Gardeners World is back!

[RedDiamond]

Watching now on BBC2. Oh I have missed Monty!

Vase. Not case.

The Peonies ❤️

I love peonies, I've never tried to grow them though. Might have to give them a go.

I love peonies too. I have several in my garden and have a secret hankering for a tree peony......

My peony took about 5 years to flower, I was about to give up but dh persuaded me to keep it.

@ThomasHardyPerennial I have just one in my garden and it has never flowered. It always looks like it's about to burst into bloom, but nothing. I bought it about 4 years ago, so maybe there's still hope! I bought it at Lidl, and was blaming it on that

Mine is also from Lidl . I wouldn't give up, AlwaysOnAbloodyDiet!

Really?! 😂 I'm feeling a bit more optimistic now.
When do they bloom? I think she said May? I'll have a look at mine in the morning 🤞

Just looked at some photos - mine was at peak flower in June. Still looks like a load of rhubarb at the moment ! I wish I knew what variety it is, but lost the tag ages ago.

This was it last year.

This is my tree peony :) photos taken yesterday

Absolutely gorgeous greathat!

I was about to give up on my peonies too but then I read they like feeding and rainwater so I started slinging it on them and hey presto they flowered and are spreading too!

Oh I like the look of those tree peonies.greathat Do they take time to flower too?

They are all beautiful.
Thomas Rhubarb is a very good description of mine!!

Feed them Always it'll be happy, mine are budding nicely now.

Monty is baaack !!
Kind of warming to Adam but I need monty to say soothing things through this crisis. And I’m not a gardener 😂

I bought the book about Nigel on audio so I could hear him any time. It’s great though there are some sad times in it - and you can hear the emotion in his voice just reading it even now 😢

@greathat that is stunning. Which variety?

My peonies are in bud and I’m checking them every day. I think they might be my favourite flowers in my garden. Mind you, I also think that about my daffodils, my roses and my Nerines

Oh and my Echium pininana...

I dug out some pics of mine from last year. Varieties are Callie’s Memory, Coral Charm and Coral Sunset. I think!

No - Sonoma Sun not Coral Sunset. Right I’ll shut up now!

They are incredibly beautiful Venus
Please don't shut up, I love the fact that you know the names, and are pedantic enough to come back and fix your error

I see that a garden centre near me has a stunning pink called 'Sarah Bernhardt' . I'd ring right now and order literally all they have in stock but does that mean another 5 years of waiting for them to bloom

@ppeatfruit I will feed it. It buds, looks very promising, but the buds have yet to open

They shouldn’t take that long. All of mine flowered the year after planting. The key is to make sure you don’t plant them too deep - the eyes (buds) should be just below soil surface. And then mulch around it every autumn with composted manure, but avoid the centre of the crown so that it doesn’t rot. Sarah Bernhardt is a beautiful old classic that should reward you well. Buy her!

Venus I think I did plant them too deep originally. It's interesting that they've changed their situation on their own. (my book said they don't take kindly to being moved).

This spring has been warm and everything is in bud ,too early! I have my first standard rose in bloom!

Interestingly, an English Garden magazine article about peonies just popped up on my Facebook feed, and it said that they have to be mature to flower and recommended buying plants that are 3-5 years old to avoid a wait. So that could be another reason why some of you have found it’s taken a while.

Maybe. I imagine Lidl source young and inferior plants at low cost. ?

Anyway, I can't get through to any garden centre. In the past week I've text, called and emailed
People on another thread were recommending Viburnums.
I imagine they are super busy with people being at home and ordering.

Thanks for advice re planting them
They are really stunning