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Archive for May, 2016

Peak tree peony bloom 2016

Posted in Uncategorized on May 25, 2016| 1 Comment »

This past week has been spectacular for our peak tree peony bloom, with cool days and little rain. The blooms of the Chinese central plains (zhong yuan), purple flare rockii (ziban) and Japanese tree peonies all overlapped this year in a stunning show.

flawless white jade

‘Flawless White Jade.’ wu xia bai yu 無瑕白玉

Grand balck flower

‘Grand Black Flower’ hei hua kui 黑花葵

bdp

‘Big Deep Purple‘ da zong zi 大棕紫

Beauty Yu Ji

‘Beauty Yu Ji in a Red Dress’ yu ji hong zhuang 虞姬紅裝

yellow w/ big leaves

‘Yellow with Big Leaves’ da ye huang 大葉黃

Red of Hemp Leaves

‘Red of Hemp Leaves’ ma ye hong 麻葉紅

Rival Beauties Bathing

‘Rival Beauties Bathing in the Springs‘ xian chi zheng chun 咸池爭春

peach blossom spring

‘Peach Blossom Spring’ tao hua chun 桃花春

glory of sun and moon

‘Glory of the Sun and Moon’ ri yue tong hui 日月同輝

du juan ti xue

‘Cookoo’s Tears’ du juan ti xue 杜鵑啼血

xue shan jin ding

‘Snowy Mountain Golden Summit’ xue shan jin ding 雪山金頂

Qing Hai Hu Yin Bo

‘Silver Waves on Lake Qing Hai’ qing hai hu yin bo 青海湖銀波

nobal woman

‘Nobalwoman‘ gui fu ren 貴婦人

white jade lion

‘White Jade Lion’ Hakuojishi 白玉獅子

fireworks

‘Fireworks’ hanabi 花火

black dragon brocase

‘Black Dragon Brocade‘ Kokuryu-nishiki 黑竜錦

white goose of shimane

‘White Goose of Shimane’ Shimane Hakugan 島根白鴨

the sun

‘The Sun’ taiyo 太陽

naniwana brocade

‘Naniwa Brocade’ naniwa nishiki 浪花錦

muramatsu cherry

‘Muramatsu Cherry’ muramatsu zakura 村松櫻

shimane fuji

‘Shimane Wisteria’ shimano fuji 島の藤

maregetsu

‘First Crow’ muregarasu 群鳥

lion of yatsu

‘Lion of Yatsu’ yatsukajishi 八束獅子

Kamata brocade

‘Kamata Brocade’ kamata nishiki 鎌田錦

jol

’Joy of Longevity‘ shimane chojuraku 島根長壽樂

ann marie

‘Ann Marie’ the first hybrid tree peony to open. Many more of these late blooming tree peonies to come.

peony heaven luminous pk

‘Peony Heaven Luminous Pink’ a seedling we are going to register this year.

post modern phoenix white

Our wrinkled crinckeld post-Modern Phoenix White

t100

One of our favorite seedlings. We grafted it for the first time last year and hope to offer it for sale next year. 

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Early and mid-season tree peony bloom, 2016

Posted in Uncategorized on May 18, 2016| 1 Comment »

Our Chinese tree peonies are coming into peak bloom at Cricket Hill Garden. The bulk of this collection consists of Central Plains (zhongyuan) cultivars from the famous peony growing center of Luoyang and Heze in central China, as well of rockii type (ziban) tree peonies from Gansu province in northwestern China. The seesawing winter temperatures, which went from a very warm December and January, to a frigid February, caused much damage to some of the early blooming zhongyuan cultivars. Some have no flowers at all this year, while others have smaller or distorted flowers. The rockii tree peonies are slightly later blooming and were not effected by the winter. Neither were the Japanese tree peonies. All in all, 2016 is shaping up to be a fine peony bloom, with mild weather and thus far little ‘peony rain.’ Once again, in the garden as in rest of life, we see the benefit of diversity.

anomala

Paeonia anomala, a species of herbaceous peony from a range between northern European Russia and Northern Mongolia, and south to the Tien Shan Mountains. We love it for its fine foliage and tall habit. Plants reach 2.5′ on strong stems. Will grow in full sun or part shade. 

black dragon brocade

‘Black Dragon Brocade‘黑竜錦 Kokuryu Nishiki

Centerpiece of Fruit

‘Centerpiece of Fruit’ 盤中取果 Pan Zhong Qu Guo

champion blk jade

‘Champion Black Jade’ 冠世墨玉 Guan Shi Mo Yu. Very slow growing, with only a few flowers every year. Still quite spectacular. 

