Re: Peonies
- Subject: Re: Peonies
- From: O* P*
- Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2001 10:06:09 -0800
I find it hard to believe that dumping ice on any plant will give
it the required "cool days" it needs to perform normally.
Certainly, one treatment with ice can't provide the cool root
system needed.
Some years ago, there was a lot of interest in growing kiwis on
Vancouver Island. A number of people went to the expense of
planting kiwi farms. They didn't thrive because, in order to set
fruit reliably, they need something like 40 consecutive days of
low temperatures (can't remember what) and we don't get that
here.
I have no idea what peonies need.
Diane Pertson
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe Seals"
> I hope somebody else will jump in on this one.
>
> Coincidently, I now remember that when I did my survey
> some years ago, the commercial peony cut flower grower
> was in Fremont (se SF Bay).
>
> Comparatively speaking, although he was able to get
> peonies to bloom, the flowers were smaller and in
> lesser quantity than those of plants from the north.
>
> And he got them to bloom without dumping ice cubes on
> them. So, it can be done without the ice treatment.
>
> I've heard about people doing this with fruit trees
> that require chilling (e.g., cherries, some apples),
> various flowering hardy bushes (e.g., lilacs), and
> some northern perennials (e.g., trollius, trillium).
>
> Aside from some gardeners "swearing" by this practice,
> I've seen no subtantiative documentation of this (no
> real studies that prove it to work). I have seen
> studies, however, that prove the opposite (it does NOT
> work).
>
> I will be the naysayer here so that somebody else can
> jump in and state the philosophy of the opposite. I'm
> actually hoping that someone will go beyond the
> philosophical and state some documentation.
>
> Joe Seals
> Santa Maria, California
>
> --- Karl Hoover <karl@quack.kfu.com> wrote:
> > This sounds like an excellent idea. I'll have to try
> > some herbaceous peonies, too.
> > In Sunnyvale, (south edge of the S.F. Bay) I grow
> > tree peonies which usually do
> > quite well without the ice packs, though.
> >
> > Maybe this would be good for hyancinths, etc. too???
> >
> > KH
> >
> > > A friend in sea-level Fremont (southeast edge of
> > San Francisco Bay)
> > > swears by dumping a sack of ice once or twice a
> > winter on top of his
> > > herbaceous peony. I would have been extremely
> > skeptical if I hadn't
> > > seen the gorgeous result. It hardly freezes there,
> > but they were about
> > > 6 inches in diameter, and truly spendid.
> > >
> > > Judy Person
> >
>
>
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