Peony

Plant of the Week October 2, 2023

Peony (Paeonia lactiflora)

By Paula Mohr, Anoka County Master Gardener

Looking for a low-maintenance flowering perennial that will provide you with years of beautiful blooms? Consider planting a fragrant, colorful peony in your flower bed or garden.

Peonies love the sun and need 6-8 hours daily. Mature plants can grow to be three feet in diameter. They prefer well-drained soil. Too much moisture may cause crown rot which can kill the plant. Good air circulation between plants will prevent disease, so avoid overcrowding. Peonies will do best in soil where other peonies have not been planted before.

Fall is the best season for planting peonies as it allows time for the root system to establish before the ground freezes. Prepare the planting site at least six weeks before the ground freezes. You can buy peonies as bare root plants or dig up and divide an existing plant. Dig a hole about a foot deep and a foot wide when planting bare root stock. Add a shovel of composted cow manure or 10-10-10 fertilizer. Add black soil to raise the hole depth to about six inches.

Set the rootstock in the hole with its eyes pointed up. Place the highest eye 1-1/2 inch to 2 inches below the soil surface. Fill the hole with soil and water. Add more soil if needed to maintain the right depth. Planting too deep or too shallow may inhibit flowering. When frost depth is about two inches, cover the peony with four inches of mulch such as straw, wood chips, or pine boughs.

In spring, after the last hard frost, remove half of the mulch. A week later, remove the rest and check plant eye depth. If your peony variety is not self-supporting, install a wire hoop above it to support the plant while it is in bloom. Deadhead blooms when needed and cut back stems to two inches tall in the fall after a few hard frosts.

Once established, peonies are quite hardy and need little care.