Ealy Bird

‘Early Bird’ (Saunders, 1950) A hybrid between P. veitchii and P. tenufolia. 

era of purple

‘Era of Purple‘ 今紫 Imamurasaki An early blooming Japanese cultivar. 

fragrant jade

‘Fragrant Jade’ 香玉 Xiang Yu

Blue Chrysanthemum

‘Blue Chrysanthemum’ 藍菊花 Lan Ju Hua An early blooming rockii type Chinese tree peony.

Green Dragon in a Chinese Ink Stone

‘Green Dragon Lying on a Chinese Ink Stone’ 青龍臥墨池 Qing Long Wo Mo Chi

Hanasobi

‘Journey of Flowers’ 花遊 Hanasobi

Heavne scented wet with dew

‘Heaven Scented Wet with Dew’ 天香湛露 Tian Xiang Zhan Lu. This is a classical variety bloomed exceptionally well this year. We plan to propagate it this fall and have young plants available in a few years. 

Lotus Like

‘Lotus Like‘ 似荷蓮 Si He Lian 

necklace of pp

‘Necklace with Precious Pearls’ 瓔珞寶珠 Ying Luo Bao Zhu

yuban's white

‘Yu Ban’s White’ 玉班白 Yu Ban Bai

red seedling

A new seedling of ours. Large red flowers are borne on a tall growing and robust plant. Its one to watch!

Top Quality ink

‘Top Quality Ink’

pjo

‘Purple Jade Orchid‘ 玉蘭紫 Yu Lan Zi Many more rockii type tree peonies still to come. 

view

Our woodland display garden. 

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The east garden with a stunning glass sculpture by Mundy Hepburn. 

herbaceous buds

Lots of buds still to come!

 

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In Bloom and Bud, mid-May 2016

Posted in Uncategorized on May 12, 2016| 2 Comments »

After a WEEK straight of rain, May 1st to May 8th, the skies finally cleared on May 9th. With warm sunny days in the forecast, we anticipate many tree peonies to come into bloom this weekend (5/14) with peak bloom probably occurring next weekend (5/21). Aside from peonies, we have lots of other beautiful and interesting plants either in bloom or on the verge this week. Enjoy!

phoenix purple

Many of our early blooming tree peonies suffered winter damage and are not going to bloom this year. This specimen of ‘Phoenix Purple’ was unscathed.

'Blue Sapphire' is another early blooming Chinese tree peony. Some plants suffered extensive winter damage while others were fine. Even our small nursery has many micro climates.

‘Blue Sapphire’ is another early blooming Chinese tree peony. Some plants suffered extensive winter damage while others were fine. Even our small nursery has many micro climates.

'Ling Flower Wet with Dew' is at 'mashmallow' stage of bud, should open tomorrow.

‘Ling Flower Wet with Dew’ is at ‘marshmallow’ stage of bud, and will open soon.

Paeonia japonica, a woodland species native to China and Japan opened today.

Paeonia japonica, a woodland species native to China and Japan opened May 10th.

'Capital Red' continues to slowly unffurl its magnificent blossoms. These take over two weeks to open fully.

‘Capital Red’ continues to slowly unfurl its magnificent blossoms. These take over two weeks to open fully.

So many peony blossoms still to come. The majority of buds are still hard as marbles.

So many peony blossoms still to come. The majority of buds are still hard as marbles.

Pawpaws blossoms are begging to open.

Pawpaws blossoms are beginning to open. These strange purple flowers are pollinated by beetles and flies.

Quince buds are 'showing pink' and should be open in a few days.

Quince buds are ‘showing pink’ and should be open in a few days.

Aronias are is full bloom.

Aronias are is full bloom.

Continuing with members of the Rosacea family, apples are also in full bloom.

Continuing with members of the Rosaceae family, apples are also in full bloom.

Black currant bloom is just finishing up. Bushes loom to be loaded this year.

Black currant bloom is just finishing up. Bushes loom to be loaded this year.

Blueberries are in full bloom.

Blueberries are in full bloom.

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The invasive garlic mustard is in bloom. This thug first showed up at the nursery and surrounding woods about five years ago. Every spring we devoted a day to yanking it all up before it goes to seed. Our years of diligent labor seem have finally paid off, we found comparatively little this year.

With all the dandelions now in bloom, a quick walk around our display garden is all the proof an organic certifiery would need to prove that we don't use herbacicdes.

With all the dandelions now in bloom, a quick walk around our display garden is all the proof an organic certifier would need to prove that we don’t use herbicides.

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