One of the most magnificent mainstays of the garden is the common herbaceous peony (Paeonia lactiflora). See six reasons why peonies should be in your garden—plus excellent tips on planting and caring for these beauties. (Don’t forget to support their heads!)
6 Reasons Why Peonies Should Be in Your Garden
- Peony plants are so long-lived that it is commonly said that peonies will outlive the gardeners who plant them! If a peony is well situated and happy, it may bloom for 100 years or more with little or no attention.
- Peonies also thrive almost anywhere in the country. Many varieties can even survive a Zone 2 winter (that’s a low of -50 degrees F).
- Even when they are not in bloom, their dark green, glossy foliage and shrub-like appearance make them handsome focal points in the garden.
- Peony plants are virtually pest-free—deer and rabbits don’t like their bitter taste.
- Showy and fragrant, peonies will also make excellent cut flowers!
- While September is the best time to divide or plant bare root peonies (since they are dormant in the fall), container-grown peonies can be planted almost any time. If you are looking longingly at your neighbor’s peonies and wishing you had some right now, go for it!
Many nurseries offer early, midseason, and late blooming varieties, making it possible for you to stretch out the peony season over many weeks. There are 6 flower types to choose from: anemone, single, Japanese, semi-double, double, and bomb. The colors range from pristine white to pink, peach, yellow, magenta, deep reds, and even bi-colors.
Fragrances vary as well—some plants such as ‘Festiva Maxima’ and ‘Duchesse de Nemours’ have intoxicating rose-like scents while others are lemony or have no scent at all. If fragrance is important to you, give them the sniff test before you buy.
5 Tips for Planting Peonies Properly
- In choosing a spot for your new peony to grow, make sure it will get lots of light—6 to 8 hours of full sun is best for producing a profusion of flowers but it will still perform well in a location with morning sun and light afternoon shade.
- Peony plants will need well-drained, neutral soil away from competing tree roots. This plant will grow to cover an area about 3 feet in diameter so make sure you give it plenty of room. Once planted it can remain undisturbed for many years as long as it is flowering well.
- Planting depth is critical; if planted too deeply it won’t bloom. When planting a container-grown peony, cover it no deeper than it grew in the pot.
- Try not to disturb the rootball or damage the feeder roots. A newly planted peony can take up to 3 years to reach its full flowering potential but once established, this plant likes to be left alone.
Seeing ants on your peony buds? Don’t worry! Ants love to harvest the sweet sap covering the flowers buds but are harmless and may even keep other insects away.
Supporting Peonies
Peonies need support while growing due to their heavy flowers and brittle stems of the larger flowering varieties. Peony rings were invented for just this purpose or you can use a wire tomato cage. Placing the support around the plants early in spring is ideal so you don’t accidently pierce the crown.
Many of the newer hybrids are being developed with stronger stems to eliminate this problem and single, anemone, or semi-double flowering varieties usually don’t need staking.
The plant will grow up through the support and eventually hide the wire.
5 Tips on Caring for Peonies
- Deadhead peonies after they finish flowering. The petals will brown which isn’t attractive. Cut the stem underneath the old bloom, leaving the foliage alone.
- Wait until the fall to cut back the foliage to discourage overwintering of pests.
- Mulch new plants with evergreen boughs or salt marsh hay after the ground freezes.
- The only serious problem peonies ever get is “botyrtis,” a fungal disease can be avoided with good air circulation around the plant. Signs of botrytis are blackened buds and stems. Cut off and dispose of any affected areas (in the trash, not in your compost pile). If you plant properly and avoid crowding, you shouldn’t have this problem.
- Peonies can be susceptible to powdery mildew in late summer but do not worry. The white, powdery mildew fungus may not be pretty but it seems harmless. Better air circulation can avoid mildew.
If you share my passion for peonies, get out there and enjoy them! Pick lots of of bouquets to perfume the house! Like all good things, peony blossoms won’t last forever and you don’t want to miss a minute!
For more information, see the Almanac’s Peony Growing Guide.
Reader Comments
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Peonies
If transplanting is not recommended then how are peonies propagated? Don't you have to dig up a tuber in order to plant it somewhere else?
Peonies
Has anyone ever heard of the advice that you can't plant peonies in the same ground where peonies previously grew?
Peoni
Hello,
I am looking for some Peoni roots to buy but they are very expensive. Any suggestion where to get it at a reasonable cost. I am looking for about 25 different variety in single color, multi color and fragrant one. If any one has surplus and wants to give free I will pay for the shipping.
Best,
Niranjan Patel
Growing from seed
I dead head only the flower that has not produce a seed pod. I have been growing peonies from seed for 30 years and now have mixed colours that I did not originally have. A labour of love as it take Years!!! before they flower. I second the do not disturbed the roots as we had to dig pout 2 beds due to huge invasion of creeping bell flower. They are just starting to flower again after several years.
Peonies
I have 2 Peonies that are between 20 and 25 years old. They grew and bloomed great then the last 2 years they come up, grow about 6 inches then nothing ust stay that way. I haven't moved them and have 2 others that are still growing as they have since I planted them all at the same time and in the same row. Can you tell me what the problem is?
Peonies
I was glad to see you mentioned the diseases they get and that it does take 3 years before you see blooms. I have mass quantities Of peonies. They were here when I bought the house 20 years ago. They create a hedge on the east side of my house. Now that sounds amazing ....and it is....but also a problem. Not much room to plant anything else there, although I try. I have Rose of Sharon shrubs, coneflowers, b/e Susans and lireope and I sprinkle flower seeds hoping they’ll sprout by the time I cut back the peony foliage. I tried digging out most of them 10 years ago but you’d never know it....still a thick hedge. And wherever I Transplanted them did take at least 3 Years To show a bloom. My main problem is the mildew diseases. Sometimes The flowers don’t even open cause the mildew ruins them first. I try various sprays and tonics but nothing stops it. And by late July most look so bad I have to chop off the leaves and there’s those ugly Stubbs. So it’s a constant battle usually placing pots of flowers here and there to fill the area. They are amazing beautiful flowers....but I wish I didn’t have so many. :)
another peony
There is yet another type of peony that is rarely mentioned. It's the fern leaf peony and I'm fortunate enough to have one and this year it has 5 buds. The blossom is nearly identical to the peony you talk about, but the leaves are beautiful, lacy, and delicate. They look very much like ferns. I got mine from a cousin in Iowa and was fortunate enough to have it survive a long hot July drive to New Jersey. It's lovely.
Peony leaves
My peony has been in my garden many years and produces flowers every year. After it is done blooming the leaves, all of them. Get ragged like something has been chewing on them. I cannot see any bugs and plant seems to be healthy otherwise.
Thoughts??
Slugs and root weevils do
Slugs and root weevils do their dirty work at night, leaving holes in the leaves. Root weevils chew angular notches in the edges. Both will hide in the mulch or debris at the base of the plant during the day. Do a little searching there and you just might find the culprits. For more info on root weevils and a picture of them, go to this site at Colorado State University https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/insects/root-weevils-5-551/
Peonies
I bought two beautiful peony plants about three to four years ago, planted them in yard. They come up every Spring but then bear no flowers at all. They are near trees.
Will it be ok to transplant them now in spring? In a better location
Transplanting Peonies
Peonies are infamous for being difficult to transplant, but if you do need to transplant them, you should do so in the fall rather than the spring. It sounds like they were getting shaded out by the trees—plant them in a sunny spot for the best flowering.
Did my peonies die?
I planted three herbaceous peoniesin my perennial sun bed in Arkansas. They bloomed beautifully then I cut them back to the ground in the fall. It is now April 1 of the following spring and no foliage is emerging from the ground yet. I’m wondering if my peonies died. Shouldn’t I see foliage by now? My tulips are in full bloom as well as my redbud tree and saucer magnolias. Other plants in the same bed are emerging. What can I do to help them?
