More peonies please

*Favorite peonies at our bouquet tours include Felix Crouse, Duchess De Nemours and Raspberry Sundae.*

My peony class at Rail City sold out, so here is an FAQ about these buxom beauties that are poised to bloom in a few weeks all over town. I get more questions about peonies than anything else I grow.

Why peonies?

They arrive early, flower in abundance, have great fragrance, live for a century, and are cold and drought tolerant. Most importantly, the Queens of Spring have big ruffly blooms that turn heads. Brides swoon over them.

What care do they need in spring?

Weed now while it’s easy. Feed them with a bloom enhancing organic slow release fertilizer, top dress with a little Full Circle Boost, and give them water.

If I’m planting, what do I need to do?

Pick a sunny location with good drainage. Plant about 24 to 36 inches apart. Plant shallow in soil with good drainage and improved with compost.

Can one grow peonies in pots?

While it can be done, pots are a short-term solution for a long-lived plant. They end up getting massive tubers. Each time you divide or move them, they generally take a year off from flowering. So you might as well start them in the ground it ultimately needs for long-term survival.

When can I expect blooms?

Not the first year. Maybe a few blooms the second year. Each year they get better. After 10 years, it might be time to divide them.

How do you keep heavy blooms from flopping?

Let me introduce you to peony fitness for plants that are three years or more in the ground. It involves disbudding and cutting half of your flowers for the vase. Yes, you can let them go untamed, and in the early years it won’t be an issue, but at around year four or five they will start looking fat and floppy and become prone to powdery mildew.

Why and how do you disbud?

Be on the lookout in April and May for pea size buds. I pinch all but one with the goal of getting one strong stem with a big bloom. In the first 5 or 6 years most stems will only have one bud, but mature plants have more.

Why and how do you cut for vase?

I cut half of all my peonies at the stage where the bloom hasn’t opened but you can squeeze it like a marshmallow. Fewer stems opens up circulation, which reduces fungal activity. Fewer stems also reduces lodging from weight of stems and flowers. Cut stems can be dropped in a vase and will open up at room temperature. They can also be stacked like kindling and rolled in paper and stored in the fridge or cooler for three or more weeks and rehydrated when ready for use. If you are ultimately going to harvest half of your stems as cut flowers, you can plant them 24 inches apart rather than the standard 36 inches. You can also avoid staking them if you are diligent about disbudding and cutting.

Is it always wise to disbud and cut?

Disbudding every bud is beneficial in year one, but do not cut. The goal is for year 1 and 2 plants to focus on root development. They can bloom in year two, but avoid cutting if you want a thriving plant.

What if I don’t cut and disbud?

For plants older than 4 or 5 years that you don’t plan to disbud or cut, you should provide plant extra support from a peony grid or a tomato cage. If you have a large patch of peonies, it will be easier to pound in stakes and use strings to corral them. If you’re unwilling to stake, you can plant them next to a large rock that they can flop onto for support.

Why won’t my peonies bloom?

Either they aren’t getting enough sun, they are buried too deeply or they aren’t old and established enough. If you don’t have a half dozen flowers by year three, your peonies need an adjustment of location, depth or soil nutrients.

How can I make my peony season last longer?

The easiest way is to include early and late season varieties. My coral charms are first to bloom around Memorial Day at 6,000 foot elevation. My last to bloom, going into July are my White Wings. Another strategy is when you disbud, leave some smaller buds on a few stems, because they will take longer to mature. You can enjoy them as a cut flower longer by refrigerating the dry stems to be rehydrated later.

Do I plant in fall or spring?

Spring may be best for home gardeners, because they get a nice selection of potted plants in local nurseries. Most flower farmers buy wholesale bare root plants for fall planting. Fall planting means a bare root that needs to get established gets roots in the soil and the chill hours necessary for production.

Which are my favorite varieties?

Coral charm - early semi-double coral
White wings - single white with yellow center
Sarah Bernhardt - pink double
Raspberry Sundae - blush double
Felix Crousse - crimson double
Duchess de Nemours - white double
Karl Rosenfield - magenta double
Festiva Maxima - white double with red fleck
Lemon Chiffon - yellow double
Bowl of Beauty - pink and yellow double

Can I interplant peonies with other plants?

With caution, you can interplant. Keep in mind, in years five and beyond, you won’t have space for interplanting, so annuals might be a better idea. Be careful about interplanting with something like Columbine that self seeds easily and takes over. You really want to maintain space for good air flow.

What companion plants are great for arranging with peonies?

*Fox glove, Sweet William, Campanula, Snapdragons, Baptisia and Penstemon are great companion plants to grow with peonies.*

Clematis integrifolia
Columbine
Campanula
Sweet William
Corn cockle
Snapdragons
Blue bells
Gems
Baptista
Lupines
Alliums

Designing with peonies is a separate topic, and its best shared in a hands-on setting. I offer peony bouquet tours at Drift Farm, where you get to tour the planting beds and see all 300-plus peony plants in bloom and compare the different varieties. Then participants experiment with design techniques to discover which garden fresh blooms they prefer to use in bouquet. https://www.drift-farm.com/events

Raising a stink works