Chinese for “tree peony,” or “mudan,” these long-lived, woody, deciduous shrubs are indigenous to China and may be grown in USDA zones 4-9. The cultivated tree peony, Paeonia suffruticosa, is genetically descended from a number of wild species. The size, color, and scent of tree peony’ mid- to late-spring blossoms are unmatched. A mature tree peony, despite its fairly slow growth, can produce over fifty 8–10″ flowers that bloom for around two weeks. Once grown, tree peonies are reasonably drought tolerant and resistant to deer. Plant on healthy soil with good drainage and 5 to 6 hours of sun. Tree peony do not receive an autumn pruning and instead bloom on “aged wood.” For additional details on tree peony maintenance and their lengthy history as cultivated plants, see our Learn section.
Please be aware that some items now have additional stock and can be ordered for fall shipping.
We have already sold out of our initial stock of a plant if it is currently categorized as “coming soon.”
If you were unable to order your preferred variety at this time, we will announce additional availability as we monitor the crop’s development during the growing season.
Most likely, once we dig the plants in early September and again in the coming weeks, we will be able to add a few things. Please re-register for a notice using the “email me when available” box on particular product pages if you want to be informed when there is more inventory available for particular cultivars.
How are Chinese tree peonies grown?
In zones 4-9. tree peonies thrive. They require great soil drainage and to be planted deeply.
First, tree peony ought to be planted in areas with few competing trees or plants with their roots. Tree peonies should be spaced 5 feet apart. Plan ahead, though, as tree peony dislike being moved. Keep in mind that your plant grows slowly and will take some time to fill in this space. Tree peonies should be spaced 5 feet apart.
Second, tree peonies require neutral pH and compost-rich soil. They should be planted in an area with good drainage because, like all peonies, they cannot tolerate having their feet wet.
Third, although though they can survive in direct sunlight, tree peonies prefer diffused light. Your tree peony would prefer dappled sunlight throughout the day, or morning sun and afternoon shade. This will increase the amount of sunlight reaching your tree peony while also extending the flower’s life. If you choose to plant your tree peonies in full sun, you might want to use wax paper umbrellas to keep the flowers from fading. You should also keep a close eye on the soil’s moisture level to ensure that your tree peony doesn’t dry up. The varieties with more petals will endure more intense sun than the varieties with fewer petals.
All peony require a pH that is neutral, rich soil, and good drainage. You want to mix equal parts sand, clay, and compost to get a sandy loam soil. Wet feet are intolerable to them. Avoid planting in low-lying places where water collects, and exercise caution when growing near sprinkler or irrigation systems.
Where should a tree peony be planted?
The majority of tree peony are hardy in zones 4–8, although some cultivars are hardy as low as zone 3. They thrive best in regions with hot summers and cold winters for dormancy. Tree peony prefer some dappled to light shade from the sweltering afternoon sun while being typically listed as full sun plants. The lovely blossoms may fade and wither more quickly if there is too much bright sunlight.
They require sufficient drainage and love slightly alkaline soil. Additionally, tree peonies favor a location free from competing tree or shrub roots. With perennial companion plants, they thrive.
Instead of in the sweltering summer, new tree peony plants should be planted in the spring or fall. At initially, they may take up to three years to become established and begin to develop and bloom. Tree peony do not transfer well and may tolerate drought once they are established. A plant can live up to 100 years if it is placed appropriately and is happy with its surroundings.
Gardening for tree peonies is not any more difficult than gardening for herbaceous peonies. However, tree peonies should never be pruned back in the fall, unlike herbaceous peonies. Tree peony should never be trimmed or shaped; only dead, unhealthy, or infected wood should be removed.
They may benefit from a yearly feeding of iron sulphate and bone meal in the spring since they have high iron and phosphate requirements. A general-purpose fertilizer like 5-10-5, which is higher in phosphorus than nitrogen and potassium, should also be applied regularly to tree peony.
The best way to water tree peony is directly at the root zone because they can be vulnerable to fungus illnesses. Borers can also harm them, so be vigilant about looking for evidence of their activity in the wood.
Where are Chinese peonies cultivated?
