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US (AK): Picking the perfect peonies

Kenai Peninsula peonies are not in full bloom, and that is what growers prefer for the perfect harvest.

Stems stretch to nearly 2-feet-tall and growers test the tightly packed bulb of petals bouncing around at the top.

“The feel of bud is the only thing indicating it is going to be harvesting time,” said peony grower Wayne Floyd. “It’s a little unnerving when you are not experienced like we are.”

Floyd runs Cool Cache Farms LLC in Kenai with his wife Patti Floyd. The two are selling their bounty for the first time this year to local farmers markets and through the Alaska Peony Market Cooperative.

Traveling parallel to a row of Kansas peonies, Floyd clips closed buds, full blooms and old flowers that are beginning to show signs of ageing through bruises and wilting petals.

“You have to pick the old ones too,” Floyd said. “Bruising can lead to gray mold and botrytis — the scourge of the peony grower.”

Click here to read the complete article at peninsulaclarion.com.
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