The peony has the fattest, most delicious petals and rich green foliage, making it outrageously attractive when it is in bloom. From spring to summer, savor stunning floral displays. Learn how to care for, grow, and plant peony.
About Peonies
Peonies are a perennial that will steal your breath away every year. The plants may even outlive you—some have been reported to survive for at least a century.
When Is Peony Season? When Do Peonies Bloom?
Depending on your location and the kind you are planting, peonies bloom from late spring to early summer.
You may extend the peony season across several weeks and take use of those magnificent blossoms for as long as possible thanks to the abundance of nurseries that provide early, midseason, and late blooming types.
Peonies may thrive as far south as Zones 7 and 8, and they are hardy to Zone 3. The key to success in the majority of the United States is to provide full light and well-drained soil. Peonies even enjoy the winter’s coldness because it helps their buds grow.
Types of Peony Flowers
You can pick from six different varieties of peony flowers: anemone, single, Japanese, semi-double, double, and bomb. The odors of different plants also differ; some, like “Festiva Maxima” and “Duchesse de Nemours,” have seductive rose-like aromas, while others have a lemony scent or none at all.
Where to Plant Peonies
When planted as a low hedge or along sidewalks, peonies make excellent sentinels. As majestic and dignified as any flowering shrub, the peony’s bushy cluster of attractive glossy green leaves lasts all summer before turning purplish-red or gold in the fall.
Peonies work nicely with irises and roses in mixed borders and blossom alongside columbines, baptisias, and veronicas. Plant pink peonies with blue Nepeta or violets, then surround white peonies with yellow irises and a froth of forget-me-nots.
Peonies are not overly picky, but you should pick your place carefully because they dislike disruption and do not transplant well.
Although they can survive in partial shade, peonies like full sun, and they flower at their best in an area that receives 6 to 8 hours of sunlight per day.
Because of its huge flowers, peonies can become top-heavy in severe winds. Therefore, provide shelter. (If necessary, stakes can be used to hold them up.) Planting too close to trees or bushes will cause peony to compete with them for nutrients, sunlight, and moisture.
Grow peony in rich, wet, humus-rich soil that is deep, fertile, and well-draining. pH in the soil should be neutral.
When to Plant Peonies
As long as they are planted correctly and become established, peony plants require minimal upkeep. However, keep in mind that they do not adapt well to transplanting, so you should consider this when choosing your planting location.
- Plant peony in the fall: in the majority of the United States, in late September or early October, and even later in the fall in Zones 7 and 8. Your planting zone can be found here.
- If you need to move an established plant, the fall is the ideal season because the plant will be dormant.
- About six weeks before the ground freezes, peonies should be planted.
- While planting peonies in the spring is absolutely a possibility, the results aren’t always favorable. They often trail behind plants planted in the fall by roughly a year, according to experts.
How to Plant Peonies
- Peonies are typically offered as divisions of a 3- or 4-year-old plant, bare-root tubers with 3 to 5 eyes (buds).
- Peonies should be placed 3 to 4 feet apart to allow for enough air circulation. The development of disease can be facilitated by stagnant, damp air.
- In a sunny area, dig a generously sized hole that is about 2 feet deep and 2 feet wide. The inclusion of organic matter in the planting hole will improve the soil. Add additional compost to the soil to improve it if it’s sandy or heavy. Add about a cup of bonemeal to the ground. Find out more about soil improvements and getting the soil ready for planting.
- The roots should be positioned in the hole just 2 inches below the soil’s surface, with the root’s eyes facing upward on top of a mound of soil. Avoid planting too deeply! Choose early-blooming species, put them approximately 1 inch deep, and provide some shade in southern states.
- Backfill the hole after that, being careful to prevent soil settlement and a 2-inch root burying. Gently tamp the ground.
- Plant a container-grown peony no deeper than it was when it was in the pot.
- When planting, give everything plenty of water.
How to Care for Peonies
Young peony take time to develop, just like children. In order to establish themselves, blossom, and flourish, they typically require a few years. They eventually leave home on their own, fully grown and adjusted… No, that’s just kids, I suppose.
Peonies benefit from gentle neglect. They don’t require digging and dividing every few years like the majority of perennials do.