Zones 3 through 7 are ideal for Chinese peony, although zone 8’s northern half can also support them. Strong heat and humidity, especially during the blooming period, are not good for Chinese peony.
Are Chinese peonies double bloomers?
Gardeners simply can’t get enough of peonies’ enormous, sultry flowers, which are a mainstay of perennial borders. It’s understandable why we would wish to prolong the blooming season of these exquisite charmers if they also had a nice, seductive aroma.
Peonies are incredibly resilient to pests, have a long lifespan, and need little maintenance to produce vibrant flowers. The only issue peony farmers have is that they wish they had more time to enjoy those magnificent flowers. Let’s look at several ways to prolong peony blooming in your garden.
Peonies can bloom for over a century, almost by magic. Every plant will produce several flowers, and each bloom lasts for about 7 to 10 days. Planting kinds of peonies that bloom at various times during the about 6-week period of proficient flowering is the easy trick to extending peony blooming in your garden. Since different varieties bloom at various periods of the year, we have neatly categorized them as early, early-mid, mid, and late season. So now that you have mastered prolonging the peony blooming season, let’s take a closer look at each type.
What distinguishes peonies from tree peonies?
Tree peony are actually small bushes, not trees, and they bloom in May and June with stunning goblet-shaped flowers. Tree peonies are higher and maintain a constant framework throughout the year, in contrast to herbaceous peonies, which die back every year.
How to grow tree peonies
In the fall, plant tree peonies in wet, well-drained soil in a location that receives some to all of the shade. Except for those that remain quite moist over the winter or are on the acidic side, most soils are good. When buying, plant them somewhat deeper than the soil level in their container.
Cut off any suckers that you notice at the base of your tree peonies because they are growing from the rootstock and will look different from the rest of the plant.
How long does a tree peony take to bloom?
Especially if planted in the spring or later in the season, water often during dry periods throughout the first year to aid establishment. Deep-rooted established tree peony shouldn’t require routine watering after the first year because of this.
Feeding
Apply a general-purpose fertilizer, such as Growmore, at a rate of 70gm per sq m each spring to encourage healthy growth and flowering (2oz per sq yd). Then, to maintain moisture and control weeds, mulch the area with a 10cm (4in) layer of garden compost or well-rotted manure. However, avoid piling mulch up against stems as this could cause them to rot.
Deadheading
Since the majority of tree peony are hybrids and frequently fail to produce viable seed, dead blooms can be removed with secateurs after flowering. Any seed set would in any case not reproduce accurately, and the offspring would have various bloom colors.
Caring for older plants
Tree peony have a very long lifespan and typically grow into larger clumps over time. However, the red and yellow variants of the small-flowered Paeonia delavayi are rather vigorous, and the stems might need to be thinned (see Pruning tree peonies).
Minimal pruning is necessary for tree peony. Simply clip off any flowering shoots in the summer or, if preferred, in the fall after the seeds have been collected, just above the new growth on the stem.
Over many years, stems may become lanky. In order to promote bushier growth, trim them back by a third in the fall after the leaves have fallen.
Paeonia delavayi f. lutea and P. delavayi are two tree peonies that often grow more robust, erect stems. Once the plants are established, trimming back some of the oldest stems at ground level in the fall helps to regulate their size (i.e. they are flowering freely each spring).
Growing from seed
Both hybrids and species, such as Paeonia delavayi, can be grown from seeds, but the latter will not reproduce itself. Although you might produce some intriguing new hybrids, they frequently fall short of the quality of their identified variety (cultivar) parent. However, starting from scratch can still be exciting, and every now and then, you’ll come upon a self-sown seedling that you might want to continue developing on.
- Once the seed pods start to separate in the late summer and early fall, gather the ripe seed. The seed is black and fertile. Red seed should be rejected because it hasn’t been fertilized and won’t sprout.
- As soon as the seed is collected, plant it 2.5 cm (1 in) deep in containers with John Innes seed compost.
- Place the compost in a cold frame or other protected area outside, such as at the foot of a house wall, and lightly cover with grit.
- Make sure the compost is not allowed to dry out over the summer and keep rats out.
