For a superb cutting flower with “wow” presence, the familiar peony still ranks among the best perennials you can grow. If you haven’t thought about peonies in a while, it’s time to reconsider. Many are wonderfully fragrant too. These long-lived charmers will reward you with glorious spring blooms for decades.
Too often we think of peonies as a line of forlorn bushes strung out along someone’s property line, their bedraggled heads buried in the dirt from being pummeled by rain; not a pretty sight. No wonder they’re frequently passed over for trendier choices. It doesn’t have to be that way. With a little forethought and care, peonies will enliven any garden — and your house— with fabulous color, scent, and personality.
We tend to forget about peonies because they’re rarely on offer at nurseries, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider them. There’s good reason for that. Peonies establish best when planted as fully dormant rootstock in the fall. They don’t like being transplanted in full bloom. You can do it, obviously, but it’s not optimal. Since dormant roots ship well, peonies make excellent mail order buys.
Today’s hybrids are a vast improvement over their old-fashioned forebears. To supplement the best older varieties, peony breeders are creating strains that stay upright in rain and broadening their color range into corals, lavenders and yellows.
Besides herbaceous peonies, there are also Japanese or Itoh peonies, tree peonies and “intersectional” hybrids, all of which contribute wonderful diversity, better disease resistance and form.
The success of all this breeding is obvious. There are several large U.S. peony breeders with a robust sales presence and dozens of smaller operations all over the country. Adelman Peony Farms alone boasts nearly 500 varieties for sale. Who knew? That’s a lot of peonies! Let’s look at a few.
Herbaceous peonies
Herbaceous peonies are the most popular type of peony in much of the country, especially the northern states. They die back to the ground each winter and emerge again in spring. In fact, they require cold winters to perform at their best. Easiest to grow of these are the lactifloras, which hail from China originally.
Before we look at the peonies in my garden, let me hasten to say my selections are just my choices; it’s well worth your time to browse the peony grower websites if you’re considering making a purchase. There are cultivars for every taste and price point, and they all deserve at least a quick look before you narrow down your selections. You’ll be amazed at what’s available now. In fact it’s overwhelming.
Old Favorites
Festiva maxima is an early-blooming heirloom lactiflora, perhaps the best-known peony there is and still popular today. Grapefruit-sized, white poufs flecked with cerise are borne on medium-strong stems. In cool weather the guard petals are pale pink. Lots of side buds will provide smaller blooms in a second flush if left on.
Festiva is very hardy and disease-resistant, with leathery foliage and a wonderful scent. If fact, its fragrance is among the best in the peony kingdom. If you want a white fragrant peony that’s tough as nails, you can’t go wrong with Festiva. It’s perhaps my favorite for its scent.
Many people like Sarah Bernhardt, a bubblegum pink bomb that blooms late and reliably on 48″ stems (staking recommended). Sarah is lightly fragrant, hardy and highly resistant to mildew. It’s similar to Nick Shaylor, another big medium-pink bomb that won’t disappoint. Sarah Bernhardt stretches the season and looks as good in the garden as it does in a vase.
Another arresting cultivar is Chestine Gowdy, a bi-color confection from 1913 with a ruffled cream inner collar dividing a candy-pink center from deeper pink guard petals. The extremely fluffy rose-style blooms fade attractively. Chestine has a moderate, sweet scent with lots of side buds and grows to 26″ tall. It’s sturdy and doesn’t demand staking, but due to its huge heads that can quickly fill with rainwater, I recommend staking to avoid breakage.
Single Peonies
Don’t overlook the single-petaled varieties if you have room for a few extras. They bring an informal grace to the garden with smaller flowers, they rarely need staking and will sway fetchingly in the breeze. Singles are usually strong performers that make up for smaller blooms with sheer quantity.
Krinkled White is a lovely single with a prominent gold boss. It sold out early everywhere last year, so demand is clearly exceeding supply.
Fortunately Polly Sharp is a very similar midseason bloomer that gets 26″ tall and won’t disappoint. Staking is generally not necessary. Fresh and reliable in any setting. Mine took two years to establish but I love this one. Part shade tolerant, too!