- Don’t use any fertilizer. Before planting, till the soil thoroughly while adding compost and a small amount of fertilizer.
- Early summer, after the peonies have flowered and you have deadheaded the blooms, is the ideal time to apply fertilizer (such as bonemeal, compost, or well-rotted manure) to a soil that is deficient in nutrients. Keep fertilizing to a few years at most.
- assist the stems Peonies’ stems, which occasionally are not strong enough to hold their enormous blossoms, are the only part of their structure that may be considered weak. Think of structures that allow the plant to grow through the middle of the support, like three-legged metal peony rings or wire tomato cages.
- Peony blossoms should be deadheaded as soon as they start to fade, cutting to a sturdy leaf so that the stem doesn’t protrude through the foliage. To prevent any infections from overwintering, trim the foliage to the ground in the fall.
- Avoid covering peonies with mulch. For the first winter following planting, you can VERY LOOSELY mulch with pine needles or shredded bark when the winters are bitterly cold. In the spring, get rid of the mulch.
Peonies bloom between late spring and early summer, but by planting a variety of cultivars, you may arrange your garden for a succession of blooms from mid-May to late June. Here are a few options:
- ‘Early Scout’ has red solitary flowers that open incredibly early.
- “Firelight”: very early-blooming, single, pale-pink flowers
- ‘Karl Rosenfield’: double, midseason bloomer with substantial crimson blooms
Can peony be grown in groups?
Round-shaped peony blossoms complement flowers that are developed along a spike well. Foxglove, delphinium, lupine, and clustered bellflower are excellent spike bloomers that bloom at the same time as peonies (Campanula glomerata). The spike blooming baptismia australis is another excellent choice for combination with peonies. Select a plant variety that will grow to the desired height. Some can be grown big enough to be planted in front of peonies, while others belong in the back.
Do peony proliferate?
If you’ve been thinking about growing peony plants, you should be aware that there are crucial procedures to take. Peony plants must be divided in order to be multiplied. Although it can seem difficult, this is not.
First, dig all around the peony plant with a sharp shovel. Take extreme care not to harm the roots. Make sure to remove as much of the root as you can.
Once the roots have been removed from the earth, thoroughly rinse them with the hose so that you can actually see what you have. The crown buds are what you are seeking. When you divide peonies, these are the parts that eventually break through the soil and create a new peony plant.
You should place the roots in the shade after rinsing to allow them to somewhat soften. It will be simpler to cut them. The roots of peony plants should be cut all the way back to just 6 inches (15 cm) from the crown when you are reproducing them. Again, this is because, when you divide peony plants, you must plant a crown with each piece since the crown grows into the peony.
Make certain that every component has at least one crown bud. The ideal number of crown buds is three. However, one is sufficient. When you have as many peonies as you can from the roots you initially dug up, you will stop dividing peonies.
Place the fragments in a spot where peonies can grow. Make sure the pieces’ buds are not buried deeper than 2 inches (5 cm), as this could hinder their ability to grow. You can actually keep your pieces in peat moss until you’re ready to plant them on a warmer day if the temperatures are reasonably consistent. A prolonged period of storage could cause them to dry up and stop growing.
Now that you are aware of how simple it is to propagate peony plants, you can quickly start dividing existing peonies to produce a large number of new ones.
How long do peony take to develop from bulbs?
Peonies typically sprout from bulbs. The formation of the bulb and its full bloom will take around three years. The length of time depends on how well you care for them and the environment they are in.
Before planting, should I soak the tubers of peonies?
The peony’s lengthy life is one of its greatest draws, in my opinion. Herbaceous peonies have been known to bloom consistently for more than 50 years, occasionally outliving the gardeners who first planted them! But the care you take in setting them up is the secret to their durability.
In my experience, the first few leaves turning color in the fall are the best time to sow bare root peony tubers. After a plant is described as being “bare root,” it signifies that when it was dug up from the ground, all of the soil surrounding the tuber was removed. Since bare root peonies are less expensive than container-grown plants and may be planted in the autumn, they have more time to establish a strong root system and will be better prepared for robust growth the following spring.