- Two cold periods are required for peony seeds, followed by a warm phase. The seeds are doubly dormant, which means that after the first winter of cooling, the root emerges the following spring, but the stem and leaves do not sprout until the second winter.
- Up to five years may pass before the seedlings reach flowering size.
Other propagation options
If a flexible stem can be bent over, layering is rather simple. Before the stem produces a strong enough independent root system to be detached from the parent plant, it often takes two to three years.
The majority of tree peony are propagated commercially through grafting, but this method is not frequently employed by home gardeners because it requires a lot of skill to achieve good success rates.
- poorly budged Even if the plant was purchased in bloom, tree peony might take up to four years to establish itself and blossom. In a shady location, tree peony have a tendency to flower less frequently. To make the plant receive more light, trim any overhanging branches, or think about moving it. Although established plants may withstand brief episodes of dryness, extended droughts can have an impact on the following season’s flowering. When there are extended dry spells, cover the plant’s base with mulch and provide water.
- Frost injury
- Late frosts have the potential to harm flower buds and developing foliage. Buds and leaves that have been damaged may become dark and not open. Use a fleece during chilly evenings.
- Shallow planting might promote the rootstock’s suckering. The rootstock is typically P. lactiflora, which has bright reddish shoots as opposed to the drab light red color of tree peonies’ shoots. If you’re unsure, look at if the shoots are coming from below the graft union (visible as a slight bulge close to the base of stem). Use a sharp knife to remove the suckers as soon as they emerge at the point of origin.
- The only significant illness affecting peonies is peony wilt (grey mould), which causes drooping and dieback of the leaves as well as buds and blooms.
While we hope this information may be useful to you, we always advise reading the labels on your plants that provide care instructions.
Can a cutting be used to grow a tree peony?
In our USDA zone 6, the best period to graft tree peony is from mid-August to early-October. The most effective way to create a new clone of an existing tree peony variety is through grafting. An under-stock of either a tree or herbaceous peony root is used as the under-stock in this age-old procedure, along with a bud from the chosen variety. This nursing root acts as a “battery,” supplying the new growth with energy for a year or two until it establishes its own roots. margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; display: block; float: none;
The fact that grafting, a time-consuming and labor-intensive technique, is still the most efficient method of asexual replication, or cloning, is one of the primary reasons tree peony continue to be expensive plants. According to one source, tree peony can be successfully planted from summer cuttings (SOURCE! ), but humidity and temperature must be carefully regulated. This is exceedingly challenging, and as far as we know, no production environment does it. Although some reports of tree peony cell tissue micropropagation success have surfaced, widespread success has so far proven difficult. In Japan, China, and the United States, tree peonies are propagated via time-honored grafting methods.
As it has been for years, grafting will continue to be a crucial ability for gardeners to grow woody plants. For those committed gardeners looking to grow their own tree peony, we offer here a low-tech method requiring little specialist equipment.
From the middle of August to the beginning of October, cuttings can be obtained from tree peony. The stem hasn’t yet grown too woody during this time, and the buds are a nice size. For trimming, choose large terminal buds. Scions are the name given to these cuts. There should be at least one terminal bud on each scion. It would be ideal if you could also obtain a secondary bud.
Trim the leaves after cutting your scion. Lower down on the branch, leaf buds are beginning to grow. Recognize that by pruning the terminal buds, you are also pruning the flower buds for the following year. Any peony gardener might find it difficult to accept this, but a new tree peony can provide some solace.
The scions can be kept in the refrigerator wrapped in a moist paper towel in a sealed plastic bag if you are not planning to perform your grafting right away. This method of storing scions should keep them alive for several weeks.
The greatest herbaceous roots come from 2-year-old seedlings that have had their “eyes” removed. Roots in seedlings are very important. A good, healthy piece of root from any herbaceous peony will work wonders if you don’t have any seedlings. You can either dig up the entire plant and cut what you need to get roots from an established plant, or you can get a few roots by digging around the clump. You will need 5-7 pieces of healthy, unharmed herbaceous roots for each graft. Keep track of the root’s terminal end at all times.
The day before you want to graft, pluck and clean your herbaceous roots as much as possible. They should be kept in a cold, wet area. When you’re ready to graft, this will enable them to become a little less brittle and a little more elastic. Herbaceous roots that have just been harvested can also be used, but they are quite fragile.
