The AMERICAN PEONY SOCIETY Bulletin Fall 2020; No. 395 Photo Courtesy of Adriana Feng 'Hillary' (Anderson 1999) 2020 Gold Medal Award | 2021 Peony of the Year THE AMERICAN PEONY SOCIETY MEMBERSHIP & THE APS BULLETIN (APS) is a nonprofit horticultural orga- All interested persons are invited to join nization incorporated as a member- and participate in APS activities. Dues ship corporation under the laws of the are paid for the calendar year. Dues re- State of Missouri. APS is organized ex- ceived before August 25 are recorded clusively for educational and scientific for the current year and members will purposes, and especially to promote, be sent all four issues of The Bulletin for encourage and foster the development that year (while supplies last). Dues re- and improvement of the genus Paeo- ceived between August 25 and Novem- nia and public interest therein. 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[email protected] The American Peony Society Bulletin© Fall 2020 Issue No. 395 COLUMNS Beware the Ides of March – President’s Message 4-5 Adverse Spring Weather and Peonies Bulletin Board 6 Recognitions 7 Tim Stanek Page 8-12 DEPARTMENTS Nomenclature 11 Book Review – SOCIETY NEWS & Passion for Peonies ANNOUNCEMENTS Gold Metal Award 13 Page 18 Un-Conventional Auction Update 14-15 Popularity Poll 16-17 2021 Minnesota Convention 19 Slow Peonies Fall Seed Donations 33-34 Michelle Ovans and Brandie Orchard Page 20-26 REGIONAL & INTERNATIONAL NEWS Canadian Peony Society 35 Minnesota Peony Society 36 Member Profiles: Life in the Slow Lane Wisconsin Peony Society 37 Page 27-32 PUBLISHED QUARTERLY IN SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN, AND WINTER President’s Message Nate Bremer, APS President and Director – Reedsville, Wisconsin As incoming president, I’d like to thank all members of American Peony Soci- ety for their continued support and enthusiastic interest in peonies! Lorē Samp- son, our past President, has provided an outstanding foundation for our society and I would like to thank her for her extended work for the society as a member, director and past president. Additionally, Carol Adelman has ‘retired’ from the Board of Directors after many outstanding years of service. Please give Lore and/ or Carol a ‘THANK YOU’ for their service – their efforts have made an enduring difference. This year may go down as one of the most unusual in my memory – good, bad and ugly! Pandemic, cancellations, weather impacts, gorgeous flowers, family connections, new programming – the list goes on and on. Yet there is much to be thankful for. We all are dealing with Covid-19 fallout, so I won’t belabor this topic. How- ever, it has produced positive outcomes. More people are gardening and seeking out peonies. If you’ve been shopping, you’ll notice many growers have sold out of numerous cultivars or are in low supply of others, which might now be referred to as “Pandemic Gardening”. While this limits availability of plants this year, it does allow time to research future acquisitions. The pandemic also has greatly increased peony-related communication in so- cial media and through APS’ correspondence. People new to peonies are seeking information and more experienced peony aficionados are sharing their expertise, creating a wonderful community. I’m heartened to see such interest and goodwill in the plant world. Unfortunately, the APS’ Annual Convention was cancelled, a disappointment for many. Planning to show or view flowers at the Exhibition and Flower Show is something many attendees look forward to. Instead, they shared their gardens through social media – not a bad thing, but a change. Normally a live auction is also held at the Convention. This was replaced with a highly successful online auction, generating a high volume of member participation. The APS Seed Program has also seen a large increase in peony seed being dis- tributed throughout much of the world. Growing peonies from seed requires pa- tience, but many are finding great pleasure in taking these young plants through their various life stages to a blooming size adult plant. If you haven’t tried growing peonies from seed, I’d highly recommend doing so – the experience is extremely gratifying! As a society, we continue to embrace new ways to keep the APS mission rele- vant. Numerous plant societies in recent years have had to close their doors due 395-4 to financial issues and lack of membership. Much of this is due to changes in the way people collaborate, acquire information, do business and enjoy gardening. APS recognizes these challenges and our leadership is working to implement new ways to enjoy peonies and connect with peony lovers worldwide. One way we are adapting to the changing needs is by expanding our website and Member Portal. As more people use electronic devices, it is only natural that the APS uses these platforms to spread the peony news and information. I would encourage you to in- vestigate the Member Portal, as this area offers you the ability to collect information & images, display member-only announcements and access APS copyrighted materials. The Bulletin continues to be major membership benefit, something I personal- ly look forward to reading when it arrives in the mailbox. Costs and time involved in publishing the Bulletin are an APS focus: some changes are being considered to continue a high-quality but more cost-effective publication that still serves the peony world with a wide variety of peony-related topics and information. Last, but not least – WEATHER. Climate change has certainly shown an im- pact on local weather and growing peonies. Members who reside in the northern tier of the United States, parts of Canada and Europe have had an intimate (un- wanted) experience with challenging spring weather conditions. Peonies in the United States were impacted by a wide range of conditions this year, but the most damaging were probably the late hard freezes, followed by heavy rainfall and cool temperatures. Consequently, many stems and leaves were damaged by the extreme cold con- ditions, and many buds were destroyed or development was halted. Freeze-in- jured plant parts were then exposed to disease organisms prevalent in cool, wet conditions, causing large outbreaks of stem rot, botrytis and other maladies. If your peonies didn’t bloom well this year or have poor foliage and stems, weather is likely the reason. Fortunately, peonies are resilient plants and next year we can be hopeful for more favorable conditions. Peonies can bring many things to our lives and I’m thankful they’ve supplied me with good friends, patience in gardening, beauty, interest, direction and occu- pation. I look forward to another fantastic year (hopefully without the bumps). All the best, Nate Bremer 395-5 Bulletin Board Mentorship Program. The American Peony Society Mentorship Program has seen excellent success and we thank both mentors and mentees for making the experiences worthwhile. At this time the program could use some volunteer mentors in the areas of hybridizing and cutflower growing. Please consider offering your time and talents to this worthwhile program through a mentorship – the benefits to interested mentees through a mentor/mentee re- lationship last a lifetime and help support the peony world. For more information or to volunteer please contact Kent Tretheway at: [email protected]. Award of Landscape Merit. The ALM committee is excited to make additions to the list of Award of Landscape Merit Peonies. Judg- es are reminded to submit their scorecards to Adriana Feng, the ALM Chair, for tabulation. Score cards can be mailed to Adriana, emailed or submitted through the website (https://americanpe- onysociety.org/member-portal/pages/member-resources/proj- ects-programs/). Submissions of scorecards are needed in order for new peonies to be considered for the award. Thanks to all vol- unteer judges for making this happen! Auction-Fall Online.