Dave, I sent you an email.

It might be interesting to know which tree peonies are more likely to produce seeds. I think I read somewhere (here?) that High Noon doesn't produce viable seeds. Is that right? My next door neighbor has one on the border between our two gardens and neither of us has ever seen a seed.

No experience with High Noon, but some plants don't produce self-pollinated hips: nature's way of preventing in=breeding. But they may produce viable pollen, or seed when pollinated by another variety. So maybe you should try crossing HN next year.

I have noted that there are two tree peonies that seed like there is no tomorrow. The first is Paeonia osti, aka Feng Dan Bai, aka Phoenix White. The carpels will be full of seeds with perhaps 30 or more seeds produced by each flower. It should be noted that this tree peony is generally not propagated by grafting like others. They are considered to be true from seed and the seeds are reliable to germinate and grow. There is variation within the species and you will see differences between plants. A really interesting aspect of this plant is the smell of the roots when you try to relocate the plant. The smell is very strong; reminds me of the medicinal smell of a hospital. While the roots have been used for medicinal purposes for centurys the only medicinal quality they carry is the smell.

The other seed producer is Paeonia rocki. Almost every plant I have seen produce abundant seeds from every bloom. Again, there will be 30-50 seeds from every flower. I have not had much experience with the germination of these seeds.

Most of my Japanese tree peonies produce lots of seed however it seems to me that some plants seem to volunteer more readily than others. I get a lot of seedlings from Kokamon.

Leon

Does anyone have P. rocki seeds that they would be willing to part with?