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Planting, Growing, and Caring for Peony Flowers
Peonies are perennials that return yearly to take your breath away with the fattest, most scrumptious flowers and lush green foliage. Learn how to care for peonies, how to keep them blooming, and more tips about growing peonies.
About Peonies
In the 1930s and 1940s, plant catalogs listed only three peony choices: white, crimson, and rose pink. Today, thousands of varieties are available.
Peonies are flowering perennials best planted in autumn for those outrageously beautiful flowers that bloom from spring to summer. They make magnificent cut flowers and also bear lovely foliage that stays green.
They are cold hardy, so any place you need an overcoat makes them happiest鈥攖hey require a cold period for bud formation鈥攁 frustration to some southern gardeners.
Once settled in the garden, peony plants can be content for generations. Some have been known to thrive for a century!
When Is Peony Season? When Do Peonies Bloom?
Peonies bloom from late spring through early summer, depending on your location and the variety of peonies you鈥檙e growing.
Many nurseries offer early, midseason, and late-blooming varieties, allowing you to extend the peony season over many weeks and enjoy those lovely blooms for as long as possible!
Peonies are hardy to Zone 3 and grow well as far south as Zones 7 and 8. In most of the U.S., the rules for success are simple: provide full sun and well-draining soil. Peonies even relish cold winters because they need chilling for bud formation.
Types of Peony Flowers
There are six peony flower types: anemone, single, Japanese, semidouble, double, and bomb. Fragrances vary as well鈥攕ome plants, such as 鈥楩estiva Maxima鈥 and 鈥楧uchesse de Nemours鈥, have intoxicating rose-like scents, while others are lemony or have no scent at all.
Where to Plant Peonies
Peonies make fine sentinels lining walkways or a lovely low hedge. After its stunning bloom, the peony鈥檚 bushy clump of handsome, glossy green leaves lasts all summer and then turns purplish-red or gold in the fall, as stately and dignified as any flowering shrub.
In mixed borders, peonies bloom with columbines, baptisias, and veronicas and combine well with irises and roses. Plant white peonies with yellow irises and a froth of forget-me-nots; set off pink peonies with blue nepeta or violets.
Planting
Peonies are not too fussy, but choose your location wisely as they resent disturbance and do not transplant well.
Peonies like full sun, and though they can manage with half a day, they bloom best in a sunny spot that gets 6 to 8 hours of sunlight each day. In southern states, provide some shade.
Provide shelter from strong winds, as peonies鈥 large blooms can make them top-heavy. (Use stakes to hold them up, if necessary.) Don鈥檛 plant too close to trees or shrubs, as peonies don鈥檛 like to compete for food, light, and moisture.
Grow peonies in deep, fertile, humus-rich, moist soil that drains well. Soil pH should be neutral.
When to Plant Peonies
Peony plants require little maintenance as long as they are planted properly and establish themselves. Note, however, that they do not respond well to transplanting, so you should plan your planting site accordingly.
- Plant peonies in the fall: in late September and October in most of the U.S., and even later in the fall in Zones 7 and 8 (Find your planting zone here).
- If you must move a mature plant, fall is the time to do it鈥攕pecifically, when the plant has gone dormant.
- Peonies should be settled into place about six weeks before the ground freezes.
- Although it鈥檚 certainly possible to plant peonies in the spring, spring-planted peonies don鈥檛 do as well. Experts agree: they generally lag about a year behind those planted in the fall.
How to Plant Peonies
- Peonies are usually sold as bare-root tubers with 3 to 5 eyes (buds), divisions of a 3- or 4-year-old plant.
- Space peonies 3 to 4 feet apart to allow for good air circulation between the plants. Stagnant, humid air can be a recipe for disease to develop.
- Dig a generous-sized hole, about 2 feet deep and 2 feet across in well-draining soil in a sunny spot. The soil will benefit from the addition of organic material in the planting hole. If the soil is heavy or very sandy, enrich it with extra compost. Incorporate about one cup of bonemeal into the soil. Learn more about soil amendments and preparing soil for planting.
- Set the root so the eyes face upward on top of a mound of soil in the hole, placing the roots just 2 inches below the soil surface. Don鈥檛 plant too deep! (In southern states, choose early-blooming varieties, plant them about 1 inch deep, and provide some shade.)
- Then, backfill the hole, taking care that the soil doesn鈥檛 settle, and bury the root deeper than 2 inches. Tamp the soil gently.
