When we moved to from gardening zone 10 to zone 5 in fall 2009, I vowed to embrace the plants that grow well here. Peonies immediately came to mind. When I found out that peonies are generally not eaten by deer I decided I NEEDED them, preferably in large quantities.
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| Peony "Moonstone" Spring 2012 with Allium aflatunense and unidentified blue iris from a fellow gardener. |
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I purchased a few peonies through Van Engelen, including these 3 Moonstone, in Fall 2010. Spring 2011 I saw moderate growth and a few buds. The buds quickly shriveled into sad looking dried-up mummy buds.
At first I was horrified, thinking my peonies had been assaulted by a unique to zone 5 peony blight. Since then, I have read a few reports of similar results on first year transplants. Thankfully, Spring 2012 they flowered quite nicely, mummy free.
Peony "Do Tell" had also had a few flowers for me Spring 2012 along with Dutch Iris, Hardy Glads and a few Alliums. This deer-resistant grouping is currently growing safely in The Compound. Need more well drained sunny spots in the yard. Bonus Painted lady butterfly in upper right corner.
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| Unidentified dark red peony. Definitely not Festiva Maxima. | | |
As we are into summer now, I do have a few foliar issues on some of my peonies. A few look downright nasty. All in all though, growing peonies, is but one of the rewards to a zone 5 garden.
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