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Future expectations
of Peonies
The Peony is a beautiful
strong flower and in many ways more beautiful than any flower in the
world. From the entailing colors to the complex structures of pebbles.
From the lovely fragrance to the long life spawn makes the Peony a unique
flower who deserves the credit it has earned through the centuries.
We can only hope that more colors and cultivars are added to enrich
the already dazzling assortment of Peonies.
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Peony bunch, in
front Paeonia
'Red Charm', in back Paeonia 'Coral Charm'
Foto: Joshua Scholten
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The beauty
of the product will always speak for itself.
Peony
cutting from the beginning till the end
Purchasing of divisions
The purchasing of good divisions is the most important thing in
getting a productive and profitable garden. You can buy roots from your
sales man or directly from the grower so you can see what kind of quality
you buy.
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A 2 years old division
of Paeonia
lactiflora 'Big Ben'
with 3/5 buds
Foto: Joshua Scholten
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Disinfecting of divisions
After buying the divisions it's recommendable to give the roots
a temperature treatment at 43° C (Celsius) to kill bacteria and
other harmful diseases so they can be planted in a healthy state.
Planting the roots
The planting of the roots can be done by hand or with machines although
machines still need to be perfectionated. The existing machines need
to be updated so maybe in the near future such machines will evolve
for Peony use as well. By planting the roots we must make sure that
the land where we plant our roots on is property drained and flattened.
So no water damage can occur.
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Planting of young
Peonies: From left to right: Joshua Scholten and Jan Scholten
are digging, Jeremy Scholten is planting Peonies. In the background
there is a field with Iris
'Blue Diamond'.
Foto: Joshua Scholten
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After cultivating the land property
with a milling-machine or spade-machine the roots are to be planted at
a depth of 2 - 3 cm. The depth is very important because if the roots
are planted too deep, the production of flowers will diminish or even
completely disappear. The distance between cuttings depends on the cultivar
(variety or sorts). Some cultivars need more ore less space then others.
Also how long the roots will remain on the particular piece of land is
something that has to be taken in consideration.
Fertilizing and weeding
Peonies are fertilized during the winter months. There is no definition
how much of every element (Nitrogene, Phosphorus, Potassium) should
be used because with every different soil there is a different answer
to that question. Peonies like ground with a pH from 6 to 7. Also in
the winter months chemicals are used against weeds. It is important
to do this when the roots are at "rest" (dormant) or else the roots
will absorb it and without a doubt cause damage. When the young roots
start growing in spring we can use preventive chemicals like "Benleet".
Because in the early stage they are very sensitive, you can better be
one step ahead. We continue this until two weeks before harvesting.
After the harvest we use liquid fertilizers to improve the strength
of the roots. Also a cocktail of different chemical is added to this
all.
The upcoming of the Peonies
in early spring
When the first Peonies come out in February / March, the use of
wind fences can be most helpful on protecting the still venerable Peonies.
The fences are usually placed from the east to west to keep the cold
northern wind out. No gates are placed from south to north because that
enables the wind to keep the Peonies dry and prevent the spreading of
Botrytis. When the Peonies are still small and venerable, copper sulfate
can be used to ensure a firm and healthy plant. Also "Benleet" is used
to protect the Peonies against Botrytis (preventive).
Removing of side-buds
When the Peonies are almost ready to be harvested and the main bud
is developing, the side buds can be removed. This ensures a bigger flower,
while the side-buds use up nutricians of the roots. Not only will the
main-flower end up bigger but it also will be earlier in bloom, because
all the nutricians go to the main bud. The side-buds are usually removed
by hand when they are still 2 to 3 cm in length. This of course is a
very time consuming task. The number of buds differ from cultivar to
cultivar.
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Zarah Scholten in
a field of Paeonia
lactiflora 'Sarah Bernhardt'. All the side-buds are removed,
so they get one big flower on each stem.
Foto: Joshua Scholten
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Further more, it is important
that by removing of the side-buds that surface of the wound is kept to
a minimum, beause bacteria can easily enter wounds. It is important to
keep the risk as low as possible.