- When planting a container-grown peony, cover it no deeper than it grew in the pot.
- Water thoroughly at the time of planting.
Harvesting
Keeping Peony Flowers in a Vase
Peonies make wonderful cut flowers, lasting more than a week in a vase. For best results, cut long stems in the morning when the buds are still fairly tight.
You can wrap freshly cut peony stems in a damp paper towel and put them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator until you鈥檙e ready to use them. When removing the peonies from the refrigerator, give the stems a fresh cut and place them in lukewarm water to wake them up.
Pests/Diseases
Peonies are generally very hardy. Plus, peonies are also one of many deer-resistant plants you can grow in your garden.
However, they are susceptible to:
- Verticillium wilt
- Ringspot virus
- Tip blight
- Stem rot
- Botrytis blight
- Leaf blotch
- Japanese beetles
- Nematodes
- Aphids
Why Are There Ants on My Peonies?
Many gardeners wonder why so many ants crawl on the peony buds. Don鈥檛 worry! They are just eating the peony鈥檚 nectar in exchange for attacking bud-eating pests. They are attracted to the sugary droplets on the outside of flower buds or to the honeydew produced by scale insects and aphids. Never spray the ants; they鈥檙e helping you by keeping your peonies safe!
Catherine Boeckmann
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This sounds like a reasonable plan. We would only add this: To further protect the tubers and this season’s tender eyes, you might drop several inches of mulch on them as added cushion before you build the bridge, just in case the bridge fails or 鈥済ives鈥 more than you (or they) expect. When the work is finished, you can sweep away the mulch.
April 22 9:13pm I got three peonies red pink and fuchsia pink I planted them in good size pots on my patio they all have flowers on them is this ok or do they have to be in the ground
It sounds like they are quite happy in the pot. So it’s ok; peonies do not have to be in the ground. (Nurseries sell them in pots!) Over a period of time, however, they will become crowded in the pot and you will have to divide them.
I bought several Peony bulbs and could not tell which was the top or bottom of the bulb. There was a center, large,round bulb with a tube-like extension from one end of it and the bulb was surrounded by several smaller, oval shaped bulbs with roots on one end of each of them. The smaller bulbs were attached to the center bulb. I planted the bulb with the attached bulbs in the center of a large pot with the tube-like extension up and the smaller, attached bulbs with roots down, but left them attached. I've got green shoots coming up, but I'm still wondering which way was up and should I have separated the smaller bulbs from the larger center bulb??? This is the first time I've ever planted Peonies.
The shape sounds normal, or as normal as peonies get. It’s not entirely clear what the 鈥渢ube-like extension鈥 is but if you’re getting green shoots you’re probably on your way. As far as which way is up, usually fresh growth in the form of whitish (and perhaps a red tone) appear on the tubers. These are the eyes that become the shoots鈥攕omething like the eyes that appear on potatoes but much larger. (Perhaps they would have appeared if the tuber spent a little more time out of soil.) If you’re ever in a nursery, ask someone to point these out to you. For now though, sit back and watch the show!
I bought a containered peony at a nursery here in Idaho on April 8, but after reading this article, it looks like I should have bought it in fall. Now that I have it, I'm wondering when I should plant it this spring. Our overnight lows are typically mid 30s now. Is that too cold?
Last year in the middle of May, I purchased some containered Peonies, then started researching them.(Always research first) After learning that planting them at that time was not recommended, I was heartbroken but decided to give it a shot anyway.(expecting disaster) To my surprise, I have big beautiful plants with buds that are getting ready to bloom! The recommendations to growing peonies are just a guide. The 鈥渂est鈥 way to grow these beautiful flowers, isn鈥檛 the only way. I basically did everything wrong, according to the guide. These amazing plants proved their hardiness!
In the spring, plant peonies as soon as the ground is no longer frozen. While there’s still a chance of frost, it would be a good idea to put a layer (1鈥2 inches) of mulch over the planting area. If your peony already has foliage, you’ll want to cover it with a sheet on nights when there’s a danger of frost.
When there’s no longer a risk of frost, remove the mulch. (A thin layer can be left to help conserve moisture, but peonies don’t like to be planted too deeply.) Your peony likely won’t bloom this year, but should be well established by next spring!
I bought mine to-day 17th April 2018 when should I plat it?
I have the same question,Please. I purchased mine a week ago.
