Easy-Going Peonies Remain Garden Favorites

Customer photo by Will of Mongaup Valley, NY: There are days in the garden when flowers are showing at their best. This close-up picture of a Sarah Bernhardt Peony in bloom captured the full feeling of a warm and floriferous day. I was lucky to capture this precious moment.
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For dependable performance and sumptuous blooms, few perennials can top the peony. It's been a flower garden favorite for generations, thriving with little or no care almost anywhere in the country. There are many stories of people stumbling across foundations of old homes overgrown with vines and weeds, and discovering peonies, still flowering on their original sites. This year, Dutch Gardens is offering several varieties of peonies, from longtime favorites to award-winning new varieties.

Peonies Demand Little, Give a Lot

Peonies are easy to grow; just provide them with the basics. They should be planted in a sunny location with average, well-drained garden soil. A site with good air circulation will help minimize leaf spotting and fungal diseases. Peonies have few insect pests. Some people get alarmed when they see ants on the peony buds in spring. These insects are merely enjoying the sugary syrup produced by the buds and are doing no harm to the plant.

In addition to their extreme hardiness (many peonies can make it through Zone 2 winters!), they are treasured as fragrant cut flowers that make magnificent bouquets. Peonies are also perfect partners for herbaceous perennials, blooming early in the season and then providing handsome foliage that serves as a backdrop for later-flowering plants.

Plant in full sun to part shade. Plant the roots so the "eyes" (nubs where new growth emerges) are no deeper than 2 inches below the soil level and about 3 feet apart. If peonies are planted too deep, they will not flower. Peonies usually do not flower until their second or third year after planting. In the south, it is important to plant them where they will be shaded during the hottest part of the day. Plants can be grown, without dividing, for decades.

Tree Peonies

Blooming earlier than regular peonies, tree peonies are truly spectacular. Their silky petals have a luminous effect that really stands out. The fragrance is rich and strong. Although they look more like shrubs than trees, these peonies can reach 6 feet tall.