You could take a trip to Marysville, MO to see Garden Treasure in the fields of the hybridizer.

Here is a link that might be useful: Don Hollingsworth's

Heck, why choose, buy both. :) I did. :)

I bought 5 Itoh Peonies last year. I could not afford to buy large plants, so I bought 3 small ones in 4" at Park's seeds for $39.95 each. Then I saw Itoh Peonies at the local nursery. The price was $55 for one gallon pots. I bought two more.

All of them survived this very harsh winter. They are at least 3-4 times larger than last year. Both Bartzella peonies are very vigorous. Personally, I prefer to buy smaller plants for a lower price.

Check your local nurseries. You might find much better price.

Thanks for the replies. I suppose I could buy both, if I had the room for 2. I am also the hole digger, and 75 years young.ha At my age, price is no longer a priority. Just thought it would be fun to try something new.

I've read from different sources that Garden Treasure was patented by Hollingsworth but that Anderson did not patent Bartzella. If this is true it might be one reason for the astronomical prices bid for bart early on.

Flowergirl there is a thread on this forum last added to about a year ago that discussed the differences between these two.

Alina, what intersectionals did you buy other than the two barts? I bought what must have been a tissue culture of singing in the rain (can't remember the internet source) and later last year Merrifield Gardens (local nursery) had a big sale and I bought another larger singing for less than $50. The small cheap one has done very well and now I'm kicking myself for not buying bart or Julia Rose or one of the other better known intersectionals from Merrifield.

Hi Rian,
The other intersectionals I bought are Morning Lilac, Julia Rose, and probably Singing in the Rain (squirrels stole the tag). I am almost positive that the last one is SOTR because I remember I liked very much the pictures of this variety and I was very happy when I bought it.

Bartzella from the one gallon is the biggest one now. I was a little dissapointed that none of them bloomed this year. All five of them look very healthy. The foliage is very neat, so I think they are fantastic lanscaping plants even without flowers.

Do you remember at what time Merrifield had that sale? I have not been there for a long time.

Rian the person that started the Mid Atlantic Peony Society is always on the lookout for new peonies. Earlier this year the society was selling several intersectionals to their members. You might check to see if they have any left. They will be having a booth at Swarthmore College's annual plant sale this fall. I think it is in early September.

Rian,
I am pretty sure that neither Bartzella nor Garden Treasure is patented. Too many people are growing both with no problem. The demand has been astounding for both of these cultivars. The price has dropped through the past years. As I recall in 2000 Bart was running about $250. The first Barzellas we had in our society sale fetched a cool $500.00. That is the most we have sold any peony.

Leon,
Thanks for posting this photo! What a beauty!
Could you please tell me what is the size of this specimen and how old is it?

Alina,

This particular plant did not grow in my garden. This photo was taken by a friend of mine in Holland. My original plant of Bartzella was not this large the first year but had 7 blooms. It was about this size the second year and had 14 blooms. Bartzella and Garden Treasure are very vigorous plants. By the second fall my plant was so large that I was afraid that if I left it another year it would have a root mass the size of a Volkswagon Bug, so I divided it. I find intersectional peonies harder to decide where to divide than herbaceous peonies and as they get older they are even more difficult to divide.

Sorry I have photos of that plant of mine but none of those photos were on this computer. I will have to find that photo and post it for you.

Leon

Peonyman, so are you saying if I plant a Bartzella, I will have to dig it in 2 years? How does it stay so pricey if it's that rampant? How much space will it occupy if I don't dig it? I have plenty of people I could give a piece to, but at my age, I'm not looking to divide peonies.

Here is the 2007 photo of GT bloom which I got from Leon (many thanks, again!) as a one-eye division in 2005. Right now it has 8-9 buds on it

Flowergirl70ks,
As far as I know, intersectional Peonies are very vigorous and have to be divided every 3-4 years.

Rian,
They will not bloom this year I guess - no buds on them... I will definitely report which one would be the best for me and why. So far, both 'Bartzella's are the most robust. I will check out our local Potomac Garden center where I bought 2 of my Itoh Peonies. They also might have a sale...

George,
How beautiful! Thanks for posting the picture! Hope mine will bloom next year finally...

Here is one of our Bart's, taken in the rain a few minutes ago. I bought it directy from Mr. Anderson 2 years ago. It was a replacement for one I had purchased from him in 2001 that we lost when we moved here to Fredericksburg in 2004. It has 10 buds, three of them bloomed yesterday. As you can see, we also are short on space, so this one is squeezed between two daylilies.

We also have Anderson's Kopper Kettle and Sequestered Sunshine. Sequestered Sunshine is a lot like Bartzella. Kopper Kettle has yet to bloom.

Here is one of the blooms I took yesterday in the sun.

My dad, Roger Anderson, created the Bartzella. It took 10 years to get to market. Pictured is my plant when it was only 3 years old. It's truly a beauty, and smells wonderful!

That's wonderful, Naillady! So how many different varieties of peonies do you have? Do you share your father's talents in hybridizing? Are peonies your favorites?