July 2008 Newsletter Feature Article
Don’t Settle for Just Survival
by Lindsay D'Aoust

Gardeners have been successfully growing peonies for a very long time. Peonies are tough plants and will survive all types of neglect and misguided gestures. There is a big difference however between a peony that is just hanging in there and one that is truly thriving. Why are some peonies thriving while others are just surviving?

Peonies survive because they are tough but there can be many reasons why they don’t thrive. Most reasons are related to:

• What was originally bought
• When was it planted
• Where was it planted
• How was it planted
• What, if any ongoing care is it given.

Understand how these affect your peony and you are well on your way to growing peonies that not only survive, they thrive potentially for decades.

Buying Peonies
If you want to grow great peonies start by buying good quality plant material at the appropriate time of year. Planting poor quality plants at the wrong time of year is probably one of the main reasons people are often disappointed with the initial years of their peonies.

When to Buy
The short answer is order in summer for fall delivery.

When to buy has a lot to do with when to plant - which we’ll talk about below. Suffice it to say however that peonies are best planted in early fall so it makes sense to buy them then.

Peony growers dig their peonies in the fall. Once dug and divided one of two things usually happens to the resulting divisions:

• Stored bare root for spring sales
• Sold bare root for fall planting

Peonies can certainly be stored bare root over winter in climate-controlled facilities. Problems can arise however when the bare root plants are removed from these facilities and sent to retail outlets where they can be subjected to less than idea conditions for extended periods of time.

My recommendation is to purchase fresh bare root plants from a reputable grower in the early fall.

Don’t wait to order your peonies until fall though. Peonies are very popular these days and most growers sell out of at least some varieties by mid summer.

When you know what you want, order it and reserve your plants. This way you benefit from the full choice of varieties available and your peonies will likely arrive early in the fall.

Where to Buy
At the risk of stating the obvious, I have a bias… Being a grower myself, I will always say: ‘buy directly from a peony grower with a good reputation for quality and customer service’.

Here's why:

• The largest selection can usually be found at specialist nurseries.
• The freshest plants are likely those obtained directly from a grower.
• Growers know their plants and are often happy to answer questions and share their knowledge.

Specialist nurseries are however not ubiquitous and are not necessarily in your neighborhood. The good news is that peonies are easily shipped in the fall so don’t be afraid to search far and wide.

They are in my opinion the perfect mail order plant for fall shipping. I ship across Canada, the US and Europe and have bought plants from as far away as New Zealand. I can honestly count on one hand the number of times I have had plants damaged in transport. I recommend however that you buy from a grower who will guarantee the plants will arrive in perfect condition just in case…

There are several North American nurseries specializing in peonies (including my own…). Try a Google search with the words ‘peony nursery’ and you will find several. Check out what some customers thought of these nurseries via The Garden Watchdog on Dave’s Garden.

http://davesgarden.com/gwd/advanced.php?category=20&submit=Go

Check out the listing for my own nursery:

http://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/c/1721/

Last time I looked the site listed 156 companies who sold peonies. Careful however as not all those companies listed are actual growers and obviously not all customers bother to send feedback to this site. It is however an interesting starting point in your search for ‘a peony grower with a good reputation for quality and customer service’.

Peony Grades
Herbaceous and intersectional peonies are propagated by root division and these divisions are normally sold by size. Peony growers usually dig 2 to 6 year old plants and divide these plants into divisions to be sold. The age of the plant to be divided is more of interest to the grower than the gardener as the age has more to do with ease of division and yield than with the growing potential of the resulting division.

When you buy herbaceous or intersectional peonies you should know what size of division you are buying rather than the age of the plant it came from. If a catalogue does not clearly specify division size, I suggest you ask.

The standard terminology is 1-2 eye, 2-3 eye and 3-5 eye divisions i.e. divisions size is determined by the number of buds visible on a division.

Small divisions are cheaper and have the potential to eventually make mature plants but are more susceptible to environmental stresses and will certainly take longer to produce flowers. Survival comes before thriving for these guys.

A 3-5 eye division represents the best investment. It is more likely to survive any stresses the first year or so and is more likely to produce flowers the first or second year i.e. it has the potential to be a mature thriving plant more quickly than a smaller division.

A good division will have a good balance between crown material and tuberous roots. A large hunk of crown covered with buds but with just one tuberous root is going to have a tough time growing.

