Our old dog was deaf and blind before passing away, but he was able to get along pretty good because his sense of smell was as good as ever. I am not sure how you and I equate to a dog as far as sense of smell is concerned but I am pretty sure your lack of fragrance in your peonies is a difference in the varieties. Congratulations on your peony growing in New Mexico, I would assume you are at a fairly high elevation. Al

No, I have the old varieties that my grandmother had in Iowa: Sarah Bernhart,Festiva Maxima,etc. And yes, where I live the altitude is a mile high ..5200 ft elevation & I have the peonies where they get morning sun but afternoon shade because of our intense sun/heat here. Very dry & exceptionally windy this year too ... even for NM! I add bags of manure around the plants in early spring & when I empty the small fish pond each spring I always pour the pond water with the algae & other excrements around the peonies also (figured there were nutrients in that fish pond water that could be of use?!). Only thing I can figure with grandmother tossing the dish water around the peonies was maybe some nutrients ... phosphorus? Those old farm people had habits that were based on some facts they were unaware of I guess & passed from generation to generation!

Being an old farm boy myself I can remember that the kitchen sink drain was never connected to the septic tank and just ran out on the ground next to the kitchen. That wet area was always full of the giant worms best for fishing. Of course detergents were not yet available and soap was an all natural product not damaging to soil microbes. Al

Yes,grandma used her own home-made (lye!) soap & shaved it into the scalding hot laundry water (she had a Maytag washer that had a gasoline engine & the roller wringers that had an affinity for careless hands & little girls' braids!! Later when the elec. Maytag was available they used the old one for washing hen eggs. Wasn't the smell of lye soap washed laundery a nice, clean aroma? And then of course the bluing put in the rinse tubs! My son really believes I grew up in the 'Little House On the Prairie'era!!

Now back to the peonies....!!

vieja,

When I went to the APS convention this past weekend, there was a presentation on fragrant peonies. The presenter did mention that older noses are not as sensitive as young noses, but he also said some other things can have an affect on peonies' fragrance. I believe the notes I took said that temperature could have an affect on the amount of fragrance a peony has. There was one other reason mentioned, but I'll have to review my notes and post it later. I agree with your assessment however in that nutrient differences in the soil could possibly affect the fragrance/scent.

amulet: I am still wondering if the main difference in fragrance might be the less humidity (REALLY dry this year!) here in New Mexico compared to Iowa. Of course it just might be my older nose ... though some of our native flowers here are sure very fragrant to me still! Maybe I should get a peony flower x a more humid climate to compare the fragrance of that variety to the same variety of one of mine here! At the APS convention what was the most fragrant of the double flower varieties? Just so happy though to get the 27 plants to grow so well here after so many tries until I found the location they seem to like: morning full sun & afternoon shade!Thank you for your sharing notes x the convention!

The thing I am noticing is that soils play a part in the amount of scent a peony has.

Sorry I don't remember the most fragrant but someone mentioned to me something similar to your difference. Her "The Fawn" is very fragrant but the one's in the show had none at all. Most came from areas with different soils but mostly sandy clays. She lives in Northern Iowa.

You are probably right about the soils... here where I live in central N.M it is like caliche/clay so had to add a lot of soil ammendments. The Iowa peonies I remembered were growing in a farm area (far NE Iowa along the Mississippi River)where I remember the soil being black.... certainly not sandy but probably like the soil where the fragrant "Fawn" came from?!

Thanks so much for your inf. & help!