What Kind Of Light Do Peonies Need

What Kind Of Light Do Peonies Need – For a decorative highlight in late spring to early summer, fill your garden beds and borders with the showy blooms of perennial peonies (

The genus is the only one in the plant family Paeoniaceae. There are 33 species and 15 subspecies native to Asia, Europe and North America.

What Kind Of Light Do Peonies Need

We connect with suppliers to help you find relevant products. If you buy from one of our links,

Caring For Peonies, The Flower That Will Last For Generations

Many are suitable for growing in home gardens in USDA hardiness zones 3-8 and are available in shades of pink, purple, red, white and yellow.

Versions of the story vary, but the gist is that Asclepius, the god of medicine, had a disciple named Paeon who surpassed him by obtaining a medicinal root at the request of the goddess Leto.

In the Middle Ages, the peony had a place of honor in Asia and Europe, where it was valued for its use in cooking and medicine, and for its beauty as an ornamental specimen.

Its voluptuous form came to symbolize wealth, beauty, happiness and honesty and was often represented in art and literature.

Guide To Peonies

By the 18th century, the flower was being cultivated in Japan, and by the 20th century, horticulturist Toichi Itoh crossed the herbaceous species with a tree species to create a third type of plant, the “intersectional”.

This unique hybrid made its way to the United States, and around the same time in France, breeder Victor Lemoine was hard at work breeding Lemoine varieties of double-flowered hybrid trees.

And just to keep things fun, we also have the aforementioned intersectional hybrid crosses of Moutan trees and herbaceous species.

Growing from seed is not recommended, as it takes at least two years to germinate, and the challenges involved usually relegate this type of propagation to botanists’ greenhouses.

Tree Peony Care — Peony’s Envy

Rootstocks can also be obtained by dividing plants while they are dormant in early spring or late fall.

As a general rule, they don’t need to be divided, but every 10 to 15 years you may want to thin them out to maintain good air flow between clumps, as described in the plant maintenance section below.

Plant in the spring after the last frost or in the fall before the first frost, depending on the variety.

It’s easy to tell which one is best because the rootstock and plants usually become available for purchase at the appropriate time.

Here’s When To Plant Peonies And How To Care For Them

For a full blooming season, consider planting in succession with early-spring tree species, mid-spring herbaceous trees and late-blooming hybrids.

Peonies prefer full sun, but can tolerate some shade, especially in the hottest zones. In semi-shaded locations, tree and cross species bloom better than herbaceous varieties.

If you live in a warm climate, a little afternoon shade is good, especially for wilt-prone bright flowers and single-flowered varieties.

You will need organically rich soil with a pH of 6.5 to 7.5. Top up with the necessary compost. Be sure to drain well, because tuberous roots

How To Successfully Grow Peonies

Allow a mature width of about three feet for herbaceous species and cuttings, and four to five feet for tree species.

Although it may take years to achieve such growth, you’ll be glad you planned for it from day one, as it promotes healthy air circulation and prevents plants from being moved later.

Prepare the soil by tilling it to a crumbly or crumbly consistency for at least 12 inches. Mix in a few granules of slow-release organic fertilizer that is low in nitrogen to avoid excessive leaf production.

Now, here’s the key to success: Place the rootstock with the buds or “eyes” no more than two inches below the soil surface.

Tips For Beautiful Peony Blooms This Season

Plant tree peonies deep enough to cover the split joint with four inches of garden soil or potting medium. This encourages them to put down their own roots.

Gently tamp the soil around the rootstock to stabilize it and be careful not to leave any air pockets underneath. Pat gently and water well. Charge again.

Maintain an inch of water per week through rain or supplemental irrigation as the plants become established. Signs of growth are proof of success.

Unlike some perennials that require even moisture, peonies seem to do best with a deep watering every few weeks, after the soil has partially dried out.

The Peony Parade Collection

You can also grow plants in containers two meters deep and with a diameter that can accommodate the mature dimensions of your chosen varieties.

Containers dry out faster than ground soil, so check them weekly with your moisture meter and water them liberally if necessary.

