Haveatry,

I understand that gardeners in California in areas that are totally frost free can get tree peonies to bloom. They do this by forcing the tree peony into an artificial dormancy by individually picking every leaf off the plant. The plant then puts on new growth along with bloom buds.

In our own midwest location some tree peonies respond to another type of artificial dormancy. In late summer when there is prominent drought the plants suffer from lack of moisture. They may not drop their leaves but they do sulk. Then in late September or in October following late summer and early fall rains the plants sprout new growth along with limited bloom buds. Not all tree peonies do this but there are several Lutea hybrids that will respond to dormancy brought on by drought in this way.

It does not take as much cold in winter to prepare tree peonies for spring growth as it takes for herbaceous peonies. I believe if you have enough cold to cause the tree peonies to become deciduous then you should have enough cold to allow them to bloom. You will just have to wait to see how they respond to your conditions.

Leon.

Good luck on the move. try planting in a shaded area.
I believe you were receiving additional education have you finished? If you have sincere congradulations

Leon, thanks very much!
After I post here, I read several papers in Chinese in late 80's, they proposed to make tree peony bloom in any season. And the basic idea is to cut leafs,just like you said here.
So I now believe tree peony is more flexible than I expected. I hope they will survive in my hometown. Any way, I could cut leafs to make them bloom.
"I believe if you have enough cold to cause the tree peonies to become deciduous then you should have enough cold to allow them to bloom." I am very interested, Leon, if this have some scientific proof?

Maifleur, thanks for your suggestion.
I am not sure if the "additional education" you mentioned is the tree peony cutting? I finally have 18 tree peony cuttings rooted, the root ratio is about 50%, not that bad,hehe. I also plan to move these new rooted cuttings back to my hometown.

I just find a Hardiness Zones map for China from USDA.
My hometown is in Zone 10. seems it's really a big challenge for tree peonies.

so the real challenge for tree peony in zone 10 might be to survive hot and humid in summer and complete flower bud differentiation.

Plant so that there is air circulation arround plants. Hot and humid is not problem. Here in this area we have over 90+ with 80-100% humidity every summer. If there is not air/wind the leaves can be more suceptible to fungi.

Try looking for some peonies from the southern part of the growing area to cross with the plants you have. This will be in a couple of years but if you start your research now you may find several that you can cross to make a hardy tree peony for your area.

As I suggested to someone you might contact Auburn University in Alabama for information for suggestions. They were gifted with a large collection of tree peonies several years ago. I understood at that time the plants were to be distributed in gardens and research facilities in that state and others.

Post pictures when your plants bloom.

This pic is taken last year. The tree peony is about 20 years old,has only bloom four times.It is in zone 10, very warm, the average temperature is about 7c in the coldest month.

It was transplanted from pot to the filed the year before last. The condition is better, I think. But no flower bud founded this year. This years' bud:


So I really want to know the reason.

Appears to have had damage to the bud. A curved portion of the outer petals seems to have been removed. Sometimes if the bud is partially damaged the inside will dry out before the opens. I do not know if it would work but perhaps if you capture the damage early you could wrap with waxed or oiled paper/cloth to keep from drying out. I tries parafin wax on one of mine but it was too heavy. I tried a plastic bag on another which also failed. However I have recently seen several articles on using square plastic bags with the corners cut out to protect fruit from various damages.

I seem to have this damage when a deer samples or we have warm weather for a week and then it quickly freezes. The bud will swell breaking the contact between the outer layers on the bud. The freeze then dries the bud and any wind or other contact can break the outer protective petals off leaving the new foliage/bloom to dry.

Hope this helps or sends your mind searching for solutions.