Color variations available:

White, pink, coral,  red

Name Origin:

The peony is named Paeon (also spelled Paean), a student of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine and healing. Asclepius became jealous of his pupil; Zeus saved Paeon from the wrath of Asclepius by turning him into the peony flower.

About:

Peonies can be classified by both plant growth habit and flower type. Plant growth types are Herbaceous (Bush), Tree, and Intersectional (Itoh).

Each flower type becomes more complex in its arrangement of petals. The flower types include Single (e.g., Athena, Dad, Krinkled White, Scarlet O’Hara, Sea Shell), Japanese (Nippon Beauty, Madame Butterfly), Anemone, Semi-Double (Paula Fay, Coral Charm, Miss America, Buckeye Belle), Double (Ann Cousins, Gardenia, Kansas, Paul M. Wild, Tourangelle) and Bomb-Double (Red Charm, Raspberry Sundae, Mons Jules Elie).

Lifespan:

Herbaceous peonies die back in winter and regrow in spring, while tree peonies lose their leaves in winter, but leave woody stems. Intersectional (Itoh) peonies are hybrid crosses between tree and herbaceous types. They have the large flowers of a tree peony, but die back to the ground each year like herbaceous peonies.

 Fun Fact:

The peony is among the longest-used flowers in ornamental culture and is one of the smallest living creature national emblems in China. Along with the plum blossom, it is a traditional floral symbol of China, where the Paeonia suffruticosa is called 牡丹 (mǔdān).

Examples of Peony Arrangements:

   Could it be the pure desire to see things grow?  Is it the science of how plants convert sunlight into food?  Is it the endless variety of shapes and sizes, or the rainbow  palette of colors?  Or as my mother claims it was an innate desire to smell the posies when she was inspecting the peonies in the  backyard when she started to feel labor pains at my impending delivery….

Whatever the reason -for myself, it has been a life long pursuit of creating and collecting plants and flowers that bring forth a smile, a hug from a friend or loved one when they receive a bouquet or arrangement that stokes the desire to plant another seed or cutting in anticipation of another flower.

When flowers  bloom,  it is an expression of life and promise of nature’s creativity to keep on despite the late frost, the blight, or hard rains that threaten to upend the hard work one puts into growing and farming.

   Farming, as it was back in Iowa,  seemed never to end for my friends growing up on farms.  I had the “luxury” of living in town and only helped out during the summers to make money for future school.  I planned and poured over the seed catalogues every winter to pick out what I wanted to grow in my flower beds and vegetable garden at the house we lived in.   There was the old retired couple next door that probably gave me the most incentive and desire to grow flower by producing seemingly the most monsterous bearded iris I’d ever seen.

Clara Knutson had a knack for growing flowers and I’d run over to her yard under the arbor of bittersweet to see what new was growing and blooming as often as I could.  It didn’t hurt that she also baked the worlds best cinnamon rolls on the planet but it still was a treat to smell what seemed to me to be the most intoxicating fragrance around which was  those iris.

Flowers are one of those things in life that give meaning to our mundane lives.

  They are fleeting, and by their very nature begin to die the moment they are cut from the plant, yet that is also the very reason we value them so much.  It shows us that simple pleasures such as a flower fragrance or the mix of colors in the throat of a flower are to be cherished and given to create happiness in other’s lives.

It has become a signature crop and we are improving on our growing technique every year. Oregon farm grown lilac is generally large headed and fragrant. Here at the farm we strive to keep stems long and straight. It is accomplished by selectively cutting stems extra long and grading the stem up to include flower head size and form. By cutting the stem extra long, we prune the plant at the same time. This encourages new buds to emerge and in two years time becomes new stems for picking.

We have about 20 varieties collected over the years.

French Hybrid colors  range from purple, lavender, pink to white. We have a couple of varieties that are multicolored. Our Korean lines are purple and pink. They flower later and are dainty, sweet smelling clusters. A very nice addition to weddings.

We are expanding our growing range w new varieties this year.

More plants with double florets and large heads, and putting greenhouses over them to improve quality. It is costly to do this but the finished product speaks for itself. Vernon and I are continually impressed at the overall difference in flowers grown this way.

Most lilac bunches coming out of Oregon are collected from urban landscapes.