Bright fuschia Sparkling Star has a yolk-yellow boss that’s certain to cheer you up. A heavy bearer that looks good at all stages even as the flowers age, it is early, vigorous, and a great mixer for the border. The color really pops and carries well across the garden.
Itoh Peonies
If you’ve never tried Itoh peonies you might want to consider one. A cross between lactiflora and woody peonies, they behave like an herbaceous peony but have the deeply-cut foliage of their woody parentage. Contrary to popular myth, they’re just as hardy as lactifloras. The flowers display intricate centers with fewer petals like tree peonies, but they aren’t any less stunning. In fact, many aficionados consider Itohs to be the most beautiful of all, combining the best features of both parents.
Extensive breeding is producing some breathtaking yellows, lavenders, and watercolor-like apricot coral shades. Garden Treasure and Julia Rose are two examples of simply extraordinary coloration. They aren’t exclusive either; several similar cultivars exist with more coming on the market all the time.
Of course all this beauty doesn’t come cheap. Yellow and lavender specimens remain extremely expensive. Prices should start dropping as more growers propagate and carry them. But when you consider a peony can live 50 to 70 years or more, acquiring one like this is really a long-term investment anyway. Fortunately there are plenty of affordable alternatives in most colors if you’d rather save your money.
Other herbaceous hybrids
A few late-blooming cultivars in my current garden are Avalanche, a pure white with healthy foliage; Ann Cousins, another white (not shown); Raspberry Sundae, a pink-swirled rose form; and Vivid Rose, a strong magenta with silver-edged petals. All are very fragrant and make marvelous cut flowers.
Another fetching variety I’ve tried is Coral Supreme. It opens a delicious salmon-coral, fading gradually to cream. Unfortunately I found it to be less robust than most, and not very prolific. Last year it fell victim to severe fungal problems, so I can’t recommend it until I see how it does this year. But the color is lovely. Coral Charm is very similar and may be a better choice.
Tree Peonies
One kind I don’t grow is tree peonies. These woody cultivars don’t die back in winter (and should not be cut back). Instead they have the form and habit of a deciduous shrub. In spring, all they require is a light trim to remove dead or broken branches. Tree peonies boast deeply-cut, ferny foliage and gorgeous blooms resembling Itoh peonies. Some are the size of herbaceous bushes and some get considerably bigger, similar to a camellia or lilac.
On a cautionary note, tree peonies can be tricky to grow in zone 6 because the cultivars can vary in hardiness. However, I know of several doing just fine in our area, so don’t discount them entirely if you think you’d like to try one. Just do your homework so you’re sure to select a hardy choice.
Planting and Care of Herbaceous and Itoh Peonies
Peonies aren’t picky, provided you have a sunny place with good loam. Purchase dormant rootstock in the fall, or divide existing plants (cut off any dying foliage first, then cut apart cleanly with a sharp knife) once dormancy has set in — usually early November here. The rootstock section should have at least 3 “eyes” or sprouts for blooms the next year. Mature roots will get about a foot in diameter and require a 3-foot square area, so keep that in mind when spacing them.
Choose the site carefully. A well-drained spot that will get at least 6 hours of sun a day is ideal. If the soil is poor, add organic matter or compost, as peonies are heavy feeders. Avoid overly soggy spots, and don’t plant them under young trees even if they are in sun now, since they will eventually get shaded out as the trees mature. In other words, think ahead. Since they resent transplanting, only divide or move them if they stop flowering or are not performing well.
Plant the crown (where the eyes are) of the rootstock no more than 2 inches below the soil level. Any deeper and flowering will be adversely affected. Firm the soil around the roots, water them, and mark the position through winter, so you don’t accidentally step on the hard-to-see emerging red shoots next spring.
Newly sited roots will produce only foliage or perhaps a single bloom the first year following planting. They will have a few more blooms the following year, and by the third, be fully mature with many blooms. Some people pinch off the side buds to encourage larger but fewer flowers. I leave mine on because I dont mind a smaller second flush. deadheading won’t produce more flowers, however. A summer application of mulch never hurts. In October or November, cut everything to the ground and remove it.
