How to Grow and Care for Peony Flower

The Peonies plant bears huge and fluffy flowers, which are attractive in color and gives sweet fragrance. There is a wide range of colors, forms, and sizes of the Peony flowers.

The Peony plant comes under bushes type. They are resilient and long perennial plants. They also grow into a tree and an Itoh(intersectional).

These are 1-3 feet tall bushes and spreads in a similar dimension. The Peony tree is 3-7 feet tall and spreads over 4 to 5 feet wide.

Things To Know About Peony

• Types: They are found as bushes, trees, and intersectional.
• Height/Spread: Peony as bushes grow 1 to 3 feet tall and similar wide. The Tree of Peony is 3 to 7 feet tall and 4 to 5 feet in width.
• Sunlight exposure: Peonies are sun-lovers. But the tree Peony prefers light shade. This makes the flower to last 10-15 days rather than fading quickly.
• Bloom time: Mostly blooms in Aril, May, or June. The tree Peonies bloom first, followed by bushes from Peonies and lastly the intersectional Peonies.
• Flower color: White, pink, coral red, yellow, maroon
• Pets and diseases: the Peonies are Deer and Rabbit resistant. But they can be affected by botrytis blight, which is a fungus.

When to Plant?

The best season to plant Peonies is in the fall. The Peonies blooms well in the coming spring when planted in the fall.

But if the Peonies are planted in spring, it takes about 3 years to bloom.

The Peonies hate water settled at their foot. So, it is better to plant them at the slop. Also, make sure you are planting Peonies in a high sunlight position.

How to Plant?

Choose a site where the sunlight is at its max. It will be good if the site is on a slope. Now add some compost in the soil where you wish to plant Peonies.

Peonies love potassium. So a good quantity of potassium in the soil will help the Peonies to grow fast and healthy. The soil should be alkaline to adapt Peonies.

Dig a hole in the soil mixed with compost. The depth at which the plant is buried depends on the type of the Peonies and your climate.

Place the bushes into the pit at about half to two inches below the surface level such that the “eyes” of the plant go below the soil.

The Trees of Peonies are buried at more depth than bushes. The gardener recommends to dig 2 feet hole down and 1 foot wide.

The Intersectional plant is planted ½ inches to 1.5 inches deep.

Water the plant adequately, but don’t let it settle at the foot. Adding compost to the soil increases the soil nutrients.

Care Tips

You can trim the bushy Peonies to the ground level at the end of the growing season. This will boost the growth rate and prevent overspread.

To have large flowers remove the side buds. And keep the side buds to enjoy the prolonged blooming.

Maintain the low nitrogen level of the soil. Also over watering will harm the Peonies. Better to water the plant twice a week without rain.

Make sure the plant is given enough space to spread properly. The drainage of water should also be good.