Peonies can take little shade, but they prefer a sunny position. Flowers will also grow in shady areas, but it can take them an additional one to two years to become established.
Planting Time: h6
Fall is the ideal time to grow bare root peonies. This promotes the development of strong roots before the plants’ top growth in the spring. Over the upper eye, leave two inches of earth.
h6#Type of Soil:
Plant in a soil that drains properly! Peonies won’t stand for moisture to accumulate around or close to the crown. No muddy shoes! Your peony’s life and productivity will be prolonged by an elevated area (even one up to 6″) or a gentle slope.
h6#Planting:
A planting hole should be at least 18″ x 18″ in size, preferably 24″ x 24″. (It is better to plant too shallowly than to err on the side of caution!) Any soil settling issues can be avoided by digging the planting hole in the spring. If you’re planting in freshly dug soil, plant the peony shallowly and pile the soil 6 to 8 inches above the eyes the first fall. Then, in the spring, remove any extra soil. As a planting suggestion, leave 2″ of the stems from the most recent year on the root. These stems should have their tops at ground level when soil is removed in the spring. The bottom of the hole should be filled with old compost or bone meal, and then 2 inches of top soil should be added. The crown of the plants should be kept well away from any soil amendments. With garden soil, backfill the hole, leaving space for roots. While being careful not to disrupt the eyes (next spring’s development), compact the soil around the roots.
h6#Amendments:
After the new plants emerge in the spring, wood ashes are beneficial.
After the initial weeding, aged compost (3-5 years) can be used.
Before the start of the rainy season, lime and bone meal might be used. (August, typically, in Anchorage.) Soils with a pH of about 6 are best for peonies.
Are peony successful in Alaska?
The state’s next major cash crop might be the tiny yet sumptuous blossoms. They require freezing temperatures to bloom, may survive in temperatures as low as 60 below, and can only be purchased in Alaska between the months of June and September, which is wedding season.
About five years ago, the state’s budding peony business began to take off with a few dozen farms from Homer to Fairbanks. In Alaska, the spectacular but beautiful flowers are now grown on approximately 50 huge farms thanks to an explosion in the larger commercial peony farming industry over the past several years. According to Ron Illingworth, president of North Pole Peonies and the state’s first commercial peony grower, dozens more are just getting started.
Within a few years, peony producers in the Mat-Su alone anticipate harvesting more than a million blossoms. Last week, the borough mayor dubbed the Valley the “Peony Capital of Alaska.”
Each peony costs approximately $5, occasionally a little less and occasionally somewhat more. Farmers and businesspeople alike are scurrying to keep up with demand for the new cash crop.
Cooperation extension agent Steve Brown from Palmer remarked, “I’m trying to find of a delicate manner… well, they smell money. “Alaska is the only place where peonies may be grown, despite this. That suggests a pretty sizable market.”
Fans of peonies are almost sensually awed by them. They refer to these huge blooms, which begin as tight round buds before abruptly exploding into flowers up to 10 inches across, as “luscious,” “flamboyant,” and even “the Dolly Partons of the garden.”
With their thick, ruffled petals in frothy layers, peonies are large but delicate flowers. They can be gentle pink, daring fuchsia, white with vivid red flashes, or milky. The brides adore them.
In the Lower 48, peonies blossom in May and June. In November and December, flowers are cut in New Zealand. During the wedding season from July through early September, Alaska is the only area in the world can obtain fresh-cut commercial peonies.
When “everyone was talking about the huge gold rush, we’re all going to be rich billionaires,” says Jonathan Spiegel, owner of Meadow Lakes Peony Farm in the Mat-Su, 200 peony roots were planted.
Spiegel and his wife, according to him, began modestly since they believed they knew little about farming.
“This land was ours. I didn’t want to build a dog kennel or a ton of storage units on it because we intended to use it for something else “explained he. We anticipated that this would be peaceful and keep us out of the neighbors’ way.
The couple’s roots have grown to more than 900 today. In the spring and the fall, they will plant an additional 1,000 trees.
The general manager of a peony distribution center in Meadow Lakes, Meghan Williams, remarked that “a lot of individuals have jumped in head first without looking.” But a lot of individuals find that this is a fairly viable market to get into with some hard work, sound business concepts, and patience.
Peonies are a crop for delayed gratification. The plants may need three to five years to produce flowers that are suitable for sale.
Growers claim that they might be picky when it comes to location and soil quality. Since no one we spoke to for this article was willing to reveal their secrets, we can only assume that a grower should at the very least have their soil tested before beginning. Peonies also prefer sunlight, soil with proper drainage, and a specific fertilizer schedule. Winter’s chill is necessary for the blooms to grow, but they also need a snowy covering for insulation.