Once mature, peonies rarely need fertilizing. A good mulch or the occasional shovel of compost once the stems have emerged in spring should be sufficient most years. Peonies tolerate drought well, but don’t neglect them if there’s a dry spell. Avoid overhead watering and soggy mulch up against the stems if you can. Don’t forget to deadhead to keep things tidy! This also directs energy to the roots.
Peony Problems
By far the biggest issue in our area is botrytis blight (also called gray mold) and other fungal problems caused by cool wet conditions. Leaves become blotched and discolored, stems rot off at the base, flower buds fail and plant vigor can be affected, especially if the same plant suffers several years in a row. Climate change is not helping. Last summer, all my peonies got blight and by August they all looked awful. I left the leaves on until fall, however, so the plant could make and store as much energy as possible. I hope this year is better.
Downy mildew is another nasty. Fortunately mildew looks worse than it is and rarely kills peonies, but it is ugly, no doubt about it.
If you experienced either of these issues in the past, preventive measures can help. Always cut off and remove all foliage, healthy or not, at season’s end. Treat growing plants with a copper-based fungicide every two weeks from emergence onward throughout the season. Even if you can’t prevent infection entirely, whatever mitigation you can manage will help with survival and vigor long term.
Borers may attack peony stems, causing wilting above the hole. A sawdust-like residue and frass will be visible around the bored stem. Cut off all affected stems immediately and dispose of it in the garbage. This is usually enough to halt further damage, but keep a close eye on things for a few weeks.
Nematodes can also cause problems. Try not to water peonies from overhead, and consult your local ag extension or nursery for nematode treatment options.
Bud blast, where the flower buds stay tiny and turn into shriveled brown or black knots, is a very common condition but not a killer. Any plant stresser like an unseasonable cold snap, too much shade, infertile soil or too deep a planting can cause bud blast. Try remedying as many of these issues as you can to prevent bud blast in future. If you still spot bud blast, don’t worry. Every peony gets bud blast at some point. If the stress goes away later, the plant should resume blooming for you the following year.
To Stake or Not to Stake?
For years, one spring task I resisted mightily was staking my peonies. I just endured flopped and broken flower heads, over and over, until one ruinous year when I lost them all to the rain and dirt, I couldn’t stand it anymore. I purchased a bunch of coated wire cages consisting of 2 circular hoops and 3 stakes each.
Well, guess what…I’ll never go back. Cages work amazingly well, and are easy to put up and take down. (Tip: keep hoops and posts separate until you assemble them. Otherwise they become a tangled mess.) Homemade staking arrangements are difficult to manage at best, whereas the springy yet rigid supports lets you can erect them when the plants are just coming up.
Supports are WORTH IT, I’m telling you. No more ruined flowers, and the plants stay healthier without breakage. So yes, stake, at least the tallest and floppiest ones.
One caveat: Do get the supports up before the plants exceed 10 inches high. Young shoots are brittle and will snap if you try to bend them under the wire, and fighting mature foliage is a pain. When the flowers are finished, reposition the supports around delphiniums, asters, bellflowers, anything else that needs a bit of upright help.
Don’t Forget to Cut Some!
A primary reason to grow peonies is to enjoy their splendor and scent up close and personal. Make sure you cut some for the house, especially if a damaging rainstorm is forecast. A fragrant and beautiful bouquet has to be among the best self-indulgences there is.
Every arrangement is more plush with peonies!
Which peony cultivars are your favorites? Let us know in the comments!
Resources
The American Peony Society maintains an extensive listing of websites, retailers and growers. There are too many to list here.
Books
Peony — The Best Varieties for Your Garden by David C. Michener and Carol A. Adelman. c 2017. Disclosure: One of the authors, Carol Adelman, and her husband own and operate Adelman Peony Farms near Salem, Oregon. Informative and beautiful; filled with color photos and everything you need to know. Text is approachable regardless of expertise level. Many choice cultivars are profiles to drool over!
Peonies — beautiful varieties for home and garden by Jane Eastoe and photographed by Georgianna Lane. c 2018. A deep list of cultivars with stunning photos and descriptions on every page. Worth seeking out for the photos alone.