3-5 Eye Root Division

Container vs. Bareroot
My ideal is always a freshly dug and divided peony division planted in its new garden in the fall i.e. no intermediate step in a container. I have three main issues with containers:

• Herbaceous and intersectional peonies are hard to grow in containers and it is easy to get the conditions wrong (poor drainage, not enough space, overheating etc) and hence the plants can deteriorate rapidly in containers. These are often survivors but not thrivers.
• What grade of plant am I actually buying? 1-2 eye etc…. Rarely is it indicated on the container label.
• When was the peony put in the container? Container grown peonies are often found at garden centres in the spring. Most garden centres buy in bare root peonies very early in spring and pot them up for sale. These peonies have very little if any new root growth when we then transfer them to the garden and yet we expect them to face a hot, likely dry summer. These are the survivors but not likely the thrivers in the initial years.

A very few garden centres buy bare root peonies in the fall and pot them up in the fall for sale the following spring. If properly handled i.e. large containers, good drainage etc. these peonies will make decent root growth and have a good chance of successful transfer to their new gardens the following spring. These however are the exception to what is usually found in a garden centre and not the rule.

Ask what size of division is in the container and ask when was it planted.

Planting Peonies
Once you have great plant material, the next step towards a thriving plant is to get it planted at the right time in the right spot. Design considerations should come after the plant’s requirements. There is no point trying to plant a peony at the wrong time in the wrong spot just because it would look sensational in a design. It will likely never reach its potential. It will end up again being a survivor (if you’re lucky) but will not thrive.

When to Plant
Most peony growers will agree that fall planting gives the plants the best chance to establish themselves quickly with the least amount of stress. There are two main reasons:

• Available roots are freshest at this time of year
• Peonies grow the majority of their roots in cool fall soils

The earlier you plant them in the fall the more time they have to grow roots. September to mid October is the ideal time in my area.

The downside of late planting is that the peonies do not have much chance to grow new roots and they face summer with an underdeveloped root system. The problem is less if spring is cool because they will grow some roots in cool spring soils.

If spring is hot and dry the plants are stressed and though they usually survive, their overall development is slowed down somewhat. They are again hanging in survivors as opposed to thriving in their new home.

It is however impossible to make a blanket statement saying spring planting is doomed to failure. Growing conditions are so very different from one region to another. Some areas have long cool springs, others excessively wet falls. There are weather differences from one end of my village to the other! No way am I comfortable saying never plant in spring. It is however true that peonies are dug and divided in the fall so the freshest plant material is available at this time and it is true that they grow the majority of their new roots in the fall. From there one must make one’s own decisions when it comes to planting. Remember peonies are tough and they will survive less than optimal treatment. In my opinion however the goal should be a thriving plant not just a surviving one and for me fall planting has always given the best results.

Where to Plant
As a rule of thumb look for a location with good soil, good drainage and lots of sunshine.

Soil
Peonies will grow in most garden soils but like roses they are heavy feeders and prefer heavy rather than sandy soils. The problem with heavy soils is that they tend to be poorly drained so care must be taken to improve drainage.

The worst thing you can do on clay soil is to dig a big hole and fill it with good new soil. Essentially this creates a bathtub. As water percolates down through the new soil it reaches the layer of clay at the bottom and can’t go anywhere. Water fills up the hole much like a bathtub and the drainage around the peony is even worse than it would have been without the new soil. Mixing in good compost with the original soil in a wider area does a decent job of improving drainage around peonies in heavy soils.

If on the other hand your soil is sandy, drainage will likely be good but fertility will be low. Adding good quality organic matter initially will help ensure the peonies have access to the nutrients they need. You could actually go so far as to add a few shovels full of clay.

If you are planting peonies in an existing perennial bed with good garden soil count yourself lucky, you don’t need to add anything special for the peonies.

Exposure
Herbaceous peonies need a minimum of 6 hours direct sunlight to produce their maximum amount of flowers. Less than 6 hours will bring progressively fewer flowers. This often accounts for less than stellar performance from a peony. The foliage will grow quite well with very little direct sunlight but flower production will be drastically reduced.

Intersectional peonies will tolerate a little more shade but remember all shade is not equal, dappled light under a high tree canopy is much better than the dense shadow caste by a building.

