The optimum time to plant peonies is in the fall, any time between late September and early December. When purchasing a potted plant in the spring or summer, it is better to wait until fall to transplant the plant. To ensure good drainage, you can temporarily bury the entire pot where it will be planted, covering the soil beneath it with a few inches of gravel.
Follow these planting instructions in the fall:
Make a deep hole that is at least 24″ wide and 18″ deep. Rich, humus-rich soil as well as a lot of compost, composted manure, or peat moss should be used to fill the hole’s bottom.
Remove the plant from its pot with care, being sure to untangle any circling or tangled roots.
Place it there and backfill the hole with the same soil mixture as you go. When planting is finished, make sure the top of the plant’s bud “eyes” is no lower than 2 inches below the top soil level, taking into consideration any additional mulch layer you’ll add.
When should peony be planted?
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
Where in the Pacific Northwest can you find peonies?
Your peonies should be planted in a sunny, well-drained area. Sun exposure for six hours is advised. To ensure that there is plenty of air circulation around the plant, place peonies three to four feet apart on center. Peonies prefer heavier, trace-element-rich soil. You can think about using Azomite during planting and periodically with compost or fertilizer throughout the following years. In USDA zones 2 through 8, peonies thrive. The amount of cooling hours needed for reliable blossoming is insufficient in warmer areas.
When to plant and how:
Anytime the ground is neither frozen or severely dry, peonies can be planted. If roots appear to be extremely dry, soak them in water for a few hours. If the planting site is acidic, lime is useful. When planting, loosen the soil and add lots of compost. Using fresh, undigested manure close to peonies is not advised since it may encourage the growth of botrytis, a common and potentially fatal fungus that affects peonies. In the bottom of a sizable hole that is wider than deep, combine a few handfuls of lime, some compost, and any peat moss the peonies were packed in. Take off any rubber bands or tags. Burying labels next to or beneath your root is a wonderful idea for future reference and identification. As long as the labels are hidden and out of the sun, the writing will always be readable. Plant peony with a single projection of a root facing upward, at a small downward inclination. Bury the peony flat if its roots are spread out on both sides. Plant so that the dirt covers the eyes by no more than 1.5 inches. In order to prevent the peony from settling further after planting, firm the hole if it is deep and/or loose at the bottom.
The most frequent reason for blooming failure with peony is improper planting depth. They should be planted shallower the warmer the environment. In the Pacific Northwest, 1.5 inches is the optimal thickness. Although it is rarely necessary in the Pacific Northwest, plants can be mulched the first year after planting to minimize heaving. If you choose to mulch, you must remove it as soon as the cold season ends in the spring to avoid the growth of fungi. After trimming down leaves to a length of 1-2 in the fall, discard all garbage and plant materials. Due to the ease with which botrytis spores can spread by composting and burning, DON’T. One can completely avoid the use of antifungal agents in the garden by maintaining basic cleanliness.
Use the same procedures to plant peonies in pots. To avoid disturbing or harming the delicate feeder roots, be very cautious when removing the peony from its pot. Plant one and a half to two inches above the eyes or at the same soil level as it was in the container. Only perform transplants in the spring or fall when it’s colder. Peonies kept in containers during the winter need to be protected from hard freezes.
Where would be the ideal location to grow a peony?
Peonies prefer an area with good soil drainage and sunlight. A healthy airflow around the plant is also crucial. Peonies are able to avoid their sole significant disease issue, botrytis, thanks to these growing circumstances.
Botrytis can be found in most soils, just like other fungi-related illnesses. Only poor plants, unusually cool and wet conditions, sick plants nearby, or weak plants rarely become an issue. Blackened buds, stems, and occasionally decaying at the base of the plant are indications of botrytis. Disconnect and remove any impacted areas (put this material in the trash, not in your compost pile). Preventing botrytis issues is the best course of action, and this starts with careful planting.
The gorgeous semi-double Abalone Pearl peony has gentle pink-peach petals that contrast with bright orange anthers.
In Seattle, what month do peonies bloom?
Visits to the flowers in the spring and summer have become customary. My friends and I have gone to numerous events throughout the years, including the University of Washington Cherry Blossom Festival, Sequim Lavender Festival, and the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in Mount Vernon. The choice for this year was a peony farm! Because flowers are fickle, we only had a short window of time to photograph the blooms before they vanished.
And just like any good travel tale, this one didn’t quite turn out the way we had hoped. We had originally intended to travel to the peninsula for a day excursion in order to see a peony farm in Sequim that we had read about on Instagram. Then, when I learned that it had been shuttered since last year, catastrophe almost happened! I became really anxious since I believed it to be the sole peony farm in the state of Washington. Had we missed the chance to play amid the lovely flowers?
