Propagation: 2015 Seed Starting, Part 5, 3 by DonnaMack

DonnaMack wrote:
I got the seeds from JL Hudson, and also got a couple of others. I find that the close to native ones like Dale's Strain just sit in my yard year after year, just surviving. I tried 'Monet', 'June Bride', 'Cherries Jubilee'. I loved 'Cherries Jubilee', and kept buying them as losing them as the price went from $7.99 to $9.99 to $11.99 (at $13.99 I pulled the plug). 'Firefly' has a similar color flower on a greener plant. I LOVE the red!

You are quite right that I posted two different seeds. My original ones are from 2008, and sometimes when I really want a plant from "old" seed I will buy a new version (which I think the Swallowtail seed is although the name is different) and grow them both.

I have clients who absolutely abuse more neutral colored heuchera and they thrive. I also could not grow heucherella, as my dead 'Brigette Bloom' and 'Lacquer Leaf' plants will attest. So I think that my soil was particularly bad (lots of clay) so I was impressed by the performance of these little guys.

I do keep my seed in the refrigerator. As a matter of fact, I was given the gift of one of those min-fridges because my seeds were taking up so much room in the main fridge. So all of my seeds are held at 40 degrees. Which, I think is the reason I get germination from seeds I saved from 1998 (particularly mirabilis, impatiens balsamina, ipomoea, nasturtium) so by the time I sow them they are coming in from the cold. Thank you, Blomma - you made me think. I had not really considered that ALL of my seeds are stratified, and that when I sow them they have been cold for YEARS!

The red plant in bud is, believe it or not a peony - Burma Ruby. It was a gift from Steve who at the time was SteveFort Worth. The first picture and second pictures show it planted in semi sun in Lake County. I planted it under a crabapple on the north side of my house with white polemonium and Athryrium Felix Femina (the latter was never very happy). This was in 2009.

In 2011 I was moving so I put it in a pot and kept it on the balcony of a place I rented for a year while in transition. I actually potted up tons of my stuff for a year while I changed houses, and picked a two bedroom apartment based on size of balcony and light (had to be BIG and facing south or east). Burma was very happy in its little pot. The third picture is from 2011.

So I moved it to my new yard. Here is a closeup (picture 4) of the plant taken on the same day as the picture from my previous posting. This is in 2012.

And it did bloom (picture 5), but it has fewer buds, as you can see. It had taken a step back. It only bloomed because it had some stored up energy. And the next year - 2013 - it didn't bloom at all - just formed foliage. So I moved it again to another location without a enough light. It formed a lovely green plant, but didn't bloom. (2014). So last fall I moved it to a new sun location. (Come on, 2015!)

So I learned something else about the light requirements of even single peonies. I don't mind making these dumb mistakes because I learn so much and can pass it on. I loved the red effect I got from it but I have to make it happy.