The large showy, flowers of peonies are produced in mid-to late bound. Many colors and flower forms are available. Because winter spooky is required for dormancy, peonies often exercise non perform well in the lower South. Early blooming and unmarried or Japanese cultivars by and large perform improve in Southward Carolina than other types.

'Coral Charm' peony

'Coral Charm' peony
Wikimedia Commons, Poupou l'quourouce, Creative Eatables License 2.five

Height/Spread

Most herbaceous peonies grow 2 to 3 feet tall in our surface area with a 3-to 4-human foot spread when mature. Some cultivars and species will grow a foot taller or lower. Tree peonies (which are actually a shrub) grow to about iv to 5 feet under normal conditions.

Growth Charge per unit

Peonies are long-lived, but slow-growing at kickoff. Garden peonies volition usually begin blooming within three years after planting. Tree peonies will begin blooming at virtually the same time, but volition increase slowly in size and bloom quantity. They tin can alive for up to a hundred years.

Ornamental Features

Peonies are grown for their large, showy and fragrant flowers. Nigh peonies have very attractive leaf that makes them a useful addition to the mural all season.

Mural Use

Peonies are used as specimens in borders and herbaceous hedges and are fantabulous cut flowers.

Herbaceous peonies need at least vi hours of total lord's day a 24-hour interval for good flower. Afternoon shade volition protect flowers from fading too quickly in hot areas. Tree peonies should always have dappled or afternoon shade since the large, silky petals are damaged past excess lord's day.

Well-drained, loamy soil is best for good growth of peonies. Adept drainage is vital to avoid root rot and fungal diseases. If your soil is heavy dirt, amend it with compost, finely ground pino bawl or well-rotted manure to improve drainage and organic matter content.

Peonies prefer a pH of 6.five to 7.0. You lot may demand to add together lime to your soil to raise the pH for best growth of peonies. Peonies are long-lived in the garden and are worth actress trouble at the time of planting, since they may stay in the aforementioned spot for many years.

Image depicts proper way to plant peonies.

Paradigm depicts proper mode to establish peonies.

Fall planting is best. Dig a hole 12 to 18 inches deep and 12 inches wide. Replace part of the soil in the form of a cone and spread the roots over information technology. Fix the roots and then that the tip of the optics (swollen pink or reddish buds) will exist no deeper than 1 inch below the surface of the soil. Most failures to bloom are caused by deep planting.

Tree peonies should likewise be planted in fall. The graft matrimony should be an inch below ground level. Mound extra soil upwardly around them for the start winter.

Firm the soil in well around the roots, eliminating air pockets. Water thoroughly.

Divisions with three to 5 eyes will reach maturity sooner than smaller divisions. If one or two center divisions are used it may exist several years before the plant flowers.

Water peonies thoroughly and deeply in one case every 10 to 14 days. Deep watering volition encourage deep rooting. In one case established, peonies are very drought-resistant.

Apply a low nitrogen complete fertilizer such as 5-10-five or v-x-10 at the rate of two to 3 pounds per 100 square feet in the leap when the stems are nigh 2 or 3 inches high. Well-rotted manure may exist used to improve the soil if information technology is practical to the soil surface in a 1-to two-inch layer. Never let fertilizer or manure impact the stems of the plant.

When y'all work around the plants in the early leap, be careful of the tender emerging shoots. They will usually be dark scarlet.

Remove seed heads after flowering is finished to let the found to shop more energy for adjacent year's blossom.

In the autumn, after frost, cut back the dead stems of herbaceous peonies downward to the soil surface. This is very important if yous have had any disease problems. Discard the stems. They should not exist used in the compost pile.

NEVER cut back tree peonies. They are shrubs and will not grow dorsum if cut down.

Peonies may exist left undisturbed for many years. If y'all want to divide or motility your peonies, practise so in belatedly September or October. Advisedly lift the clump and launder away the soil to betrayal the optics. Using a clean, sharp tool, split the dodder into sections, each with iii to five eyes and practiced roots. Replant immediately.

Near peonies demand support to forbid the stems from flopping nether the weight of their flowers. Commercial hoops are available for this purpose. Y'all can also utilize a ring of three or four stakes with loops of record or plant ties to adhere the plants to the stakes for support.

When you cut peonies for the house, option the flowers in the soft bud stage. They should experience like soft marshmallows. Go out at least three leaves per stem on the plant. Recut the stems nether warm water and strip off any leaves that would contact water in the vase. The flowers should open up within a 24-hour interval of beingness placed in a vase.

Issues

Peonies take few pests or diseases. The almost frequently occurring problems are the fungal diseases Botrytis blight and leaf blotch.

To aid control diseases, cutting off all peony plants level with the ground in the fall. Do not add the old tops to your compost pile. Avoid overhead irrigation.

The but insect pests of any event on peonies are scales and Japanese beetles.

