Peonies

REDCLAY PEONIES

I’ve always enjoyed peony flowers, and came to love them even more when I learned that deer do not eat them! Almost all herbaceous peonies do well in the north, but not so in the south. Although I'm not in the deep south, my first goal in breeding peonies was to find which ones perform well in my area of central NC, then use those as my parent plants. Twenty-five years later, I’m seeing some results. I enjoy the single flowers, semi-doubles, and the Japanese types...they tend not to flop. I like peonies that have multiple buds per stem, especially when they open at the same time – it’s like a bouquet on a stem!
Presently, I do not have any for sale, but here are a few photos of some selected seedlings that I’m evaluating.

As of 2023, I am seeing some pretty flowers, and really good plant habits - but not always on the same plant. I'm working toward garden/landscape peonies with lots of buds and self-supporting stems. I feel that if stems carry several buds, the side buds should be equal in height or shorter than the central primary bud. This is primary bud dominance and it's a trait that doesn't appear often but makes for a better floral presentation (see photo in the gallery).

Very often the best of what I see are seedling crosses but I still outcross with named cultivars. However, I'm learning that I need to follow my original directive and evaluate new plants before using them as parents because I often find that some newly purchased named cultivars do not perform well in my area after being in the ground for a couple of years.