FlaFly 0 Report post Posted May 12, 2016 It's been a while since anyone posted here. It's spring in North Carolina. (this was actually taken a week ago). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kentuckytroutbum 0 Report post Posted May 13, 2016 Flafly- Great photo, good exposure, focus, and control of DOF. Yes, its been a while since anyone posted some images. Thanks for posting. Bill Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FlaFly 0 Report post Posted May 13, 2016 Thanx KYTB. I apologize to all that I didn't resize the photo to fit on the screen. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Meeshka 0 Report post Posted May 13, 2016 Nice! My peonys won't even think about flowering till mid June (Alberta, Canada) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted May 19, 2016 Nice. My Peony just now has some buds about marble size on it so should get some blooms in the next couple weeks hopefully. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FlaFly 0 Report post Posted May 19, 2016 We have 16 plants (various). They're all blooming now, but every time there's a heavy rain, it pounds the blooms to bits, or leaves the whole stem and bloom on the ground. Fortunately they keep adding new blooms. That one was Fiesta Maxima. I'll post a couple more I like separately. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted May 20, 2016 Yeah that's the only down side to peonies, the rain can really ruin the blooms so much easier than it does other plants it seems. Last year mine had just got full bloom and the next day was a hard rain and knocked them all off and that was the only bloom for the whole year last year on mine. Once mine bloom I'll snap a pic of them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FlaFly 0 Report post Posted May 20, 2016 One great up-side is how fast they grow. When we get up to NC usually early April, the daffodils are about spent and the tulips are all blooming, but there isn't much of anything else (except the blooming trees like dogwoods, redbuds, etc.). But one day we'll spot these little pointy red shoots peeking out of the soil. By the time two weeks have passed, they're already several feet tall and bushy. And starting to bud. Those first blooms were taken around the first week of May! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hookedintheear 0 Report post Posted May 29, 2016 Nice! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FlaFly 0 Report post Posted May 30, 2016 thanks Hooked Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted May 31, 2016 Finally had one bloom open while I was away this weekend, no idea what happens to the 2nd bloom but looks like it was chewed off. I have some other smaller buds on it but it almost looks like the other smaller buds are turning brownish. You know much about issues with these Peonys FlaFly? Mind if I show ya a pic of the brownish buds and see if you can tell what's going on with mine? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FlaFly 0 Report post Posted May 31, 2016 Wouldn't hurt but I may or may not see anything. One problem people have with peonies blooms is that they don't like too much fertilizer. If I fertilized them at all, I'd do it after the blooms are all spent, but the foliage remains. I wouldn't add any fertilizer to the new spring shoots. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted May 31, 2016 It's still a young plant, only 2nd year I have had it so haven't used any ferts yet. I'll go snap a pic and post and see if you can tell anything. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Steeldrifter 0 Report post Posted May 31, 2016 Okay here they are. First pic of the overall plant. You can see it looks pretty healthy, nice and green and does have one nice big bloom on it. 2nd pic though, hopefully it's clear enough in the pic, there's about 5 of the 6 blooms that seem like they got to a small size and then stopped and just turned brown for some reason. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mikechell 0 Report post Posted June 1, 2016 Two things I remember from Indiana. One I am not sure of the truth of it, the other based on location ... 1) Location. Peonies require somewhere around 5 hours or more of sunlight to bloom. Even a long cloudy/rainy period, if it starts just after the buds start forming, can stunt the buds enough to prevent blooms. I remember Dad digging out bushes as the Maples grew, because they weren't getting enough sun anymore. 2) I don't know if this helped or not, but Dad always had us out there, as soon as the petals fell. We "topped" every seed case off the bushes. Dad said that since they wouldn't waste energy making seeds, they would create more blooms the following year. Like I said, I don't know if "topping" was the reason, but a whole row of bushes with TONS of bloom sure was pretty each year. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites