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 often should peony be pruned?
Fall is the time to trim the plants to the ground after they begin to turn yellow or brown. The best time to prune the plants is in the early fall or after the first frost. Cutting peonies in the fall aids in eradicating foliar diseases and lowering infection the following season. Simply remove and discard all of the growth at the soil level.
Should I prune my peonies after they bloom?
After peonies blossom, you shouldn’t prune them because the leaves work hard all growing season to gather energy for the plant. However, Pangborn advises deadheading peonies after they bloom.
To reduce the chance of disease transmission, always prune spent flower blossoms with clean, sharp pruners.
Pangborn continues, “Letting the old flowers stay can lead to fungal growth on the plant, in addition to being ugly.” In an effort to prevent disease from spreading, it is also preferable to remove any stems that are deteriorating during the course of the season.
How are peonies kept in bloom?
You’re hosting a dinner party and have purchased or cut a number of peonies that are still in the bud stage. What do you do when the buds haven’t bloomed the day before your party? Trim the stems and place them immediately into warm water to hasten the process. Place the flowers in a warm area with direct sunlight, vase and all, and check on them occasionally. You can move them to the desired location after they begin to open.
With our suggestions, you can put off wilting flowers as long as you can. These five suggestions should each help your cut peonies thrive for a few extra days. Additionally, if you want them to endure even longer, plant peonies in your garden this year so you may take advantage of them all season long!
How is a peony bush cared for?
These enormous plants, which bloom lavishly in May and June, are a must-have for every garden. Herbaceous peonies are true perennials that can live for about fifty years and are more stunning with age. Peonies are simple to grow and will provide you with armfuls of cut flowers as well as a magnificent landscape display. They are excellent specimen plants, get along well with other perennials in the yard, and work well as path or driveway borders. There are kinds that bloom early, mid, and late and some of them have scented blooms to lengthen the flowering season. Zones 3 to 8 are suitable for growing peonies; in the South, Alabama is where they will bloom, but Zone 8’s cooler regions seem to be their limit. For the best results, southern gardeners should select early-flowering singles.
Light/Watering: Herbaceous peonies should be grown in full sun, with the exception of the hottest regions of the West and the South, where afternoon shadow is preferred and will prolong the life of the blossoms on the plant. It is advised to give plants an inch of water per week during the growing season.
pH and Fertilizer: An organically rich, well-drained soil is ideal. Add a few handfuls of calcitic lime while planting if your soil is quite acidic. In the North, place the roots with the eyes (the pink or white buds at the top of the roots) pointing up, while in the South, place the roots with the eyes pointing down. (Note: Plants may not blossom if the eyes are positioned deeper than is suggested. Mulch should not be applied over the crowns due to this.) It’s normal for plants to take a few years to establish themselves and blossom profusely, so don’t be startled if there are few or no flowers the first spring after planting. No extra fertilizing is required; peonies react nicely to an annual sidedressing of one inch of aged manure or compost. To stop their blossoms from falling into the dirt after a thunderstorm, many Peonies, especially the double-flowered kinds, must be staked. As soon as fresh growth starts to appear in the early spring, install the supports.
Pests and diseases: Herbaceous peonies are rarely bothered by insect pests, but a fungus called botrytis can be a concern, particularly during extremely rainy seasons. Peony stems either wilt or fall over as a result of developing cankers, becoming black at the base, or both. The leaves may have patches of black or brown color, and the buds may turn brown and not open. These issues can be avoided or resolved in the garden with proper culture and cleanliness. Don’t crowd the plants because they require proper drainage and air circulation. At the first sign of disease, remove any infected foliage. Deadhead regularly, removing all flower parts and petals from the garden. After a deadly frost in the fall, remove all foliage that is just below the soil and remove it together with any other debris from the area; do not compost. Add a thin layer of sand around the plants and crowns if botrytis was present in the spring before, and then spray newly developing shoots with Bordeaux mix or lime sulfur as directed on the label. Fungal spores overwinter at the base of the plants, where they are then sprayed onto the young shoots by spring rains. Sand-covering the soil and clearing away any waste and outdated vegetation can help avoid reinfection.
There may also be phytophthora, a different blight that is difficult to distinguish from other blights. If you think your plant may have phytophthora, bring a sample to your local USDA Cooperative Extension Service agent or a specialist. Because this disease usually kills the plant, affected plants should be dug up, killed, and the soil restored before new plants are planted.