Preparing for the harvest
The end of April we prepare the work space were the Peonies will
be arriving after being harvested. What is important to know that if
you are going to tape the Peonies by hand in numbers of five or ten
you need one person. So you can estimate how many workers you will need
to get the job done in time taping 20'000 Peony stems. Make sure that
your workspace has a wide set-up so every worker has enough space to
do his or her work. Working in a narrow set-up always costs time.
Also
in this case the 3 golden rules apply:
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1. Preparation
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2. Preparation
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3. Preparation
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Harvest time
When the buds have reached a certain size and softness, they are
ready to be cut. Depending on the weather and cultivar most Peonies
can be cut from half May to end of June. The harvesting continues for
aprox 6 weeks. If we take for example 100'000 Peonies we would be needing
the following:
- Knifes (preferably
4 cm length)
- Boxes (cubic) to put
in the Peonies
- A tractor to transport
the boxes to the workspace
- A fork-truck to transport
the boxes
- A temperature controlled
cell of 150 m2
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From left to the
right: Tini Keeman, Theo Scholten and Zarah Scholten are cutting
Paeonia lactiflora
'Sarah Bernhardt'.
Foto: Joshua Scholten
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When the Peonies
are cut of, they are laied in wooden boxes (cubic boxes). The
wooden boxes are standing on their side. So when you pull the
box on his normal side, the Peony stems are standing straight
up. On this manner you can lift the boxes with Peonies up each
other in the cooling cell.
Foto: Joshua Schulten
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The Peonies are usually cut
at a length of 60 cm. It is very important that all the cutters cut
the same length because if the length differs, it will cost time sorting
out. During the harvest we can choose to sell everything directly or
first to prepare the cultivars that are venerable to bothrytis.
We cannot keep the storage
too long because risking losses up to 40 % in years of wetness. This
is often a very important issue, because saving up your Peonies often
means more money but on the other hand we risk the loss of quality.
So it is important that we keep a good eye on the quality when we decide
to prolong our season by keeping the Peonies in storage.
Preparing Peonies for
sale
Peonies are sold in numbers of 5 or 10 and then put into plastic
conttainers. How many Peonies go into the plastic crate depends upon
the cultivar. This can differ from 60 to 150. 18 of those plastic containers
are put onto a wagon and picked up by a truck in the evening and brought
to the flower-auction were the Peonies are sold the next morning. Information
that always should be on every crate is the cultivar, the length, the
number of Peonies present and the name of the company.
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Jeremy Scholten
and Joshua Scholten are making Paeonia
lactiflora 'Shirley Temple' ready for auction.
Foto: Joshua Scholten
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Hygiene after harvest
After the harvest, the remaining flowers are removed by hand or
by knife so the remaining nutricians can go back to the root. It also
prevents diseases from spreading. It is recommendable to remove all
dead organic material that is laying on the ground. Peonies like very
much and need nutricians and chalk.
Soils
Peonies love moist and rich organic nutrician soils, what should
be taken into consideration that on clay soil harvesting of roots is
much harder then on soils that contain mainly sand. Clean roots are
a big advantage and will save a lot of time. But the big advantage of
clay soils is that the roots grow bigger and much faster due of the
high nutricians present.
So this is a matter of priorities.
Moving Peonies
The mowing of Peonies take place at the end of August. It is very
important that all dead organic material should be removed because all
kind of diseases can live on dead organic material.
The material can be gathered
by a tractor with a sweeping tool behind it or by hand with picking
forks. The last materials will always have to removed by hand.
History
of our company
It all began with Simon Scholten,
who started a company in 1875 growing vegetables.
Then came his son Dirk Scholten.
He toke over the company in 1920. He was growing vegetables but also
flower bulbs (Tulips).
His son Jan Scholten was
taking over self in 1947.
He also was growing vegetables
and flower bulbs (Tulips).
In 1964 his son Theo Scholten
joined the company. They were still growing vegetables and flower bulbs
(Tulips).
But in 1989 the structure
of the company changed. Jan Scholten left the company and Jeremy Scholten
and Tini Keeman came into the company. Jeremy is the son of Theo Scholten
and my brother. Tini Keeman is our mother and wife of Theo Scholten.
The same year the company gave up growing flower bulbs (Tulips and Irises).
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