Peony Seed Pods in July

I’m curious about the weather this year, with our drier, warmer spring and ‘early’ summer here in Oregon. Will fall be ‘usual’ or will it come early? Who’s to know?  If I were tuned in to the Farmer’s Almanac, I might have a clue.

An indicator- the first P. mlokosewitschii (aka Molly the Witch) seed pods opened to show off their beautiful seeds in early July – ahead of their normal opening.  They bloomed about three weeks early this spring, so I guess they are on track for normal seed development. These species peonies are prolific seed producers and easy to germinate here in the Willamette Valley.

We sow them directly into the soil in the fall and watch many of them send up a shoot the following spring, with a few sprouting the second spring. No fancy techniques or watering schedules have been necessary – nature does it thing and they grow. Generally, newly sowed peony seeds are kept moist until the fall rains, which is often not a problem here in Oregon.

This summer presents a great opportunity to do some ‘dry’ variable testing.  I can experiment with some of the seed: sow it, not keep it moist and see how/if it sprouts next spring.  I’ll let you know the results next March.

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