Fortunately, a quick Google search led me to the Pure Peonies website, where I was delighted to learn that they do, in fact, allow visitors for a brief period of time each year. Beginning in early May and continuing until mid-June, Pure Peonies, a Washington peony farm, welcomes visitors to admire and purchase fresh cut peonies from their lovely garden.
Continue reading to learn everything you need to know about visiting the best peony farm in Washington.
It was a gorgeous Sunday morning as I drove a 2019 Toyota Highlander, kindly provided to us by Toyota for our day trip excursion, north of the city to pick up my companions Ana Luiza and Megan. Nothing compares to a comfortable automobile for road trips! We couldn’t have asked for a finer ride, with features like the radar cruise control that spared me from constantly pumping the brakes in I-5 traffic and the roomy, soft back seats that were ideal for naps and outfit changes. Not to mention the spacious trunk that can fit all of our clothing.
After stopping for coffee, we resumed our drive, and less than two hours later, we were approaching Pure Peonies in Everson, Washington, a little town near Bellingham.
Where to Find the Best Peony Farm in Washington
Take Interstate 5 up north to Bellingham, then turn northeast to Everson, Washington. Before you reach the peony farm known as Pure Peonies, you’ll wind past wide-open fields and plenty of farmland. Every year, Pure Peonies is available from May 1 to mid-June. Through July 1st, cut flowers can be ordered and picked up.
About Pure Peonies Farm
In 2010, a chemical-free peony farm called Pure Peonies opened in Everson, Washington. Beginning with a little garden, they added a field in 2011. Jim and Renel, the owners, are a husband and wife combination. Both are novice farmers who have worked in finance and mechanical engineering, respectively, in the past. Jim acknowledged Renel’s love of peonies when we questioned him about it. He chuckled as he said, “I had no idea she loved them this much!
In the garden, greenhouse, and field of Pure Peonies, there are more than 200 types. But did you know that there are more than 6,000 different kinds in the world? Peonies come in a variety of hues, petal configurations, and fragrances. First, the greenhouse blossoms in late April due to their relatively small bloom window. The rest begin to bloom two to three weeks later, with corals being the first to die.
In the spring of 2019, Pure Peonies began selling buckets of roughly 30 hand-cut single stems for $30. Individual blooming stems cost $1, and individual bud stems cost $2. Additional bouquets are available for $20–25 each. The farm only accepts cash.
What to Bring to the Peony Farm
Making plans to visit the peony farm? Consider bringing a picnic! I definitely would have packed a small cooler with ice-cold drinks, sandwiches, and sides to enjoy on a blanket at the farm if I were to take our trip again. There is enough room to enjoy yourself without getting in anyone’s way.
Don’t forget to bring a tripod if you’re traveling in a group. (I like using my phone with this one.) Or request a picture from another farm guest! While I was there, I took several pictures for other groups.
Do you intend to bring peonies home? Take cash with you, please! There is a list of price ranges above.
What to Wear to a Peony Farm
Here is a caution for those who dislike bees: They are numerous, especially around the darker and more vivid blooms. For this reason, we chose lighter-colored flowers for our photography. (Although it’s possible that this was just a coincidence, there seemed to be less bees to avoid.)
Wearing florals and extremely vivid hues might not be the greatest choice in this situation. However, my floral outfit didn’t appear to be a bee magnet. Wear footwear that is comfy and won’t get trapped in the unlevel grass as well. (In essence, no stilettos!) Since there is no shade, I’d also suggest bringing sunglasses and sunscreen that you can reapply as necessary.
Best Varieties of Peonies for your Bouquets
Here are the peonies that farmer Jim suggests we pick when it’s time to fill your buckets or bouquets. These blooms impressed us the most because they were both scented and attractive.
- Iris Gentry (Light pink with a powerful sweet fragrance)
- Eden’s Fragrance (Large pink blooms with a gorgeous fragrance)
- Linda Temple (Double white flowers with a hint of pink)
- Chief Shawnee (Gorgeous bold red)
How to Care for your Cut Peonies
- Peony stems should be roughly 20 inches long.
- Once cut, submerge them in ice water.
- Avoid exposing cut peonies to the sun.
I can’t express how much I would recommend a trip to the best peony farm in Washington if you share my friends’ and my own passion of flowers. The peonies bloom from May through Mid-June the following year, so make sure to visit around that time. On your journey back home, don’t forget to stop in Bellingham. Before you take the long drive back home, there are a ton of fantastic nearby eateries, breweries, and coffee shops to meet your needs.
Ever been to a peony farm? What are your top spring and summer travel destinations in Washington? Please share your thoughts in the comments section.