10 Years of Blogging, 17 Years of Growing Peonies
Reflections on a decade of sharing and nearly two decades of growing
I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since I started blogging about growing, varieties, marketing, irrigating, staking, losses, vases, coolers, preparing your fields, soils, location, drying, and so much more about peonies.
I blog for several reasons, but mostly so others won’t make the same mistakes I’ve made over the years. We’ve been growing peonies now for 17 years. When I first started growing peonies in Alaska commercially, no one had done it before, so there was no one to ask questions. And boy, did I make a lot of very expensive mistakes— from soil preparation and drainage to choosing the right varieties.
One of the biggest lessons I learned
When it comes to varieties, less is often better.
I started with about 30 varieties when, in reality, unless you are growing for some very specific market I’ve never heard of, 10 or 12 is plenty. An early and late variety of your standard white, pink, and red, then maybe some hot pink, coral, and a couple of fun things you especially like.
Too many varieties mean more complicated record and inventory keeping, a much bigger website, and too many choices for your buyers, making it harder for them to make decisions. Harvesting also becomes a nightmare. You have to keep in mind that each variety is harvested a little differently in terms of bud timing, and of course every variety has one or two idiosyncrasies of its own.
This is definitely one of those situations where less is better.
What Has Changed
Today, I’m enjoying using AI to find answers to many questions that weren’t so readily available in the past. But getting your hands dirty will always be the key to success when it comes to growing peonies.
Walking your fields on a regular basis, getting on a first-name basis with your plants, checking out the types of weeds you have, and sometimes just sitting—or even laying down— among rows and rows of plants and looking up at all your hard work can be deeply satisfying. There is something special about simply watching something beautiful grow.
The People Along the Way
There have been many important people along the way—too many to properly thank here. But one thing I’ve learned is that farmers are good people.
Somewhere, there is always someone willing to sit down, visit for a while, share a little wisdom, or sometimes just commiserate about the challenges of farming.
Looking for spring plants?
If you are still looking for some spring plants, peonies or others, check our roots for sale here.
You can call me or email me if you see something you need—or just want to try.