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
How far should peony bulbs be buried?
Check to see if your climate is conducive to producing peonies before planting one. These shrubs have a long lifespan and require a very cold winter to flower. According to a general rule of thumb, peonies require thirty consecutive days below freezing in order to reliably bloom for you, despite the fact that certain gardeners in more temperate locations have occasionally had some success. Climate zones 3–7 are ideal for growing garden peony. For optimum results, gardeners in zone 8 should choose peonies that bloom early, as this will allow their plants to fully blossom before the summer’s intense heat arrives.
I am aware of how eager gardeners in Florida and Southern California are to cultivate peonies. Don’t let a plant that requires a climate so dissimilar from your own crush your heart. One of the two reasons why peonies don’t blossom is that there isn’t enough winter chill.
Peonies can be planted well in the fall or the spring, but the fall is when they establish themselves the best. Six weeks before the first hard ground freeze, make sure you pant.
When choosing the location for your peony planting, keep in mind that you are making a long-term investment in the aesthetic appeal of your garden. Peonies are genetically predisposed for longevity since they can grow and bloom for up to a century. They have a broad perspective on life. For the first spring after planting, don’t anticipate blossoms. You could be surprised by one or two! The bloom production is quite low during the first few seasons, but it increases. In the third year, watch for bushes covered in blossoms!
The roots of peonies do not want to be disturbed. This explains why the initial bloom production is so meager. A healthy peony that consistently produces heavy flowers every year could be dug up and replanted just three yards away, but the bloom production would plummet and the time it took to reach full bloom would be almost identical to if it had been planted for the first time. So make sure you plant it where you want it to thrive!
Where there will be direct sunlight for at least eight hours per day, plant your peony. Plant for morning and afternoon sun in regions with extremely hot summers, but offer some light shade during the hottest part of the day.
Peonies may grow in a variety of soil types. Dig a hole 12 to 18 inches deep, breaking up any compacted soil, and add compost, dry grass clippings, and dead leaves to thick clay to improve the soil before planting your peony. Add amendments as necessary to promote proper drainage, along with about a cup of bone meal that has been thoroughly incorporated into the ground at the bottom of the hole.
Look for the “eyes” on your peony’s naked roots. These are the locations where new growth will form, much like the eyes on a potato. On a peony, the eyes are frequently (though not always) a bright pink swelling. Take note of the side that has the most eyeballs; when you plant it, you want that side up.
A climate with enough winter frost and the proper planting depth are the two most crucial criteria for peony to bloom freely.
Create a sizable dirt cone in the hole you excavated, firming it down as you go to get rid of air pockets and raising the top of the cone almost to the level of the ground. With its roots dangling down, place the peony at its naked base on top of the cone. Place it so that the side that has the most eyes is up. Backfill your peony root with loose soil, covering it to a depth of no more than 1/2 to 1 1/2 inches. It’s crucial that this depth is shallow. Your peony plant will still grow robust and healthy if it is planted deeper, but it will produce few or no blooms. The most common reason for impaired blooming in climates with appropriately cold winters is planting peony roots too deeply.
Check the depth of your peony root once more and level the dirt with the surrounding earth. If it is deeper than 1 1/2 inches, make the necessary adjustments and water it thoroughly. Once the water has been completely absorbed, check the peony root’s depth once more to make sure it hasn’t sunk any lower into the earth.
Now that your peony has been expertly planted, let’s go over the maintenance you need to provide it.
Rain will collect in the huge peony blossoms, making them heavy enough that the stems cannot support them. Particularly with the “bomb” flower shape variants, this is a problem. Finding your peony blooms finally open only to find yourself face first in the dirt is a sad letdown. When you first plant your peony or in the early spring when the first signs of new growth appear, add a ring-style support. The lattice will support new growth as it climbs up through it, hiding the ring in the process.
Give your peony plant a modest amount of watering. Recognize that fewer, deeper waterings are ideal since they will encourage broad, strong roots.
Apply an all-purpose fertilizer annually and top it up with compost for the greatest results. Mulch your peony sparingly; otherwise, the plant will act as though it was buried too deeply.
Although technically speaking, peonies do not require pruning, trimming them back in the late fall helps keep the garden looking neat and avoids any insect or disease damage from overwintering in the plant. Choose the smaller branch to be clipped all the way to the base when two branches cross and brush against one another. Insects or diseases can enter through the weakness created by that point of contact.
One of our customers just commented this morning, “I adore growing peonies, but I simply dread the ants!” Gardeners frequently express this complaint. But I want to defend the ants, who provide a vital service to the peony in return for food that is prepared expressly for them.
