Saturday, June 4, 2016

Tree Peony , Sporty Forget-me-nots ...

 My tree peony has a couple of great big blooms about 8" across. Tree peonies are a woody plant from China so our winters are a bit of a stretch for them, however, this one has survived for about 10 years. Always a treat when it blooms, and this year the weather is co-operating by not being too hot during its bloom time.  One day at 30C and the blooms would be finished. I'm not sure when they opened as I was away, but I think they will last for a few days with temperatures  in the low 20s.


Forget-me-nots are pretty biennials that have an easy ability to "sport", that is, to produce different colours from the seed of the parent plant. I have tried to establish patches of white and pink forget-me-nots , but they will not seed true to colour.  You just have to be happy with whatever naturally pops up.
The pink ones are very nice, but I don't get many of them.
The columbines are starting to bloom.  This one is a double purple that I started from seed a few years ago.  They like rich humusy soil and do best in partial shade.  They won't come back if they are in a hot, dry location.  Some people find they self-sow but I've never really had that happen.



 These are wild ferns that I transplanted to the north side of the house.  I think the long mild fall we had last year was good for them, because in spite of the dry spring, they are growing very well.


2 comments:

  1. Your double purple columbines are so beautiful and I also love that colour of the tree peony.

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  2. I have a tree peony in my garden - yellow flowers though. I didn't know they were from China. It is stunning in flower in May.

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