If I were to succeed in the nefarious scheme of annexing my neighbor\u2019s property, I would immediately create a garden room devoted to peonies of all sorts.\u00a0 In my mind\u2019s eye, the scene unfolds, with hundreds of garden peonies, otherwise known as Paeonia lactiflora, in bloom.\u00a0 Tree peonies\u2014Paeonia suffuticosa–would abound.\u00a0 Intersectional types, a marriage of tree and garden species, would flaunt their beautiful colors in the sunny corners.\u00a0 The species peonies of my dreams, including the alluring yellow-flowered Paeonia mlokosewitschii, aka \u201cMolly the Witch,\u201d would open their petals wide.<\/p>\n
No peony garden, imaginary or actual, would be complete without \u2018Joseph Rock,\u2019 a stunning plant with a stolid name.\u00a0 I have had designs on it even longer than I have coveted my neighbor\u2019s acreage.<\/p>\n
\u2018Joseph Rock\u2019 is a strapping peony, growing up to seven feet tall and wide, with blue-green leaves.\u00a0 A mature specimen might bear scores of fragrant flowers, each one up to eight inches wide.\u00a0 The petals are creamy white, pleated like Fortuny silk and melded together into a bowl-shaped bloom.\u00a0 Each one has a star-shaped dark purple splotch in the middle that frames a boss of golden stamens.<\/p>\n
Tree peonies in general and \u2018Joseph Rock\u2019 in particular, are native to China, where they have been cultivated for centuries.\u00a0 \u2018Joseph\u2019 was probably first sighted in 1914 in China\u2019s Gansu province by a legendary English plant collector, Reginald Farrar.\u00a0 He mostly likely brought back a specimen, which languished in the herbarium of the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh until it was rediscovered and traced back to Farrar in 1990.<\/p>\n
Fortunately for the world of peony lovers, a German-born, naturalized American scientist and plant hunter named Joseph Rock saw the tall white peony again in 1925.\u00a0 It was one of the 20,000 specimens that he sent back to Harvard University\u2019s Arnold Arboretum, which then shared seeds with institutions in many locations.\u00a0 Botanical garden personnel and plant collectors fell in love with the statuesque peony, which was ultimately named after Rock.\u00a0 It has been in cultivation ever since.<\/p>\n
\u2018Joseph Rock\u2019 has just one little flaw.\u00a0 Traditionally it has been considered difficult to propagate, making it too expensive for mass retail distribution.\u00a0 The seeds can take two or even three years to germinate and then, of course, the plant has to reach blooming size, entailing more waiting time.\u00a0 A note on the website of the Royal Horticultural Society\u2019s garden at Rosemoor mentions that modern micro-propagation methods have made \u2018Joseph Rock\u2019 less expensive to produce.\u00a0 Those of us scheming to annex a neighbor\u2019s property, while simultaneously saving the funds necessary to afford \u2018Joseph\u2019, can now also dream of the day when the cost of one plant will go below one hundred dollars.<\/p>\n
\u2018Joseph Rock\u2019 does not demand much of the gardener.\u00a0 The plants need rich, well-drained soil and full sun to very light shade.\u00a0 Consistent moisture delivered by way of drip irrigation or soaker hoses is a plus.\u00a0 Peonies generally fare best in locations that are protected from wind and the worst of the weather.\u00a0 Under the right circumstances, they will live many, many decades.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, local authorities tend to frown on people who exercise a personal right of eminent domain and arbitrarily annex neighboring properties.\u00a0 Besides, I like my neighbor.\u00a0 Therefore, I have to come up with a \u201cplan B\u201d for \u2018Joseph Rock.\u2019\u00a0 My suburban garden is already chock full of plants of all sizes and types and accommodating a seven by seven foot sun lover will be a challenge.\u00a0 Still, every year there are some plants that don\u2019t survive the winter and others just begging to be relocated in the name of the eternal pursuit of garden perfection.\u00a0 The right site for \u2018Joseph\u2019 will present itself, possibly in time for the arrival of the tax refund.\u00a0 The plan has already come together in my mind.\u00a0 With enough plotting, scheme concocting and penny pinching, it will undoubtedly come together in my garden as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If I were to succeed in the nefarious scheme of annexing my neighbor\u2019s property, I would immediately create a garden room devoted to peonies of all sorts.\u00a0 In my mind\u2019s eye, the scene unfolds, with hundreds of garden peonies, otherwise known as Paeonia lactiflora, in bloom.\u00a0 Tree peonies\u2014Paeonia suffuticosa–would abound.\u00a0 Intersectional types, a marriage of … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,2],"tags":[760,763,762,758,761,759],"class_list":["post-1004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fall","category-general-interest","category-spring","tag-garden-peony","tag-growing-peonies","tag-historic-plants","tag-joseph-rock","tag-spring-plants","tag-tree-peony"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1004"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1005,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1004\/revisions\/1005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gardenersapprentice.com\/gardeningtips\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}