The plant expends a great deal of energy and resources in order to produce each massive, fragrant peony blossom. These flowers contain an abundance of nutrients that many insects would love to consume, depriving the plant of the ability to reproduce and leaving an unattractive mess in its stead. However, nature has a remedy for this issue! Peony buds make a pleasant nectar specifically to draw ants, who subsequently destroy any insects that are consuming the buds and leave the plant strong and attractive. The peony plant calls ants to defend it in return for the ants’ protection in exchange for tasty nectar.
Spraying pesticides on your peony won’t help, as they serve a useful purpose. Cut peony stems when the bud is still tightly closed. Take it inside and clean the ants off. The stem will fully bloom in your vase if you put it in lukewarm water.
I adore peony, but the climate where I live and garden makes it impossible for me to cultivate them. Can you let me experience them via you?:) If you will be planting peonies this fall or if you have any queries, kindly let me know in the comments. I’m happy to assist!
Before planting, should you soak peony bulbs?
Planting peony roots in the garden is simple. Just because they seem a little strange, don’t put off planting them. In general, it’s best to plant them as soon as you can after getting them (unless, of course, the ground is still frozen outside!).
Step 1: Choose A Planting Location
To plant your peony roots, decide where in the garden to do so. The leaves of peony plants benefit from 6 to 8 hours per day of direct sunshine for the maximum growth. The plants are able to provide the best display of spring blooms thanks to the generous amount of sunlight. Some afternoon shade may be advantageous for the plants in regions with very hot summers and intense afternoon sunlight. In warmer climes, afternoon shade can help blossoms stay longer and require less water (especially in Zones 7-8).
Peonies prefer soil that drains excess water effectively and require a moist environment to grow. Peonies can grow in less-than-ideal garden soil, but they typically thrive in sandy loam soil with frequent irrigation or rainwatering. In order to produce a free-draining flower bed that allows surplus water to go down to the lower elevation sections rather than ponding around the roots, peonies can be planted in clay soil or other areas that drain poorly on a raised mound-type garden bed.
Step 2: Unpack The Peony Roots
Take the peony roots out of their packaging with care. A mixture of dried peat moss or sawdust is frequently marketed with peony roots. To obtain a good look at the roots, brush the peat or sawdust off of each one.
The peony’s roots are elongated, thick, meaty tubers. Peony roots resemble brown carrots quite a bit. Older roots appear woody and thick, whereas young roots may be flexible and bend slightly. The “crown of the peony plant” is where the peony roots all congregate and come together. The knobby bump at the top is the crown. The new, tiny buds that are emerging from the “crown are the “eyes. Peony “eyes” typically have a pink or white color and have a slightly angular shape.
For planting reasons, the “eyes” of the peony root are the most crucial to locate. The “eyes” must be positioned near the top of the planting hole and at a specific elevation. Check each peony root for eyes by looking closely. Most bare root peonies with 2-3 eyes are available in garden centers and plant nurseries. See the circled peony eyes in the photo up top.
Step 3: Soak The Peony Roots
After months of chilly storage, dormant peony roots are frequently dry. To help them fill up and hydrate, soak them in clean, lukewarm water to give them a head start in establishing themselves in the soil.
To soak the peony roots in, prepare a dish of clean, lukewarm water. Peony roots that are extremely dry can be rehydrated by soaking them for up to four hours. You can soak peony roots for approximately a half-hour if they don’t appear to be overly dry. It’s not necessary to soak peony roots before planting, but it does appear to assist the dormant roots awaken from their sleep (and make watering them less worrisome in the first few weeks after planting).
Step 4: Plant The Peony Roots
For each peony root, create a broad, shallow hole. The length of the peony root should be roughly twice as wide as each hole. The peony root need not be buried much deeper than the planting hole. If you’re planting many peony roots, leave about 3 feet between each one.
The crown and eyes of the peony root should be near the top of the hole. This stage can be a little challenging because some peony roots have unusual shapes. Seek out the pink and white “eyes. The “When the peony root is planted, the eyes should be close to the top. Attempt to position the peony root such that all of the eyes (often 2-3 on one root) are parallel to one another (all at the same approximate elevation). the root of a peony “The final soil surface should be around 1 below the eyes.
Holding the peony root in one hand, backfill the hole with the removed soil. Be careful not to knock any buds or eyes off the peony root’s top, but also take care not to leave any significant air pockets. Examine the height of the eyes in relation to the surrounding dirt in the planting hole once more. Generally speaking, peony “Eyes should be positioned around one inch below the soil’s surface. Zones 2-3 allow for slightly deeper planting of peonies, but in general, flowering should not be compromised by planting the eyes deeper than 2 inches into the ground.
Step 5: Water & Mulch
After planting, thoroughly water the planting area with fresh water. More dirt can be added to top up the soil level until it is flush with the surrounding soil if the soil settles significantly inside the planting hole’s perimeter. Apply a layer of organic mulch after watering to help preserve moisture in the soil and deter weed growth.
Here is a video demonstrating just how to sow bare-root peony roots in the garden: