Plant Peonies for Beauty

One of the longest living, as well as most beautiful perennials you can grow in your garden is the peony. With lush green foliage and gorgeous huge blossoms,
few garden plants can rival them.

Most garden peonies  - there are over 30 species, and innumerable cultivars - are herbaceous, dying back to the root in autumn. Next year's buds form underground at the crown of the plant, so this makes it a hardy perennial.

When established, peonies have a bushy appearance, with abundant deeply lobed leaves on stalks. Peonies can grow from two to four feet in height, and similarly in diameter, so support is often needed. Special peony rings are available, or stakes with string threaded between will do the job. 

This green foliage is striking, but it is the luscious sweet-smelling flowers that make this plant such a favorite.

The blossoms vary from single blooms with 5 petals to full-petalled double blooms in colors from white to pink, red deep maroon, yellow, and even an almost-black - any color but blue. The single blooms have large central stamens, while in the double blooms, the dense center petals are actually transformed stamens!

Different cultivars flower at different times, so by choosing a variety of plants, the flowering season can extend for up to six weeks. The spent blooms should be removed so energy can go into the plant and not seed production. In fall, cut the stems back to about an inch above
ground.

The peony (Paeonia) is indigenous many areas - southern Europe, western North America and Asia. It is the Chinese Peony (Paeonia lactiflora) that is the father of most of the several hundred available cultivars. It was first introduced to England in the mid 1700s, and is the species that has produced most of our common garden peonies.

The second type of peony is the tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa). Tree peonies have a woody stem, and new spring growth occurs on the one-year old wood. They also come in a range of colors, and bloom around the same time as herbaceous peonies. The large blooms are held high on sturdy stems, so there is no need to stake tree peonies.

Peonies develop a large thick tuberous root system, and can live years without dividing. In fact, you should never divide a peony that is less than five years old. When you notice that they are flowering less, that's the time to divide them.

Division should be done in the fall, as its less stressful for the pants. Re-plant the peony with the root crown about 2 inches below the soil surface. Any deeper, and blooming will be retarded.

Peonies like well drained soil, and can tolerate some drought. Standing water is fatal for them. They like a sunny location, and deep rich organic soil. Hardy in zones 2 to 8, peonies require some winter chill while they are dormant, so do not thrive in warmer climates.