We’re awaiting our peonies blooming in a few weeks and are excited to be able to offer a variety in glowing colors seldom seen in the peony garden: deep coral-peaches softening into salmon and then ivory. Illinois hybridizer Samuel Wissing spent over 25 years developing his famous coral peonies and this APS Gold Medal winner, turning 60 next year, is one of his best. David Michener raves “The changing color tones flow so well that it is a delight to behold…Would that even a handful of summer sunsets were equal to this peony’s bloom.” If you love warm colors, particularly in soft cups full of golden stamens, this is a peony sure to delight you.
And before your memories of your daffodils, tulips and crocus from this spring fade, give some thought to whether there were particular varieties or colors that you wanted to increase next fall (or to try for the first time) in any gaps you noticed in your springtime displays. It’s a good idea to mark the location you use for planting next fall with an interesting stone, a labeled stake, or even a handful of the colored gravel sold for use in fish tanks. If your beds or borders are anything like ours, they fill in so well over summer that what seemed obvious last month can be unrecognizable in October.
