring of infertile yellow stamens. Blooms hold their form well as they mature to light ye llow. Plants are covered all over, from top to bottom, with conical buds that pop open intermittently over a 10–14 day period. At peak bloom, a plant holds a large contingent of attractive, well-apportioned blooms at varying stages of development. Blooms drain well. Foliage is to the ground, semi-glossy but not as finely cut as other Itoh hybrids; more like the foliage of Chinese tree peonies than that of the lutea hybrids. And, like its pollen parent the tree peony, its foliage remains cleaner than most herbaceous cultivars during the summer and into the fall. The bottom few inches of each stem are woody with the bulk of the stem herbaceous, strong and able to hold its flowers erect in most adverse weather conditions. 'Canary Brilliants' is compact, and at maturity because of a spreading underground crown, the bush is wider than it is tall. Dimension of a five year old plant can reach 26" x 36" (older plants can reputedly reach 4' across). Propagate by division.

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Itoh Hybrid, tree peony type, semi-double. Parentage — Paeonia lactiflora, cultivar x P. (Lutea Hybrid) Alice Harding. First bloomed 1973. Itoh Hybrid, semi-double tree peony type flowers on herbaceous stems. Yellow petals with red highlights, 20-50 petals, prominent center of sheathed carpels and large size flowers. Very hardy, flowers produced regularly and uniformly year after year from below ground overwintering buds. Stems to 27", upright to arching, presents the flowers well out of the foliage, makes a broad low bush. Large, dark green leaves last well into autumn, making an excellent landscape subject. One to three flowers per stem, sidebuds on long stems suitable for cutting, little benefit in disbudding. Long flowering, with the mid to late season lactifloras, up to 21A weeks. Fragrant. Very little pollen. Certificate of Merit Award, 1984. Patent applied for. Seedling # 205.

Award of Landscape Merit (ALM) description: 'Garden Treasure' (Hollingsworth, 1984) Itoh Group, Mid- to late-season. Medium height (27? stems), but very wide at maturity (four feet) — Big, often multi-petaled, golden yellow, semi-double blooms with soft red flares emanating from its center. Yellow stamens surround prominent ghost green carpels with pale sheaths and soft pink stigmata. Primary buds, presented on long stiff stems, and lateral side buds pop open intermittently, one at a time. For mature specimens, this can mean an extended season of upwards to two and a half weeks of continual bloom, with a profusion of flowers at its peak. Stems are upright to oblique, with blooms facing upward and outward, a vestige from, but a marked improvement over the pollen parent 'Alice Harding'. Dark green leaflets are fairly large, sharply cut and semi-glossy. Foliage is durable and can remain viable well into autumn. Blooms have a deeper coloration in some years than in others and with a more orangey aspect upon first opening. Older plants are more likely to bloom fuller with more petals. Excellent health and vigor, excellent increase rate by division. Always attracts attention from garden visitors. 1996 Gold Medalist.

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Semi-double Itoh hybrid, lavender pink. Seedling #A80-01. First bloomed 1984. Parentage, Martha W x Reath hybrid tree. Lavender pink blooms when first open; as the flower gets older, it fades to a lighter pink. No pollen or seeds. The 24" stems hold the 4-5" flowers on the top of the plant which has dark green foliage, blooming at mid-season. Seedling # A80-01

Relatively widely distributed, from N Spain (Cantabria and Soria) to Iraq via France, Italy, the Balkans, Cyprus and Turkey.
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Paeonia mlokosewitschii. Image by Dimitri Zubov
Leaves biternate [divided twice into three parts], leaflets oblong, more rarely obovate [egg-shaped with the narrow end at the base], shortly acuminate [tapering to a short point], glaucous [blue-green] above, of a different pale color beneath and shortly puberulous [covered in fine, short hairs], with yellow flowers, spreading petals, and tomentose [densely fuzzy] carpels that are arched-spreading.

Very dark red Jap. Good upright grower, vigorous, late, 34 inches. An improvement on Fuyajo. Seedling # JE-3.

Award of Landscape Merit (ALM) description: 'Charm' (Franklin, 1931) Lactiflora Group, Late mid-season, 38? — A lustrous and satiny, dark red Japanese form bloom with a center of the same red petaloids, etched yellow. Stiff and relatively straight stems angle outward gracefully to form a very large, harmoniously mounded, fountain of blooms. An eight-year-old plant matures to 40 or so stems that emerge from a relatively compact area. Although individual blooms are at their peak for a shorter duration than those of other lactifloras, plenty of side buds help 'Charm' maintain its striking presence in the landscape. One of the later Japanese form peonies to bloom.

Seedling TF-8. Parentage: (P. tenuifolia 'Plena' x P. tenuifolia 'Rosea')F2. First bloomed 2012, first propagated 2013. Fully double BOMB form. Baby pink flowers are borne 1 to a stem, 3¼ inches (8 cm) in size, up facing to slightly out facing. Two to three carpels on average which are glabrous to slightly tomentose, green and topped with whitish stigmas, the latter sometimes deformed. Disc poorly developed. No pollen, but as a pod parent normally fertile but not with other pink P. tenuifolia, so far. Not fragrant. Blooming time very early, together with or slightly ahead of P. tenuifolia 'Plena'. Finely cut foliage, pale green on emergence, is typical of the species. Average height to 15 inches (38 cm); support not needed. Named after originator's mother who was not the tallest person but the best mother one can imagine.