Swenson Gardens

Monthly Archive: February 2017

PEONY FIELD JOTTINGS…

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Another winter with limited snow so far for the peonies! As you can see in this picture, the only snow we have remaining as of now are the drifts. With warmer then normal temps expected again this week, what should be white color on the ground is now brown. Most of our precipitation this winter was rain which still provided moisture to the ground because some of the frost has left. For those of you in USDA zones 2-4 that planted new peonies last fall, did you mulch are peonies? If you didn’t and you do not have any snow to insulate the ground, might I suggest to mulch them now? With the warmer daytime temps (thawing) and colder nighttime temps (freezing), some newly planted peonies may be forced above the ground. Mulching will prevent this from happening until this spring when the nighttime temps are warmer. Once the peonies have made it through their first USDA zones 2-4 winter, mulching does not have to be done.

LIFE ON THE PEONY FARM

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Greeting friends! Its been awhile since I posted. I hope your winter is going well and for those of you in USDA zones 7 and 8a, I imagine your peony soldiers are showing growth above ground level. As Becky had posted earlier, yours truly had sinuses surgery about 10-days ago. For those of you who have had this done, I now know that the recovery is a bear. Thank you for those who have kept me (and Becky) in your thoughts and prayers as this has not been a pleasant experience. Thankfully Becky has been great taking care of me. Although it appears as of late that she needs to run to the local organic grocery store and is very willing to help out at church activities? Not sure what that is all about? I keep saying this too shall pass (recovery that is) and in a few weeks my sinuses will be better than before! Two milestones were achieved within a week whereby I could smell and taste again! My, my I forgot how good organic fried eggs taste! Can’t wait to smell the peonies this spring!

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Life on the peony farm has a new member to the fertilizer production team. Meet ‘Patriot’ who was born a few days ago. He is a long legged Dexter and his mom is ‘Daisy’. This is ‘Elvis Lee’s’ first offspring and he is so proud! You can see Elvis Lee lumbering towards us in the upper left corner of this picture. Always the protective dad which is paramount to the success and safety of our herd. Patriot is a ‘red Dexter’ like his father. Red is one of the most sought after colors within the Dexter’s so its father like son. Daisy by the way, is a dunn Dexter. We have high hopes for many red colored offspring from Elvis Lee. Our former herd sire (bull) Buford, gave us a few red’s and dunn’s, but most of his offspring were black in color. All of the fertilizer production team members are doing great this winter, but they and the peonies are anxious for spring!

THE PEONIES HAVE ARRIVED ON SWENSON GARDENS 2017 WEBSITE!

The peonies are blooming on our 2017 website! Hi gardening friends, Becky here. We just launched our new 2017 website moments ago. Enjoy your visit whether you are a returning customer or new peony enthusiast. Keith will be back on the blog in a couple of weeks as I had the pleasure of accompanying him to another one-day surgery procedure. Nothing too spectacular other than opening up his sinuses that have plagued him over the last few winters. Say a prayer for me as I attend to his needs, well for him too! Thanks again for stopping by and enjoy our 2017 website for some amazing peonies and especially our intersectional/Itoh hybrid peonies!