Ants are attracted to peonies because of the sweet sap the flower buds secrete. It is a myth that ants are necessary to permit peonies to bloom.

A common problem of peonies is the failure to bloom. It may be the result of planting too deeply, immature plants, excess nitrogen, inadequate sunlight, overcrowding, food deficiency, insect or disease problems, contest from roots of nearby plants or late freezes. Some cultivars volition fail to bloom in zones 8 and ix because they lack sufficient winter chilling.

Cultivars

At that place is a vast assortment of peony colors and forms to choose from. Most gardeners are familiar with the large, double-flowered peonies. Garden peonies are also available in unmarried-flowered, semi-double, Japanese, and anemone-type blossoms. The single and Japanese bloom types usually perform much ameliorate in the S than the doubles do. In addition to the well-known white, pinkish and magenta flowers, newly available colors include yellow, cream and carmine.

Tree peonies also come in unmarried, semi-double and double-flowered forms, and the color range includes every color of the rainbow except for blueish. Depending on the cultivar and weather conditions, peonies will flower as early as March or as late equally May. Tree peonies blossom a week or two before than herbaceous peonies.

Early blooming cultivars do best in the Due south as they take time to bloom before hot weather sets in. They are likewise less decumbent to botrytis blight.

Herbaceous Peonies: Modern hybrid peonies are complex crosses of other hybrids and several different species. Paeonia lactiflora is the species of many old-fashioned herbaceous hybrids and is often used to refer to them.

Festiva Maxima' peony.

'Festiva Maxima' peony.
Flickr: van swearingen, Creative Commons License ii.0

  • 'America' has early, single, large, peppery cherry-red flowers with golden center tuft.
  • 'Blaze' is a true red, early single with rounded petals and a sunny yellow centre.
  • 'Helpmate's Dream' is a creamy white Japanese. Middle is soft yellow to cream.
  • 'Coral Charm' has deep coral buds that soften to coral peach when open, with a gilded center. Early on, semi-double.
  • 'Practice Tell' is a Japanese midseason peony of beat out pinkish with a rose, pink and white middle.
  • 'Felix Crousse' is a double Japanese flower blazon with ruby reddish flowers.
  • 'Festiva Maxima' has fragrant, big, early white double flowers with blood-red flecks. Stiff, tall stems and dark greenish foliage. This double erstwhile favorite does well in the South.
  • 'Flame' is an early blooming rose-ruddy unmarried with a yellowish center.
  • 'Kansas' has large, early double flowers of watermelon red that hold their rich colour throughout blossom time. This is one of the best doubles for the South.
  • 'Miss America' has snow white petals that open to a total early semi-double. Information technology is a heavy bloomer.
  • 'Monsieur Jules Elie' has double pink flowers with silvery centers.

'Monsieur Jules Elie'peony

'Monsieur Jules Elie'peony
Flickr: Tie Guy II, Creative Commons License 2.0

  • 'Paula Fay' is a glowing pinkish early semi-double with waxy textured petals.

Tree Peonies (Paeonia suffruticosa): Tree peonies form woody branches that practice not die back, simply simply drib their leaves in the autumn, as does any deciduous shrub. Their flowers are often larger than herbaceous peonies. Tree peonies like the aforementioned soil conditions every bit the herbaceous merely require more shelter from the air current, and the larger-flowered varieties will hold their flowers for a longer time if protected from the sun during the hottest part of the day.

  • 'Age Of Gold' has flossy lemon semi- double flowers showing scarlet flares at the base of the ruffled petals.
  • 'Alice Harding' is an old tree peony that is not grafted and can exist propagated by partitioning. Double lemon flowers.
  • 'Blackness Pirate' is an early midseason, unmarried-or semi-double nighttime red, with darker flares.
  • 'Dusky Maiden' is a dark ruby double flowered tree peony, with the flowers continuing well over the bush. Light-green foliage with a hint of red-good fall color.

    Tree peony flowers and plant habit

    Tree peony flowers and plant habit.
    Wikimedia Commons, Shin-改, released to common domain.

  • 'Gauguin' has unusual flowers of light raspberry cerise, flushed on the dorsum and inside base of the petals with a pale gold.
  • 'Loftier Noon' has lemon yellow flowers that are red near the center. It may bloom again during the summertime.
  • 'Kamata-nishiki' is an early semi-double with nighttime purple, rose-similar flowers.
  • 'Roman Gold' is a free-flowering, wide bush-league with lemon yellow single flowers with ruby-red flares at the base of the petals.
  • 'Taiyo' is an early semi-double with red red blossoms.
  • 'Vesuvian' is an excellent compact bush with finely cut leafage, dripping with deep maroon double blossoms.

Fernleaf Peonies (Paeonia tenuifolia): These unusual peonies accept finely divided fernlike foliage and deep red single or double flowers. They are dwarf in stature, and bloom very early. They are difficult to propagate and therefore are less available and more expensive.

Originally published 04/99