Greetings to all peony lovers. First of all, we would like to thank Mr. Кoen Hurtekant for his invitation and for his work in promoting peonies around the world. We have been commercial members of the APS for two years, where we have gained knowledge about hybridisation and peony care. However, your website contains much more useful and relevant information. We are very grateful to all of you for your wealth of knowledge, for your work, and personally to Кoen.
About us: we are a small family nursery called ‘Peonies from Beata’. Beata(54), Anastasia(25) and sister Evelina(21). The first seedlings were planted in 2012. Although our great-grandmother grew peonies and left us a century-old bush, everything that could be preserved, or rather, preserved itself. In fact, it was a hobby that grew into an incurable disease that still has us in its grip. With all due respect to the Russians and with conditional gratitude for all the wonderful things they have given us, peonies are our main medicine for the soul. We don’t want to talk about politics, but unfortunately, politics has had a negative impact on our lives and slowed down our plans to develop and popularise peony cultivation in Ukraine.
We have 4 hectares of land where we grow peonies. We sell both cut flowers and roots to our friends and customers. We have about 350-400 varieties of peonies (the varieties are currently being replenished), in different quantities depending on the variety, but in total there are at least 50,000 roots.We only use organic fertilisers. But to answer your question, we have a wonderful climate and soil in Ukraine. Sometimes a root gets lost, but it sprouts on its own. Our job is to observe the peonies and respond to the plants’ needs in a timely manner.
We consciously began hybridisation in 2017. You could say it’s a hobby, nothing to brag about, because, as you know, it takes time and patience to grow peonies. There were many mistakes and hopes for the future. We had questions about survival, cutting flowers, and so on, and it takes a lot of time because we are on our own and have little time for crosses. The men are defending our country, so everything is on the women’s shoulders. We will probably give up our tractor licence. But at the moment, despite the difficult situation, we have energy and interest in sports, because we have nothing to lose. We studied various aspects, learned a little about biology, techniques and, in general, understanding plants as individuals. Of course, there will be results and experience, which we will share. But at the moment, we are good students and will be glad of any help you can give us in growing peonies.
Yours sincerely, Anastasia.