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October 2005 Peony Archive
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29 October 2005
Shimane Hakugan - a pure white Tree Peony. It is a Japanese variety, from the Shimane prefecture. It has pure white petals, of good texture. The deep cherry coloured sheath (an outer covering over the carpels) contrasts magnificently against the pure white petals, and there is a "necklace" of golden stamens around the carpels. It looks similar to Paeonia ostii, but I rate this as a much more perfect flower. There is no pink wash on the petals of Shimane Hakugan. It has a light floral perfume.
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The "eye" of Shimane Hakugan. I love examining the intimate details of Peony flowers. They are inherently beautiful, and are very varied between different plants. Anni set the trend with her close-up photo of the eye of "Flame" on 18 October.
From a botanical point of view, the sheath would appear to protect the carpels against self-pollination, as the pollen is ripe on Day 1, whereas the carpels will not appear for several days (they will swell and burst through the sheath, as the flower matures). By that time, the pollen will have fallen. This increases the chances of cross-pollination, and thus, of increasing genetic variation in the next generation of plants.
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26 October 2005
Red Charm has now fully matured, and I have discovered that it has a pleasant scent, as well as this amazing colour. The experts proclaim that it has the scent of cloves... my nose is not sufficiently finely tuned to identify that. The distinctive shape is referred to as "bomb" shaped, with outer "guard petals" surrounding a mass of petaloids (little, modified petals).
This flower makes me laugh, every time I see it in full bloom, because it is just so outrageously unsubtle. If Coral Charm seduces me; this one just hits me in the eye.
Today's insect is a Green Vegetable Bug, which colour co-ordinates well with the bright green foliage, but stands out on the brilliant red petals.
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25 October 2005
Red Charm has finally opened, in its full glory.
Words are superfluous.
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Coral Charm. As I said yesterday, she is fading.
But like an ageing courtesan, she does it in style!
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24 October 2005
Argosy is now fully open, and you can see the small red flares on the lemon yellow petals. I like it, but it is not an exhibition quality plant.
By checking on peony websites around the world, I have now established that this plant is the variety Argosy, the first of Professor Saunders' hybrid Tree Peonies, registered by in 1928. (Amended 3/11/2005)
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The "Eye" of Argosy is very interesting to compare with Anni's photo of the "Eye" of Flame (18 October). Not only is the colour very different, but the "sheath" around the carpels is clearly visible. The "sheath" is important, as it is how botanists distinguish tree peony flowers as being of a different class of plants from herbaceous peonies (which do not have this sheath). As the flower matures, the carpels develop, and so the sheath splits open.
This photo allowed me to identify this plant as Argosy. Similar looking yellow tree peonies have different coloured "sheaths", mostly red; but this one has a yellow sheath and green carpels. (Amended 3/11/2005)
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Court Jesters' Caps. This is what the seed capsules of tree peonies do once the flowers have been successfully pollinated. The "carpels" swell, and fold backwards, as seeds develop inside them. They turn into these funny, furry structures which remind me of Court Jesters' Caps
Photo A - P. ostii seed capsule. This was the lovely pure white flower, with a dark purple sheath around the carpels. Have a look again at 21 September, and double click on the close-up photo of P. ostii. The central part of the flower is what has now developed into this strange structure.
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Photo B - "Destiny" seed capsule. This one is noticeably fatter and hairier than the other plant's seed capsule. If you go back to 21 September's photos again, double click on the close-up of "Destiny". The sheath surrounding the carpel is bright red (not purple as in P. ostii). This plant had the obvious purple flares on the white petals, which showed its different origin, as one of the "Rockii" group of tree peonies. As it comes from a different species to P. ostii, it is no surprise to see its slightly different form.
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Coral Charm, after some rain, she has flopped over into the weeds, and is fading in colour, as expected. I have deliberately not picked this flower, to allow everyone to see it change colour as it matures.
Today's insect is a tiny Cricket, just 1.5 cm long, with antennae twice as long as its body. There are other unknown insects inside the flower, too.
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23 October 2005
Good Lady. This subtle flesh colour, is quite a surprise in the world of Peonies. Good Lady has a heavy boss of stamens similar to many of the other Hybrid Tree Peonies. The carpel in the centre of the stamens is a lovely soft pink. Its foliage is also distinctive - soft green, with red tonings, and relatively finely divided leaves.
You can see how much the unstable blue tonings have faded in 12 hours, since the photo of the bud below was taken; changing the over-all colour from violet to flesh colour.
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22 October 2005
Red Charm, in bud. It is another of the hybrid herbaceous Peonies. It is very rounded, which shows how fully double the flower will be when mature. The colour is a rich dark red. This variety holds the record for the highest price paid for any peony flower, in the Dutch cut flower markets.
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Good Lady, a hybrid Tree Peony bred in Melbourne by Dr Bernard Chow. It is most unusual, starting out a soft lilac-pink colour, but fading as she matures, to show a lot of cream and pink, almost flesh tones.
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The yellow hybrid Tree Peony, Argosy, at half-open stage. (Amended 3/11/2005)
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Coral Charm, maturing. This flower is now going through her gentle, relaxed, colour change, from the incredibly bright bud of a few days ago, into this soft mid pink tone. Eventually, she will show more creamy tones.
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20 October 2005
L'Esperance. Two lovely yellow Tree Peony flowers together, beaded with droplets of Robertson rain. Nice photo, Anni, on a wet day.
These flowers clearly show their red flares against the yellow petals. The leaves are typical of the old French Hybrid Tree Peonies, showing the heavy texture of their large-flowered Tree Peony ancestor, and the bright green of the yellow-flowered species Tree Peony which was its other parent. Compare the leaves with the next photo, of a very different "yellow".
