Breath-takingly beautiful
Peonies come in three types and array of colours
I love Peonies! I love their breath-taking beauty, their satiny flowers in a variety of colours, their intoxicating fragrances, and their continuously attractive foliage along with the feelings of awe that they create.
Peonies have been a steadfast favorite in spring gardens throughout the world for over 2,000 years. This symbol of beauty and remembrance began with the Chinese and other Asian cultures and it was given its modern name, Paeonia, by the Greeks.
Gardens today consist of three main types of Peonies: the best-known perennial Herbaceous Peonies which grow from tuberous roots, Tree Peonies which are woody deciduous shrubs, and Intersectional (Itoh) Peonies which are a hybrid combination of the Herbaceous and Tree peonies.
All three types have some of the same characteristics; structure and beauty in the garden, cut flowers, average of seven to 10 days blooming during late spring to early summer, deep green foliage throughout the season, low maintenance, drought tolerant, mostly disease and deer resistant, prefer rich welldrained soil, good air circulation, at least five hours of full sun in order to bloom well and all are very, very long living.
Herbaceous and Itoh Peonies’ foliage dies back to the ground in late fall and re-emerges early each spring. Tree Peonies’ deep green leaves turn bronze and purple in the fall prior to dropping their foliage.
Herbaceous Peonies are 2 ½ to four feet tall and have amazing arrays of flower form, color and fragrance. Flower forms consist of single, semi-double, double, and anemone or Japanese. Some have two colour tones or contrasting centres. Flower sizes can range from a tennis ball to a dinner plate! There are eight different flower shapes. Colours consist of black, red, coral, purple, pink, white, yellow, green and muti. Black, the darkest color, is a merlot red. Coral, my current favorite, is a slightly orange salmon which fades to cream. Muti consists of two or more distinct colors with endless combinations.
Peonies can be planted in both spring and fall but may take up to three years to bloom prolifically, have a mature and stately presence, and be consistently true to its flower form.
Timing designations of either early, mid or late applies to all peonies which can help you design your gardens according to their bloom.
Stately but slow growing Tree Peonies grow three to seven feet tall. Blooming before the Herbaceous peony, they produce gigantic dinner-plate-sized flowers.
Itoh (or Intersectional) Hybrids produce Tree Peony dinner-plate-sized flowers and leaves but behave like Herbaceous Peonies. No staking is required and 50 or more dinner-plate sized flowers can be produced on mature plants. Peak bloom is near the end of the Herbaceous bloom period. This easy-to-grow, 2.5 feet tall by three feet wide compact plant offers an array of yellow and gold coloured blooms that are uncommon in other varieties.
My first introduction to peonies were the double or Chinese varieties with their massive fragrant flowers resembling huge roses and glossy, deep green foliage that stays attractive all season. This variety is usually the type that you might see lying on the ground everywhere after a heavy rain. Staking the plants or growing them in peony hoops will help you overcome this problem. This year, I cut all buds off the plants as I saw some colour appearing. I have never enjoyed so many cut-flower bouquets! Blooms lasted twice as long as those cut when fully open. With the buds almost closed, I was able to leave the nectar-eating ants outside after swishing the buds into a bucket of water for a few minutes.
Recently, I cut all the fully-open single blooms off my Early Scout peony. Within minutes, the blooms let me know they weren’t too happy with me by closing right up like a little fist! I was devastated and thought I had ruined the blooms! However, within an hour, they had opened right up showing off their lovely yellow centre and made a spectacular display for two to three days.
Are you a very patient gardener? If so, you could grow a peony from seed. Be prepared though to wait anywhere from five to seven years for a bloom!
September is the best time of year to divide a peony. During the summer, foliage performs photosynthesis and provides food reserves as it forms the eyes. Replant three to five red-eyed divisions no more than two inches below the soil surface; otherwise, flowering may not occur. Sometimes plants rebel when moved and will not bloom the next year. It can also take up to four years for the divisions to bloom profusely again. Other reasons that peonies may not flower is too much shade, competing with tree roots, too much nitrogen, and late spring frosts.
Fall clean-up helps avoid plant disease. Cut dead stems right to the ground. Remove stems along with fallen leaves. Do not mulch peonies as they need the cold to flower. Mulch may alter the depth that the peonies are planted preventing them from blooming the next spring. Removing finished flowers keeps plants tidy and prevents energy-depleting seeds from being produced.
Peonies benefit from fertilization in early spring and after blooming. I thought my peonies were already putting on a wonderful display without fertilization. As recommended, I am going to sprinkle a handful of bone meal around each plant and lightly rake it into the soil. I’m looking forward to having more flowers with larger blooms next year.
Cut flowers can be dried if cut before the centre is fully open. Single stems can be hung upside-down for about a week. This is another experiment I am going to try.
We are very fortunate to have two very reputable distributors in this area who specialize in peonies and who are also Canadian Peony Society members. Their websites are: www.blossomhillnursery.com and www.PeoniesFromTheField.com. Both parties have Peony Festival weekends. There is nothing like seeing the peonies when they are in bloom as you get to see the true colours and form and to check for fragrance, which is important to me. Just one of the many reasons that I am in love with Peonies.