Have Fun Growing Peonies

Peonies are a wonderful perennial to grow in your garden during the late spring and early summer seasons. This is one beautiful flower to show off cuttings of throughout your home. Some are solid in color while others have dabs of mixed color in them. These flowering bushes enjoy being in the sun.

The average person will buy a peony that is already in a pot instead of trying to grow them from pods. The best time to plant pods or potted peonies is during the fall, preferably anytime during the month of September. When planting the pods, make sure there are no more than two inches of soil over them. The plants may not produce very many blooms if they are planted too deep.

The soil conditions for peonies need to be well drained and rich. It also needs to be anywhere from neutral conditions to slightly alkaline. The rule of thumb of gardeners for peonies is to try and have a PH balance of 6.5 in the soil. An inexpensive soil test kit can be purchased from your local nursery garden.

Peonies are a flowering shrub that can grow up to 36" tall. This also about the greatest distance you want to plant them from one another if you choose to line yours up in a row. They do make spectacular hedges with all those flowers on them.

You will need to keep your peonies well watered. They are not a drought tolerant plant. A soaker hose on a timer would be an advisable watering method. This would free up your time from constantly monitoring their care. Should you have a sprinkler system, you may consider setting it to water the peonies more often during the hot months.

When the bush gets too crowded with extra growth from the ground, cut the plant down to the ground in September and dig up the crown with the extra buds. Carefully remove the buds for transplanting or you can give them to someone who wants them. This is another method to stimulate the growth on the original crown bud.

Newly planted peonies from a root bud should be allowed to have a year to establish their root system. Clip off any flowering buds during the first year to stimulate the plant's growth. This is similar to cutting the buds off of mums in the spring to make them bushier in the fall.

Peony gardeners enjoy these plants so much for their flowers that they will take cuttings to display inside of their homes. The best time is to cut blooms as soon as the outer petals start to unfold so that they will keep on growing indoors. Also, do not allow the roots to touch the bottom of the vase. Keep them at least an inch from the base of the vase.

Depending on the variety of peony you purchase will determine the color range it may produce. Typically colors are white, blush, light pink, pink, medium pink, dark pink, and red. Not all of these colors are in each variety. The three varieties are single, double and Japanese flowered.

Sources:
Personal Experience,
http://www.gardenersnet.com/flower/peony.htm,
http://www.willowcreekgardens.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=36,
http://www.gardenguides.com/plants/find-plant.asp?q=Peony+flowers