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Argosy, a yellow hybrid Tree Peony, in bud. I first thought that this might be a seedling plant, but I have now established that it is Argosy, a variety registered in America by Professor Saunders in 1928. It has much finer leaves than L'Esperance, (above) and a wonderful reddish/purple tone in the leaves. The bud colour is also reddish, and the bud shape is noticeably pointed. (Amended 3/11/2005)
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I made it back to Robertson on 21 October, and straight away went to identify this flower. At last I can confirm that this wonderful bud belongs to "Coral Charm", Surely this is one of the most elegant of all the herbaceous Peonies? It will fade from this bright coral colour, to a light peach colour. It is fascinating the way nature can blend colours.
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18 October 2005
My apologies for incorrectly naming this flower, originally. It is Yae-Zakura, first photographed on 14 October. I realised my mistake as soon as I saw the mature flower, "in the flesh". My error was in thinking, before I left Robertson last week, that that it was Hana Daijin which still had one more flower to open. I should have trusted my eyes, not my memory.
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Yae-Zakura again. Anni hadn't seen any of these Japanese Tree Peonies in person, as she was off admiring ground Orchids in Kings Park when the first ones flowered. Her reaction at first seeing it was: the "big pink one is just stunning". I agree, Anni.
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A white hybrid herbaceous peony. This in a seedling experimental hybrid, bred in the USA, by members of the American Peony Society. It is not a quality flower, but, one day, it could be a parent of a better plant. It has lovely glossy foliage. Breeding of "good" varieties often requires several generations of "crossing", and great patience, as seedling may not flower for 4 or 5 years.
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This bud is "Coral Charm" - the same flower which is shown above, on 20 October. Lovely.
Have you seen the little "Flower Spider" in the raindrops, caught by Anni's photograph? Click on the photo to enlarge it. A treasure.
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L'Esperance. This is one of the earliest French hybrid Tree Peonies, bred by Lemoine, in 1910. It was crossed between a traditional variety of Chinese Tree Peony, and a yellow flowered species Tree Peony, from Tibet. This was a major breakthrough in Tree Peony breeding, as yellow had not been known in garden TPs before. It lead the way to other crosses, notably the black reds. It was well named - "Hope".
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Another photo of the lovely, dainty Coral Fay, one of the hybrid Herbaceous Peonies. Nice photo, thanks Anni.
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Flame. This is lovely bright coloured single herbaceous Peony - another of the hybrids, as you will be able to tell later on, from the different colours of the traditional Chinese Peonies - the "lactifloras". It has a purer red (no purple) than those traditional peonies do, hence the name "Flame".
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The eye of the "Flame". It shows a wonderful boss of stamens surrounding the four golden carpels, each with its red "stigma", which in a few days, will be ready for pollination by any passing bee. The time delay between ripening of the pollen, and ripening of the stigma maximises cross-pollination with another flower - to improve its chances of genetic improvement in the next generation (i.e., less self-pollination).
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14 October 2005
Echigo Jishi: A Japanese Tree Peony. This is a young plant, and it should have more rows of petals when it flowers next year.
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Hana Daijin: This is a lovely soft violet coloured Japanese Tree Peony.
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Taiyo: a stunning red, with two flowers on a very small bush.
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Yae-Zakura: a Tree Peony which the Japanese have named after their national floral symbol, the Cherry Blossom - high praise, indeed.
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Coral Charm - one of the most famous of the "coral" coloured hybrid herbaceous peonies. It fades to an exquisite peach colour.
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Paula Fay - a more harsh colour than Coral Charm. It is bright pink, with a very strong purplish tinge about it. A showy flower in the garden, but the petals are subject to bleaching in the harsh Australian sunlight. For use as a cut flower, if it is picked just as the flower starts to open, it will open "unbleached", and then it looks good in a vase.
It is a productive plant, with many flowers.
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Coral Fay - this is a small growing hybrid herbaceous Peony, with very attractive leaves, and a lovely flower. It seems to form many flowering stems per plant, and with its dark green, finely divided leaves, it looks very good in the garden. The flower, although smaller than the other "Corals", makes a lovely cut flower. I recommend cutting it just as the flower starts to show colour. This avoids any fading of the flower.
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4 October 2005
"Godaishu". This delicate flower is in fact very large - almost dinner plate size. It is pure white, with a creamy white carpel, and a relatively small boss of golden stamens. As it matures, it opens out completely flat, as in Anni's photo, and it shows the palest lilac-pink wash on the petals. It is very beautiful.
Because of the white centre of the flower, it looks very different from the earlier flowering white Tree Peonies, such as "Destiny", or the Feng Dan Bai (P. ostii).
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2 October 2005
This is the opened flower which was photographed as a pale pink bud on 30 September. It is an un-named seedling, clearly in the P. ostii group. The Chinese call such flowers "Pink Phoenix", because they come from the Phoenix Mountains in China.
This flower is simple and elegant. The carpel (the central structure in the flower, surrounded by the golden stamens) is not as dark as the P. ostii species as photographed by Anni on 21 September.
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An herbaceous peony - a species plant, or wild flower. P. officinalis. Anni photographed the bud on 30 September. This plant was used for medicinal purposes by the mediaeval herbalists. The specific name "officinalis" is a reference to that fact. I love it for its stunning colour, and simplicity. Tiny native bees - little black ones - were busy raiding the flower for pollen which they were packing onto their "knees" to take home to their hive - for medicinal purposes? Unfortunately I was unable to capture that detail with the camera.
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A thing of beauty - but not a joy forever. Hot dry winds threatened to destroy this lovely flower the day it opened.
Another "Pink Phoenix" seedling, but this one is a much clearer pink than the first of today's photos. It is a stunning flower. Again, an un-named seedling, in the P. ostii group of plants. A real treasure.
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