Splendour and a paeony for your thoughts
Enter the word ‘paeony’ into the wonderful world-wide web and, an instant later, your emails are likely to be filled with what is probably one of the most stunning of earlysummer flower.
And why not? Early summer is a time of riches in the garden; Nature is hell-bent on filling every space with colour, form and fragrance. And she obviously has a soft spot for the paeony. Which is hardly surprising when you see one in its prime – big, beautiful, richly-coloured blooms which stand out from the crowd of run-ofthe-mill herbaceous plants.
So looking ahead to autumn, perhaps it’s worth considering planting one or more members of what can only be described as a spectacular family of plants.
While any rich, well-drained soil is acceptable, paeonies need plenty of sun
and some protection from wind and rain. A few days of a normal English summer will see their delicate blooms battered and blown apart.
But given the right conditions, paeonies will make the most of them – in June and July their magnificent flowers, in an amazing array of colours, put all else to shame. Planting requires a bit of preparation. Dig a deep hole when the soil is warm and damp, and mix in bonemeal and well-rotted manure.
Place you paeony – bare-rooted specimens are preferable to those sold in containers (you can see just what you’re getting) – so that the buds on the plant are just a couple of inches below the soil. Water well and apply a much or organic matter.
Once planted, leave well alone. Paeonies are long-lived aristocrats of the herbaceous border and once they are position and growing happily, they hate to be disturbed.
Mulch heavily again in spring, water well in dry periods, stake the stems if they look likely to topple over, deadhead to encourage more blooms and, come autumn, cut down the whole plant to soil level.