Varieties are generally older and lack uniformity. They are thin stemmed and unevenly graded often with florets too open or too tight. Our field crew pick stems that have florets one quarter to half open which provides the longest shelf life. There is a big difference in growing your own lilac.
 
Lilac is one of those items people remember from childhood for their sweet smell and short flowering season. We are improving on that memory with Oregon farm grown lilac. It comes just in time for Mothers Day! We are looking forward to an abundant crop in April so be in touch!

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Check out this video of life on the farm with Kenyon, his crew, and the lovely landscape at Kenyon Growers. Produces by Portland’s Jim Newman.

Click the image below to play.

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There are many factors that come into play with the longevity of most cut floral items, but the top requirements for care and handling of fresh flowers is the “3-R’s”.

Recut

Rehydrate

Refridgerate

When product is brought in from the fields at Kenyon Growers, it most often cut in the early mornings when the heat of the day doesn’t dehydrate the cut stems and flower heads.
We attempt to immediately cool down the product by placing the stems in water treated with a floral preservative specially designed for woody stems, and placing the buckets in the coolers at a temperature between 34 and 40 degrees F.

Once the flowers have been cooled, we then process and grade stems followed by bunching the items, and once again give a new fresh cut to the stem and place back in the water and then on to the cooler.

Most product that is shipped from Kenyon Growers is done so in boxes with jell-ice to help maintain a cooler condition until the product reaches it’s destination.

Several important steps should be done at the point the flowers are received and that is to follow the 3-Rs once again.

For the home care of cut flowers:

Re-cut the stems first

Some older thought for woody stems is to crush the stem with a hammer, but this is actually contrary to logic and the physiology of the xylem in the stems. Crushing actually closes off the straw like tubes that draw water and nutrients up the stem to the flower. The best type of cut is a diagonal clean knife cut which leaves little damage to the stem .

Place the freshly cut stems immediately in fresh water with a floral preservative.

If a floral preservative is not available there are several home options.

One is to add a few drops of chlorine bleach to the water. This prevents bacteria from growing which would eventually plug up the stems. A weak sugar solution can be used then to “feed” the flower to continue it’s opening of the buds.

Another home option is adding a regular aspirin to the water. This makes a weak acid which also inhibits bacteria growth.

Yet another option is to use plain old 7-up soda to the water. The carbonic acid in the soda combined with the sugar water is a great solution for keeping the flowers fresh.

One must take care to switch out the water/soda solution every few days because the solution will in time attract fruit flies and bacteria will find it’s way in.

For healthy plants that last long, remember the 3-R’s!

Recut

Rehydrate

Refridgerate

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The lights are on! Stage is set! The annual Academy Awards were celebrated. Now it’s time to introduce my nominations for the First Annual Kenyon Growers Awards!

In no particular order, each candidate deserves it’s own status on the list of great items we grow. The academy may choose differently, but they don’t know flowers like me!

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The first to show it’s glory on the flower stage is lilac.

Syringa vulgaris, hardly a name fitting of such a beautiful flower that I’m sure everyone remembers from childhood. The fragrance that is unmatched in the flower world.

A spectrum of pinks, lavenders, purple, rose, and white all with their own applauds. We’re perfecting a system of producing some sweet long stems capable of holding those big flower heads up and above their lowly counterparts in the arrangements. I dare you to try and upstage Syringa.
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Next to the big screen is a King among flowers! The peony a class of flowers unto it’s own.

Paeon, a student of the god of medicine Asclepias more on him later who was turned into the peony flower by Zeus to protect him from the wrath of the jealous Aslcepias. I wonder why he was jealous…Hmmm? Thank goodness, because it gave us a flower that reigns in the garden and arrangement with its fragrance and vibrant colors of pink, coral,rose,magenta, red and even yellow! We force some varieties early , with stern words and looks, so that you can have these beauties before mother nature brings on the masses of color in the usual time.

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Coming down the red carpet now is a fairly new winner to our star lineup and that is a hot number from South Africa, Eucomis or pineapple lily.

Not really a pineapple, and a far stretch of what you think of as a lily, its actually in the asparagus family. It sports a nearly 3 foot tall purple stemmed spike loaded with creamy star-like flowers that open along the stem. As the stem matures it brings on a greenish cast and we all know how well green sells these days! When you’re talking longevity, pineapple lily is the tops.. These spikes will last weeks!