The first thing you should do when you open the package of bare root peony, whether you bought them from a neighborhood garden center or via mail order, is to make sure the plant is healthy. The tubers have to be solid, meaty, and mold-free.
In order to rehydrate bare root plants before planting, it is a good idea to soak them in a pail of water for two to four hours.
If the tubers can’t be planted straight away, keep them in their packaging in a cold, dry location, such a garage or basement. Check on the tubers occasionally to make sure they aren’t turning soft or moldy because warmth and moisture will encourage them to begin developing. They can be stored in this manner for about five days.
Planting Location for Peonies
Select a location with well-drained, slightly acidic soil that receives direct sunlight. Additionally, keep in mind that once established, peonies do not respond well to transplanting, so choose a location where they can be left alone.
Planting Peonies
Peonies should be planted with their eyes facing upward and close to the soil’s surface. Now, this is a crucial point to remember. Too-deeply planted peonies won’t produce flowers. Plant the tubers no deeper than 2 inches in northern gardens. They are buried approximately a half-inch deep in my garden in the middle of the South. This enables the mulch I apply over the planting bed to discourage weed growth and aid in moisture preservation.
After planting, give the area plenty of water and keep it continually moist until the ground freezes.
What to Expect After Planting Peonies
Your peony will develop foliage in the spring of next year, but it can take a few seasons before it blooms profusely. But you’ll be rewarded for your patience. Peonies are plants that are designed for lengthy lives, and as they become older, their blossoms get better.
Many of the traditional cultivars, including “Sarah Bernhardt” and “Festiva Maxima,” have big, heavy blossoms that have a propensity to topple over. Caging them in the early spring, right after the stems appear above ground, is one of the best strategies to prevent this. To support them, use a straightforward metal ring with legs, or simply enclose the plant in a section of wire fencing.
Caring for Peonies After they Bloom
Peonies also have a wonderful smell, but in order to ensure that there will be a lot of bloom the following year, it’s crucial to remove the seedpods and fertilize each plant in late spring or early summer after deadheading the faded petals. You might sprinkle a 5-10-5 mixture around the base. Per plant, about a handful is sufficient. You only need to feed plants at this time because fertilizer overuse can produce burn, fewer blooms, and lanky growth.
Peony bulbs — do they blossom the first year?
Peonies are the ideal plants for Grow-Through Supports. Early in the spring, install them so that stems can develop through the grid.
First-year blooming peonies are uncommon. Three years are frequently needed before you see a profusion of blossoms. However, as the plants begin to bloom, you may anticipate a lifetime of lovely flowers. Rarely do peony plants need to be divided. Fall is the best season for separating clumps if they grow too big for a place or if you want to share the plant with a friend. Trim the plant’s foliage, then carefully dig it up from the ground. Cut portion of the plant into pieces with a sharp knife, being careful to leave behind ample clumps of roots with at least three to five eyes per clump. Replant the original plant in its original location, being careful not to damage any of the very brittle roots or leave any significant air spaces in the planting hole. Water until you are certain that the earth around the roots has settled and the moisture has reached the bottom of the hole. Plants divided in the fall may not bloom the next spring, but they will resume their typical behavior the following year.
All that a peony needs for health is an annual dose of organic all-purpose fertilizer and a top-dressing of compost. If you mulch your flower beds, make cautious not to get mulch on the peonies’ bases. Mulch causes the plant to act as though it has been planted too deeply and will result in few, if any, blossoms.
The fluffy white center of the Bowl of Beauty peony contrasts attractively with the pink to magenta surrounding petals.
There are several peony types available today, ranging from time-honored ancestral favorites to novel hues (peach, coral, and yellow), intriguing flower shapes (spiders, singles, and semi-doubles), and various heights and blooming periods. Tree peonies, which bloom earlier than herbaceous peonies, have larger flowers, and may grow up to 6 feet tall, might also be something you want to try cultivating.
A special reminder for gardeners in hotter climates: If peonies receive some shade during the hottest portion of the day, the plants will be more resilient and their blooms will stay longer. In warm climates, peonies are questionable and maybe difficult to grow. Consult a reputable local gardener or your nearest garden center to learn if they may be grown in your area.
The ideal types for luring pollinators have just one or two rows of petals.