Drainage
Pay close attention to drainage. Peonies will not tolerate soggy soils. Poorly drained soils are probably the worst enemy of a peony. They will withstand too little water much better than too much water Too little water and they tend to shut down and wait for better times, too much water and they begin to rot away.

When the drainage is poor a peony will often languish for years before finally succumbing to root rot. I often suspect that poor drainage is the cause of poor performance by many peonies. Essentially the plant lays down new tissue at the rate at which it rots away and it just sort of hangs in there for years doing very little, and certainly not thriving.

Pay very careful attention to where the peony is to be planted if you have heavy soil.

Planting Depth
I receive lots of calls from people with none thriving peonies who are convinced they planted their peony too deep. I usually doubt this is the cause. Planting depth is important but an inch or two too deep is not likely the cause for a peony to languish. Bury it under a foot of soil and yes indeed it may not perform up to standard.

In a nutshell the uppermost bud or eye should be about 2 inches below the soil (1 inch in warmer areas such as USDA Hardiness Zone 8).

Ongoing Care
If good quality plant material was properly planted at the appropriate time and in the appropriate location your peony is off to a good start and chances are high that it will put on a great show. In some situations nothing else needs be done; the peony will produce quantities for blooms every spring for decades to come. Life however is not always like that and some ongoing interventions are sometimes necessary to ensure a peony thrives. Essentially these have to do with the availability of nutrients, moisture and the control of pests and diseases. Pest and disease control is an article in its self and is not covered here but from my own experience I find that the vast majority of peonies languish because of cultural rather than pest and disease problems.

Fertilizing
I am often asked to give a general fertilizing plan for peonies. So far I have steadfastly refused to do so. The problem is that all soils are different and each has its own levels of macro and micronutrients. It is foolish to say always add this or that amount of fertilizer. It is however important to realize that peonies are heavy feeders and will only thrive on fertile soils. Remember that clay soils are very fertile and sandy soils are very poor. Clay soils probably don’t need any additional fertilizers and sandy soils likely need lots. Soils in the middle might need a little…

If I’m faced with a mature peony that is definitely not thriving and I can’t see an obvious problem such as poor drainage or insufficient direct sunlight, I will start thinking about soil fertility. As the nutritional requirements of peonies are not well documented (other than the general statement of requiring fertile soils…) there is little choice but to use a broad brush approach to a possible soil fertility problem. (remember this is looking for a reason behind poor growth and not a blanket recommendation to fertilize)

In the past I have found what I’ve come to call the Miracle Gro diet useful. Starting in early to mid-August, give the peony a good application of Miracle Gro All Purpose Water Soluble Plant Food (mixed per the manufacturers instructions). Repeat the application 2 more times at 2 week intervals. In the early spring give the plant another 2 or 3 applications again at 2 week intervals. If the plant’s performance improves you can assume that your peony has been undernourished and need to embark on a soil fertility improvement plan for the long term. An annual top dressing of good quality compost in the fall is often a useful strategy to improve soil fertility over the long run and you may indeed need to resort to a regular application of fertilizer.

I started using Miracle Gro because it has a number of micro nutrients as well as the macro nutrients of N, P and K and have kept using it because the results have been good. Other similar products may well work just as well.

Watering
As mentioned above too much water can be deadly to a peony. Too little moisture however will also turn your peony into just a survivor. It will not rot away but nor will it thrive. Peonies need water particularly in the spring and fall to open their flowers and to grow new roots. Deprive a peony of water at these times and flower production and overall growth will suffer. Pay attention to the moisture your peony gets in spring and fall and particularly if your soil is sandy and excessively drained. You may need to offer it some extra water if it is to thrive.

Conclusion
In conclusion, peonies have the potential to be great additions to most gardens. They are available in a wide variety of colours, forms, heights and bloom season. They are amazing survivors when we mistreat them but armed with a little understanding about where to get good plant material, how to plant it and look after it, they can thrive for decades in our gardens, rewarding us year after year after year with arm loads of magnificent flowers.

Don’t settle for a peony that just survives, they can be so much more!

TOP OF PAGE

Privacy Policy

email: peonies@paeonia.com .
phone: 450.458.2759 fax: 450.458.0253
La Pivoinerie D'Aoust,
P.O. Box 220, Hudson Heights,
QC J0P 1J0, Canada