In the summer, powdery mildew can affect peonies. Despite covering the leaves in varied degrees, the white, powdery mildew fungus appears to have little impact on the plant’s vitality. By planting in full sun and ensuring enough airflow around the plants, this can be prevented or at least lessened.
Peonies are attractive with many other perennials and bloom with roses and clematis; just make sure to provide space around the plants for air circulation. Peonies with white flowers are captivating against an evergreen backdrop. The scarlet stems of developing Herbaceous Peonies are beautifully contrasted with spring-flowering bulbs like Crocus vernus or Scilla siberica.
Reflowering: Deadheading is helpful since many kinds produce a number of side buds that will blossom after the terminal bloom flowers. After each flower is finished, cut the stem underneath the previous bloom, leaving the foliage alone. If exhibition-sized flowers are required, remove the side buds as they form and leave only the terminal bud.
Generally speaking, Herbaceous Peonies do not require division, and some people dislike it. However, before replanting an established plant, you must divide it if you must transfer it. Do this in the fall, after the foliage has totally withered away. The young plants typically take a few years to flower, and each division ought to have three to five eyes.
End-of-Season Care: To prevent pests from overwintering, Herbaceous Peonies’ foliage should be pruned back in the fall and removed from the area. After the ground freezes, mulch new plants with salt marsh hay or evergreen boughs.
If spring rains don’t do it for you, water crops thoroughly in the early spring. Apply aged manure or compost on the sides of plants. If there was botrytis blight the season before, spray young shoots with Bordeaux mix or lime sulphur and cover the ground around the plant with a thin (quarter-inch) layer of sand. Place stakes or other supports right away.
Mid-Spring: Keep an eye out for botrytis blight symptoms and treat accordingly, removing any affected tissue as away. Train while plants are growing through plant supports. If you want flowers that are exhibition-size, remove the side buds.
Late Spring: Deadhead peonies diligently, cleaning the garden of any petals or blossoms that have fallen.
Fall: Trim Herbaceous Peony stems to the soil’s surface and remove them from the area. If required, dig and divide plants right away. After the ground freezes, mulch newly planted areas with evergreen boughs or salt marsh hay.
What happens if peonies aren’t pruned back?
In the winter, you don’t really need to do anything to or for your herbaceous bush peony plants. However, if you discover that you neglected to remove the stems in the fall, you still have time to do so.
Herbaceous (bush) peony, such as the intersectional Itoh peonies, eventually lose their leaves and stems when the plants hibernate for the winter. The stems will tumble to the ground and turn “mushy,” and the leaves will begin to decay. That is normal. The plant’s roots are not perishing; instead, new shoots and stems will appear in the spring. People may panic and believe their peony has perished, but this is simply the bush peony’s natural development cycle.
Be careful not to cut any exposed peony ‘eyes,’ which are typically pink or crimson buds and serve as the stems for the following year, while cutting off peony stems that are close to the ground. Put the stems and leaves in the trash after disposal. Peony stems and leaves shouldn’t be composted since they can harbor botrytis, a fungal disease, especially in moist environments. Each peony plant’s surrounding area should be cleaned up.
Most places don’t require mulching peonies. If you mulch your herbaceous bush peony plants, make sure to take it off in the early spring to avoid burying the roots too far. Years of mulching or applying bark dust around bush peony will eventually cause the roots to be buried too deeply, which could lead to fewer spring blooms. Just an inch or two of soil should remain above the roots of herbaceous bush peony after you remove that.
Additionally, it is normal for a mature peony’s crown to gradually heave up through the ground and display some exposed “eyes” in the winter. Don’t worry, peony plants enjoy the harsh winters.
Tree peony leaves must be removed from the ground and branches when they start to degrade. A tree peony’s branches are left hanging, barren and naked for the winter, rather of being chopped down in the fall. Don’t worry too much if you or a helper cuts a tree peony down to the ground and you panic or feel dejected. It’s likely that the roots have grown deeply enough to support spring branch growth. It might grow into a magnificent, revitalized tree peony in two or three years. I’ve seen it happen, so I know. In contrast to bush peony, tree peonies prefer more soil on top of the roots. Try adding a few inches of soil around the base of the trunk of a tree peony if it has lost its vigor. Yes, it is exactly the reverse of what is suggested for bush peony.
You can go outside again after the snow melts and it’s nice out to work on any “lost” stems.