As I mentioned above a reference to the god Asclepias of medicine, well this local yokel hails from the good ol Midwest US believe it or not. I’m speaking in terms of the Asclepias tuberosa, however. This variety just can’t stay on our shelves long it is so popular. It produces a cluster of orange unique blooms that also last and last! Nothing like orange to kick up a flower arrangement that is tired. Oh, you ask why the god of medicine? The native Americans used it for an expectorant and also pulmonary ailments!!! So see! those Greeks weren’t just making things up!

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Lastly but not least of which is deserving of the status of my favorite plants we raise here is Nandina domestica.

No, she doesn’t work in the kitchen. Nandina has an other worldly ‘common name’ of Heavenly Bamboo. Fitting too since it resembles the grass bamboo found in Asian cultures. This plant has the status of bringing on some really gorgeous fall colors to arrangements and designs. We carry two varieties, and of course the best is saved till last when it is colored up to it’s vibrant red. Don’t hesitate to go with our early type though, it shows great colors too and this foliage plant is a great laster in design and offers so much in making your dollar stretch.

Now, the cast is before you. Please cast your own vote or make a comment below and let us know what your favorites are at Kenyon Growers.. No , you won’t be judged on your choices. All are great ! Off to the awards parties!!!

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I was a decent painter but not good enough to sell my work. I chose landscaping to utilize my meager art talent and my fascination with plants. At Poly I would learn the skills through landscape design to one day go out and make a living selling cut floral products.

One of my favorite classes was soil science. This understanding of what soil is and the many complexities of it is utilized everyday in growing plants. “Soils”allowed me to understand chemistry and the relationships this plays in growing. Irrigation, fertilization, pH and soil structure all relate to what plants need to be healthy.

At the farm, we use tremendous amounts of organic material

Usually in the form composted manures and vegetation. We recycle our branch waste, weeds and other debris to reinvigorate and nourish the soil. This constant application of compost gives our soil the ability to hold water for access by plant roots, provide nutrient value, keep pH levels optimum for nutrient uptake, and make our clay soils light and airy. This science understanding was invaluable at Poly.

I took 4 quarters of Plant Materials; a wide range of ornamental plant identification. These classes were instrumental later in my selection of plants I deemed to be fabulous as cut items for floral design. I had not a clue at the time I would one day grow cut flowers but my appreciation of plant leaves, stems and flower characteristics inspired my choices of what would be cool in arrangements.

Learning the difference between shovels seemed lame at the time

But now we use 4 different types! One shovel we use today is a 4″wide trenching shovel used while laying pipe. The proper way of using loppers and clippers came to light millions of branches and stems later. We cut and prune with the future of the plant in mind.

In that same class we learned to tie knots. Our flowering branches are tied and baled using a simple knot learned from the cowboy professor with a handlebar mustache whose name I cannot remember. But I must say, our proud guys from Mexico grew up making knots in their sleep and often teach me a better way.

By the time I graduated, I had a well rounded horticulture degree “on paper” and went to work for a landscape nursery. That is where the practical education began.

There is a skill at crossing paths with people who can provide opportunity. Leaving the nursery job to grow cut flowers, I jumped into it with eagerness and moxie, acquiring a piece of ground from a family friend. I out grew the parcel quickly moving into a larger piece by way of a neighbor who “liked what I was doing”. It happened a third time for much the same reason. I guess the skill is to carry the right amount of dream on your sleeve.

“You have gone so far for so long with so little that you can do anything with nothing”. These were the words of my neighbor at our current farm who I once considered a sage. Managing money is a lesson we all get lectured on and yet it can be the kill all. Staying within means has been a juggling act all my business life and in more times than not I came out ahead. I am knocking on wood as I write this…

Having a natural eye for art and design cannot be taught.

Colors and styles depart from fashion. From the beginning we have always tried to grow “the cool stuff”. We like items florists like to use. For example, we are expanding our white flower collection for wedding season. Phlox, lysmachia, scabiosa , hydrangea,and of course white peonies and white lilac. The colors green and orange are judged hot too so hypericum berries and Asclepia are on the palette. We have some very unique foliages growing for the future. Experience in the market place has been learned well after college. We have a responsibility to offer new items to florists to keep design fresh.

Growing product customers love is at the heart of Kenyon Growers. Like giving candy away. It has been quite the education since graduation. At the time of this writing it seems like the learning will continue to flourish…

Kenyon Fink

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