Last Summer we planted our first intersectional peony and fell in love with it immediately. Intersectional peonies are supremely satisfying plants – breathtakingly beautiful, rugged, deer proof, drought tolerant, and trouble free. The intersectional peony is a stunning hybrid that goes dormant to ground level and buds like a herbaceous peony but has flowers and foliage like a tree peony. The foliage is robust and pointed at the leaf tips, rather like the tree peony, and develop slightly woody stems towards the end of the growing season.

Intersectional peonies are the result of crossing two different species of peony, the tree peony and the herbaceous peony. The resulting plants combine the best qualities of their parents. They are vigorous growers, growing anywhere the herbaceous peonies are grown. Strong, sturdy stems hold the flowers upright, with most flowers reaching up to ten inches across. These new peonies offer vibrant colors unavailable before in the peony family. The foliage stays green and lush until frost when it can be cut down to the ground where they will grow next spring from underground eyes.

The first crosses produced a whole new group of bright yellow flowered peonies that the home gardener had wanted for years. Today, hybridizers have created new intersectional peonies in other colors including pink, orange tones, striped, splashed, flared patterns and varieties that change color from dark pink to yellow as the flower ages. The flowers tend toward semi-double and many are fragrant. Often they have more than one bud per stem. The blooms greatly resemble those of the woody parent, many of them being double. The flowers do not fall over in the rain like herbaceous peonies, and their opening is staggered over a six week period.

Summer care is minimal for your intersectional peony. Water dry periods of the growing season. Fertilize with a balanced time release fertilizer. Avoid late fall applications of fertilizer. Remove spent blooms.

More difficult to propagate than herbaceous peonies, intersectional peonies can be still hard to find. Propagation of named cultivars is typically by crown division. Grafting of above ground stems as one would do with woody peonies, and grafting of below ground buds have both proven successful. As more growers discover the merits of these plants it will become easier for the home gardener to enjoy them.

Tips of the Month

Intersectional peonies are easy to grow and hardy to at least zone 4. They survive our frigid Michigan winters just fine. These peonies will grow anywhere herbaceous peonies will grow. When planting consider the following:

1. Intersectional peonies grow best in full sun in fertile well-drained soil. We recommend at least 8 hours of sunlight.
2. Keep in mind these plants live for decades and can grow up to 4 feet across.
3. After selecting your site, we recommend you amend your soil. Prepare a soil mixture using: two parts top soil, two parts compost, and one part peat moss. Good drainage is very important.
4. Dig a hole two feet deep and two feet across. Place your root so that the crown is 3 to 4 inches below the soil level. Fan the roots out while adding soil. Firm the ground as you go. Once you have completely filled in the hole, water your peony thoroughly enough to settle the soil.
5. Mulch with straw-type mulch or wood chips. Leaves are not recommended because they tend to matte down. The main function of mulch is to keep your peony root from thawing and refreezing during the winter season.
6. Never allow the newly planted specimen to dry out. Remove any competitive weeds near peonies to help with moisture.
7. A slow release balanced fertilizer should be added at planting time to ensure rapid root development.
8. Probably the most important thing to remember is the importance of site selection. Always remember that this plant is very long lived!

Flower of the Month

Paeonia ‘Bartzella’ (Bartzella Intersectional Peony)
Paeonia ‘Bartzella’ is the Rolls Royce of peonies. This stunning hybrid goes dormant to ground level and buds like a herbaceous peony but has flowers and foliage like a tree peony. Developed by peony breeder Roger Anderson of Wisconsin, established clumps can reach three feet tall and three feet wide with up to eighty, nine inch wide, fully double yellow flowers. The flowers do not fall over in the rain like herbaceous peonies, and their opening is staggered over a six week period.

Intersectional peonies make excellent cut flowers. They can be cut anytime after the bud is soft like a fresh marshmallow. For best results, place the flowers in fresh water immediately after cutting. You can cut the flowers as long as you like as long as you leave the lowest branch stem on the plant. You should not cut more than 1/3 of the total stems so the plant has enough leaves to re-grow for next year.


 

Web Site of the Month

Adelman Peony Gardens
They grow a large collection of peonies covering about nine acres near Salem, Oregon. Adelman’s have more than 160 varieties for sale in our online store. Their goal is to give a customer a wide selection of select peonies not found anywhere else. The most recent excitement at Adelman’s is intersectional peonies, produced by crossing tree peonies with bush peonies, resulting in exciting new colors and outstanding plant habit. They ship bare-root peonies to customers across the country in the Fall.

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