Each spring, as the growing season gets underway and before bud set, give your plants a dose of a slow-release, low-nitrogen organic granular fertilizer.

You can repeat this middle growing season, and that’s it for the whole year. Fertilizing after this point will stimulate growth when the plants should be dormant.

How To Plant, Grow And Care For Peonies

Once your plants begin to grow and bloom profusely, take the bloom time you spent to encourage even more blooms. And don’t forget to cut the stems to enjoy indoor arrangements in vases.

In addition, for tree species, early spring is the time to cut off any small shoots that grow from the base. Most trees are grafted, so the rootstock is rarely the same as what you grow above ground.

This is also a good time to trim back dead woody branches or those that spoil the attractive, compact shape.

A complaint often heard from new peony growers is that the flowers drop. I know from experience that heavy varieties with double flowers saturated with rain fall low.

Van Zyverden Peony Sarah Bernhardt

Find strong and sturdy plant support cages from Garden Support via Amazon in packs of four or six.

Simply push the ends of the two support halves into the ground to surround the germinating herbaceous varieties, and as they grow, this will help them hold on.

You’re much less likely to have problems with single-flowered species because they don’t fill with water like double-flowered ones, so take that into account when choosing your plants.

Another aspect of peony care is protecting bright plants from fading and those in the hottest regions from heat stress.

How To Care For Peony Plants In Winter

If you’ve ever traveled to an Asian botanical garden, you may have seen clever ways to partially shade prized plants with parasols and wicker tents.

And while the tree species remain standing during the winter, as the herbaceous varieties and cuttings succumb to the first frost, they wither and seem to melt.

Remove all dead stems and leaves from herbaceous and intersectional varieties when they die to prevent overwintering of pests and diseases.

In cooler regions, you may want to apply a two-inch layer of mulch around the roots of tree varieties and cover herbaceous and cutting locations.

Peonies: Planting, Growing, And Caring For Peony Flowers

Gently dig up the peony and shake the soil off the roots to get a better look at them.

Cut the tubers, making sure that each separate section contains at least three buds. Plant as described in the growing section above.

Before winter comes, mark the places where the plants will die so that you don’t accidentally trample the new shoots when spring comes.

Plant in fall in sunny locations in zones 3-8. Cover with two to three layers of mulch for winter insulation.

Growing Peonies: Everything You Need To Know

‘Bartzella’ is an intersectional hybrid cross between herbaceous and woody peony, boasting buttery double yellow flowers that blush in the center.

‘Karl Rosenfield’ is sure to be a late spring to early summer hit in beds, borders and cutting gardens.

Attractive red colored stems reach 30 to 36 inches tall with an even spacing. Plant in spring in sunny locations in zones 3 through 8.

If you are planting peonies and notice rotting spots on the rootstock or your plants are dying, you may have an onion mite infestation. Treatment with a sulfur fungicide may prove successful.

How To Plant A Peony Cutting Garden

, if you see round holes in your flower petals. It looks like a Japanese beetle and seems to prefer bright flowers.

Hand pick the beetles and throw them into a bucket of soapy water to get rid of them. They also love roses, so check them out too.

Mealy bugs, scale and thrips are sap-sucking insects that you could get rid of by applying organic neem oil. Damaged leaves and sticky traces of “honeydew” are telltale signs of their presence.

You may notice many ants on the buds of your plants. They are harmless and although many people believe that without them the buds will not open, this is just a fun myth.

How To Grow Peonies: Your Complete Guide

However, the ant and the peony enjoy a company that benefits them both. The bugs enjoy the sweetness and are handy for consuming sapsuckers, such as aphids, if they occur. Such a relationship is called “mutualism”.

Don’t panic if you see ants nibbling on the flower buds of your peony. They are attracted to sweetness and do no harm.

Plants that get plenty of sunlight, aren’t crowded, and grow in well-draining soil are least likely to suffer the ravages of pests and diseases.

Lush peony flowers are perfect for a cheerful welcome along walkways and driveways. After flowering, the robust green foliage makes a texturally rich backdrop to other garden specimens.

How To Deadhead Peonies After Blooming (pruning Guide)

Many varieties are fragrant and all make gorgeous cut flowers