Roots from ‘Phoenix White’ tree peonies can also be utilized as understock. These shouldn’t be used because they are considerably more challenging to work with than herbaceous roots.
Scion and rootstock should be cut at a complementary angle. Make sure your cuts are made on a level surface to ensure optimum contact. The goal is to align the cambium layers of the herbaceous understock and tree peony scion. Growth takes place in the cambium layer, which is made up of the undifferentiated vascular system cells of the plant. The vascular cambia of the scion and rootstock develop together in a successful graft.
Don’t waste time adjusting the scion and rootstock to fit perfectly. According to the Chinese, excessive rubbing of the cut surfaces reduces the likelihood of graft taking. Before attempting grafts for the first time, it is preferable to practice making precise, clean cuts.
Even highly successful commercial tree peony grafting processes occasionally fail. In our first year, over 70% of our grafts emerged in the spring; last year, that number was lower, but it was because we started too early in the summer. Hopefully, we’ll succeed between 80 and 90 percent of the time this year.
Use a rubber band to secure. Although a standard office rubber band will work just fine, we prefer to utilize grafting-specific rubber bands.
The majority of tree peony grafting videos instruct you to use grafting tape or polyfilm to cover the rubber band and wound region before allowing them to recover. We do not believe that this step is required since we heal the grafts more quickly at high heat than we would at room temperature.
Your grafts must heal after you have tied them up. We’ve discovered that doing this for a little period of time at a high heat works well. In a 4-deep tray, arrange the grafts, then fill the bottom with fresh, somewhat damp sand. The grafts won’t hold if the sand is too damp. Put at least 1 of moist sand over the grafts.
For six to seven days, keep the grafts covered in sand at 70 degrees. We carry out this using a heat mat. By intermittently spraying the top and covering with a piece of plastic, you can keep the sand moist. Grafts may not succeed if the media is too wet or too dry.
The grafts will have “taken” and the healing process will have started after six days. We have discovered that there is a good chance the graft was successful if the tree peony buds are still solid.
Choose a planting place with deep, well-drained soil (pH of at least 6.5) and roughly 6 hours of sun exposure.
Grafts should be planted 8 spaced apart in one row, with the top bud being 2-3 inches below the earth.
To assist keep moisture in the soil, add a thin layer of straw or leaves as a mulch. Cover your graft bed with a layer of clear plastic just before or after the ground freezes in the late fall, and then add more mulch on top of this. This occurs in November.
When the crocuses blossom or in the middle to late March, uncover your grafts by removing all mulch. At this point, the tender branches ought to be emerging from the ground.
First-year grafts should reach a height of 8–16. Although it is advisable to remove these early so that the plant does not expend energy on a little flower, some may even develop viable flower buds. Later in the spring, when the leaves have fully greened, start fertilizing.
The size of the scion and understock, planting conditions, and the relative vigor of a particular variety are just a few of the variables that might affect how much growth occurs in the first year.
You might wish to space out your grafts even further in the fall of the first year. 2. Discard the rubber bands. Replant the graft deeper, at least 4 above the graft union, if it has not yet produced any tree peony roots.
Grafted tree peonies that are not buried sufficiently frequently never form tree peony roots and fail to flourish.
- Razors or grafting knives with a sharp edge
- incisive gardening shears
- alcohol isopropyl (to sterilize cutting instruments)
- Toilet paper
- ties made of hemp or rubber (specialty grafting rubber bands are available from nursery supply companies, but plain old rubber bands will also do)
- roots of a herbaceous peony
- Peony tree scions (bud cuttings)
- a tray with clean, moist sand.
- warmth mat (not strictly required, if there are other means of keeping grafts at 70 degrees for the healing period)
The method outlined here can also be used to graft “Itoh” or intersectional hybrid tree peony.
We tried spring grafting of tree peony many years ago after a harsh winter with plenty of branch loss. Sadly, all but one of them failed, however there could have been a variety of causes for this. The root stock was also quite small, and the scions were taken from winter damage where they may have become dessicated. The optimal time to transplant is in the fall, to summarize.