After blooming
My parents loved their peonies down in Illinois. I now have several plants. My dad swore one had to put sugar water on the buds so that ants would eat off the green part and allow them to bloom. Also, after they were done blooming he always cut them back for the remainder of the summer. Have you ever heard of this? Do I cut them back just in the fall?
Cutting Back Peonies
It is recommended to cut off dead flowers after they are finished blooming, but we generally leave the foliage alone until fall in order to allow the plant to soak up the summer sun and have plenty of energy for surviving the winter and producing healthy blooms the following year. See our Peony Growing Guide for more tips.
Rain damage
stormy weather took my peonies down how far should I cut them back and when
Trimming back Peonies
I have raised peonies for years in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and I have always trimmed back mine after they are done blooming to 15 inches tall. I let the rest die down to feed the root ball. I never trim down to the ground in the Fall. The remainder rots away by Spring, and I always have a healthy supply of blooms. One year I did have some powdery mildew, and cutting them back like this and spraying with a light soapy water straightened them right out.
Mildew looking leaves on my peonies?
Why have my peony leaves have mildew looking residue on them and how do I fix this...will this damage or kill the plant???
Powdery Mildew on Peonies
The powdery mildew problem is about the only drawback to peonies. Usually it doesn't happen until after they bloom and nearer to the end of the season when the sun angle starts to shift. A location in good sun that is not too crowded with other plants to allow for air flow to dry them faster after a rain or high humidity is helpful. I've found that if the mildew is caught very early and the peonies are sprayed with neem oil (and water solution - read the directions), it can reduce the amount of mildew and help the appearance of the plants. Severely mildewed leaves can be removed to slow the spread.
Growing peonies
Is it possible to grow peonies in a tropical climate, i.e., Hawaii? If so, where can I get the plants?
Sorry Sally but peonies need
Sorry Sally but peonies need a period of cold in winter to induce dormancy. They grow best in zones 2-8.
Peonies
I have tried to grow these several times. Last year in the almost all day sun area, it came on and had a beautiful display of leaves, but not one single bud. Does it take several years for them to start flowering? I'm told I have a green thumb but this is frustrating. I planted one this year and it is in a really sunny spot on the west end. It is about 4 inches above grown now and is looking off to a good start. Do I need to wait a couple years before I see flowers?
The article said it can take
The article said it can take up to three years to reach full flowering potential. This is my second attempt at peonies, I have yet to see any green new growth at all. I planted from bulbs. I think Texas May just be too hot for them. Good luck!!
Your non-blooming peony may
Your non-blooming peony may be planted too deeply. They need to have the crown no more than 2 inches below the surface of the soil. Small crowns may take several years to reach blossoming size.
watering Peonies
I moved into a place which has 2 Peonies plants.. They are doing good. But I don't know how much to water them,when it's so hot! ( I live in MT) & not sure how to ready them for winter.. Would like some info on that... And can I plant anything with them ??
Thank you, Lena
Lucky you to move into a
Lucky you to move into a place that has established peonies! If there has been no rain for a couple of weeks give them a good drink but they are drought tolerant plants. To ready them for winter just cut off the dead foliage and dispose of it in case it harbors any disease. That’s it! They are cold hardy into zone 2 and need no special care to survive winter. Many plants are good companions for peonies. Irises, alliums, foxglove, bleeding hearts, columbine, roses, candytuft, sedums, thyme, azaleas, boxwood, and viburnums are just a few that will grow well and look good with your peonies.
Peonies in planter
Hi. I have 2 peonies in a large plastic planter. I am concerned this is their first winter with me in Reno and I wonder if i should bring them into the garage so that the snow or low winter temps (in the teens) will pass through the plastic and freeze the bulbs? Do they need water during the winter?
thank you! Teri
Peonies During Winter
My understanding is that Peonies grow great in Alaska due to the cold cold winters. They love the cold and as a matter of fact, they create their buds during this time and the cold weather helps them create more blooms. So there is no reason you should be concerned about your peonies throughout winter. It's heat it hates.