Starting off can cost as much as $10 per plant, according to one producer. Add to that the toil required to make any farm profitable as well as the requirement to establish a strong business plan, marketing strategy, and distribution system.
The majority of growers are doing well, but others lose money if they don’t conduct enough research, according to Brown, the UAF extension agent.
For instance, one gardener invested thousands of dollars in roots to begin a peony farm but waited to collect a soil sample until the roots arrived. Brown examined the soil and offered fertilizer recommendations. The grower didn’t have the additional thousands of dollars that the fertilizer cost.
I don’t hear much from the people who are doing things correctly, he said. “The people ringing in extreme panic are the ones who are doing things incorrectly.”
The peony market is also being harmed by the inconsistent snowfall over the past two winters.
6,000 plants died last winter, according to Shelley Rainwater, owner of Glacier Peonies in Homer. Now that she has 2,000 in the ground, she is starting afresh.
She said that hay and beef cattle were grown using rainwater. Before peonies turn a profit, it may take years of arduous labor and obstacles, just like in any other type of cultivation.
“When you do the math, you realize that you could make X thousand dollars from this small plot of land. However, I believe that the expense of doing it is something that most people do not comprehend “She spoke. “I don’t advise anyone quitting their day job right soon. You either have to have a good reserve to start.”
With a few producers distributed from Anchorage and Copper Center to Bethel and even Juneau and Fort Yukon, farms are primarily concentrated in the Interior, Kenai Peninsula, and Mat-Su regions.
According to a survey conducted by the group in March, there are more farms in the Interior than anyplace else in the state, including the Mat-Su, at least among its members.
According to some producers, in part because of temperature variations that result in a staggered blooming date between Fairbanks and Homer, there is no competition among the remote locales.
At least for the time being, farmers claim that demand for the flowers is higher than supply. According to them, Alaskan suppliers respond to inquiries from markets in Asia like Taiwan as well as from all of North America.
Williams, whose parents operate a fly-in peony farm at the foot of Mount Susitna, said, “I’m getting queries from China, the U.K., and I had an inquiry from South Africa the other day.”
At a meeting last week, Williams informed the Mat-Su Assembly that “Dubai (is) asking about our peonies and wondering how they might acquire them from here.”
Growers around the state are forming cooperatives or other businesses as the demand for marketing and shipping increases as the peony industry grows.
One was established last fall and has 41 members in the Fairbanks area: the Arctic Alaska Peony Cooperative. Alaska Peony Distributors, a wholesale commercial packaging firm that manages marketing, sales, sorting and grading, packing and shipping, was established in the Valley by three farms.
According to Catherine Kershner, proprietor of Peony Express in Trapper Creek, “Most everything we harvest and sell will have to go out of here by FedEx.” “We choose them and put them in the chiller right away for 24 to 48 hours. The shelf life is extended. As orders come in, we’ll package them with an ice pack and contact FedEx.”
After some of the state’s earliest growers began experiencing prosperous harvests, the peony rush in Alaska started five or six years ago.
Professor of Horticulture Pat Holloway from the University of Alaska Fairbanks recognized the peony potential in this area.
In a conversation with Holloway about ten years ago, Illingworth—who, along with his wife Marji, is an emeritus professor at the university—mentioned a few peonies they had planted in their yard at the same time that Holloway was responding to an odd inquiry about growing the flowers in the far north.
According to the university, Illingworth planted 25 plants as part of Holloway’s investigation, which involved test plots in Fairbanks, Kenai, and Homer. One of the five kinds he attempted failed, but the other four performed “OK to fairly well.” The farm now contains 10,000 plants, and many more are planned.
The peony boom in Alaska was started by those early discoveries, but it has taken a while to bloom. There were perhaps 20 established peony producers in the state five years ago. More were beginning.
According to a survey by Illingworth and the Alaska Peony Growers Association, there are already close to 50 and at least another 50 are coming online.
According to the poll, almost 60% of respondents stated they weren’t even yet selling peonies, according to Illingworth, a founder member of the peony group.
Since these people have had peony roots in the ground for two or three years and are just moving into this, he added, “we’re talking significant increases coming in the next couple of years.”
peony kinds that thrive here, the Alaska Peony Society’s Facebook page is a fantastic resource. In the summer, this group hosts tours and educational programs for its members. Peonies are well-known and frequently discussed. Every day, new types are being created. Here is a lovely flower that you can grow successfully in Alaska and that will provide you years of happiness. Try peonies; they are worthwhile!
President of the Greater Eagle River Garden Club is Chris Wood. Her email address is [email protected].