Do you want peony plants that remain upright through torrential rain, wind and heavy thunder showers? I can tell you with certainty about those peonies or you can come out this week and see for yourself.
We had lots of sun last week, which brought on tremendous bloom in our peony fields. Then we had a heavy thunder shower Saturday night and I fretted about the peonies. Yesterday started out dry in the early morning, with the drizzles starting around 10:00 am. Then we had RAIN. Rain like we had never seen. Not for just 5 minutes; but, for over 20 minutes the sky poured buckets of rain. Actually, it was more like pouring 50 gallon drums of rain, non-stop. I saw rain hit the ground and bounce up over a foot. I took photos of it. I fretted about the peonies that are in full bloom.
Talk about the opportunity to do an assessment on peonies that are truly upright plants with stems strong enough to withstand any type of weather we have experienced over the past 13 years. We have selected (and sometimes lucked out) in procuring upright peony varieties to grow for our customers.
The herbaceous bush peony plants that are in full bloom and remain upstanding and gorgeous include: Bev, Delavan Rose, Francis Willard, Green Lotus, Joker, June Rose, Kansas, Lois Kelsey, Lucky, Magenta Moon, Many Happy Returns, Mischief, Petite Elegance, Sorbet, White Sands and White Wings. The intersectional Itoh peonies (cross with a tree peony) remain upright as always: Al’s Choice, Bartzella, Canary Brilliants, Chief Black Hawk, Cora Louise, Garden Treasure, Hillary, Julia Rose, Lemon Dream, Old Rose Dandy, Pastel Splendor, Scarlet Heaven, Unique and Yellow Heaven.
This was my quick assessment this morning. There are others that fared well, too. You can see the peonies on our farm, just as they will grow in your garden, as we don’t stake them up in the field. If they are standing upright here, that is what you can expect in your garden after severe, heavy rain.
Come on out and see for yourself. Thank heavens for our well drained farm soil - it’s walkable.
We are open from 10 AM – 6 PM daily through mid-June. Our address is 6219 Topaz Street NE, Brooks (or Salem), Oregon, 97305.
Directions to Brooks Gardens: from I-5, take exit 263; go east one mile to Brooks; turn left (north) at the stoplight; just over one mile to Topaz Street on the right. Topaz Street is one half mile and ends at our farm.
We are just over one mile north of Brooks, OR (between Woodburn and Salem, off of 99E) and 30 minutes south of Tualatin, Wilsonville and Canby, OR. About 40 minutes south of Portland, OR.
Follow our purple Peonies & Iris signs to our secluded Oregon peony farm.