Patience in the garden finally paid off yesterday as my 3 year-old tree peony, KAMATA-NISHIKKI, had it's first bloom! This enormous, semi-double flower, at a full 10" across, has a silk-like bloom, and just takes my breath away. The color is a scrumptious rosy wisteria, lighter at the edges, with a bright golden tuft in the middle with maroon filaments and eye. Tree peonies, although full sun perennials, appreciate afternoon shade or filtered sun, protecting their fine textured blooms, and making them last longer. Take great care in selecting a site for your tree peony--they are extremely long-lived, and don't like to be transplanted or moved. Also, avoid any other tree or shrub roots that they would have to compete with. Unlike herbaceous peonies, they are planted deeply--6 inches below the soil level. This is because they are actually bud-grafted onto a herbaceous peony root, and deep planting ensures that the cultivar takes root, and discourages the herbaceous peony rootstock from sprouting. If, by chance, the herbaceous root stock does come up, immediately dig down a little, to see where it is coming from, and cut it off. Letting it grow will weaken the tree peony, even causing it to die off eventually. I'm looking forward to many more years with this long-lived tree, with more and more blooms each year!
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