Peony Dinner plate
Pale pink flowers make the garden design more harmonious. Peonies with lush buds of the indicated shade are especially beautiful. Contemplating them, you feel how your heart is filled with tenderness. If you like these creations of nature, put the Dinner Plate variety in your flower garden. Surely he will become your favorite.
History of origin
Dinner plate was introduced to the USA in 1968. The place of his appearance was the floriculture company Klehm Charles & Son (Charles Clem and son).
This nursery dates back to 1862, when it was founded by John Adam Clem, who emigrated ten years earlier to Illinois from Germany.
The ornamental plant variety, about which our story will go, won the Grand Champion award at the American Peony Society Best in Show in 1973. The name of the perennial in translation from English means "soup plate".
Description of appearance and features
Dinner Plate is a member of the lactic-flowered peony group. This is a herbaceous variety of the king of flowers, which differs from its other relatives simply by the huge size of the inflorescences. Each bud of the American hybrid exceeds 20 cm in diameter. The shape of the flowers of this ornamental plant is rosy.
In addition, the inflorescences of the culture are densely double and very lush. But the most important highlight of the variety is the color of its buds. The soft pink shade of the petals with jagged edges is unobtrusive and pleasing to the eye. In addition to everything else, the voluminous flowers of the overseas handsome man spread a wonderful fragrance around them.
An interesting fact: the flowers are devoid of both pistils and stamens. The flowering of the decorative perennial is long and abundant.
The miracle of American selection does not have an impressive height, barely reaching a meter. However, the peony forms a vigorous shrub with strong shoots. Dark green leaves of medium size, narrowed to the tips like a boat, contrast with pink flowers. They cover the stems of the shrub from top to bottom.
During flowering, the perennial Dinner plate should be tied up, otherwise the bush will fall apart, lose its shape, and it may well suffer from strong winds. The width of the crown of Dinner plate is about 40 cm. The culture is characterized by high winter hardiness. It is not affected by temperature extremes.
This is a durable plant that can exist in one place for 20 or even 30 years. The bush shows varietal qualities a couple of years after transplantation.
Growing and care
Dinner Plate loves sunlight, so they need to provide the plant to the fullest. The peony tolerates light partial shade well, and in the shade either gives small, unsightly inflorescences, or completely loses the ability to form buds.
The soil for the cultivation of crops is chosen nutritious, with a high degree of air permeability and a neutral reaction. You will achieve the best development of the shrub if you plant it in loamy soil.
The plant is planted in a hole 40-60 cm deep and with the same width. The soil mixture is formed from ordinary garden soil, adding humus and sand to it. Dense soils are not suitable for the plant.
This decorative perennial does not need any special care. Like its brethren, Dinner Plate needs regular moderate, and in hot weather - abundant watering; in loosening the soil, mulching the trunk circle, weeding and fertilizing.
Fertilizers for a peony can be applied already in the first year of its life. Liquid organic concentrates are especially good in spring and mineral complexes in summer. In the fall, the plant needs pruning. It is produced after the onset of the first frost: the shrub is simply cut off, leaving a small stump.
The area around is covered with mulch - sawdust or peat.
Use cases
The most successful way to place the charming American Dinner plate on a personal plot is a single landing. It will look great against the backdrop of a bright green lawn. Between the bushes, a distance of at least a meter should be observed, since our hero loves space.
However, this does not mean at all that Dinner Plate cannot be included in group landings. You can use a technique common among landscape designers - planting three peonies in the corners of a garden or front garden.
At the same time, along the perimeter of the site, it is appropriate to put a border of decorative flowering biennials. A magnificent sight - bushes with large pink buds in the foreground of the flower garden. The variety is often used for cutting, as its buds retain their fresh appearance for a long time.
In bouquets, they are combined with other milk-flowered peonies.
Growing up: planting in open ground
Peony Angel Chicks can be propagated by both seed and root methods. A hardy plant is planted in open beds; it does not need greenhouse conditions. A simple method that is suitable even for amateurs is grafting. It is used not only for reproduction, but also for plant rejuvenation.
To carry out the landing, you must:
- Dig up a mature donor plant (stems with herbs must be cut).
- Divide its overgrown rhizome into cuttings, each must have live buds.
- Clear cuttings from young weak shoots, dry shoots.
- Soak the planting material in a specialized fungicide or a weak manganese solution.
- Dig in the dried cuttings in the prepared beds.
In the first year, such bushes will give only greens - they will need time to acclimatize in a new place. But after 2-3 years, with careful care, the first buds will appear, fully corresponding to the description of the variety.
Angel cheek buds bloom for a long time and smell good
The optimal time for transplanting a flower is August and early autumn, while it is warm. In southern latitudes, cuttings can be carried out until November, if the temperature does not drop below +15 ° C. The spring transplant is done in April - early May at medium temperatures, until the flowering period approaches.
Site preparation and step-by-step instructions for planting peonies
Herbaceous peonies love loose, neutral soils and well-lit areas. Temporary shaded beds located on a hill are ideal. In wet areas, before planting in the hole, it is imperative to create drainage so that the water does not stagnate at the root. A good pinch of ash is also needed to equalize the pH of the soil.
Peonies are planted at least 30 cm apart, the flower needs space. The ideal option is to maintain a diameter of 90-100 cm, where the soil is regularly loosened and weeded from weeds. The drainage layer should be 10-15 cm, expanded clay and large crushed stone can be used as a gasket.
Before immersing the cuttings, the soil must be moistened, 2 cups of ash, fungicide and nutrient fertilizer must be added. It is best to use humus. The material is then immersed in loose soil at surface level so that a viable bud can breathe and sprout.
Important! It is not necessary to create a slide near the hole, the soil can be nailed down a little, but not tamped. The first loosening will be needed after the snow has melted, then after the sprouts appear
The seed propagation method is used only by professional florists and gardeners, since this process takes at least 7-8 years before powerful flowering bushes appear.
Angel cheeks take root well in a flower garden among other varieties
