Mastering Peonies Care: A Complete How-To Guide

Mastering peonies care: how to get the most blooms, how to keep them upright, 4 no-fail planting suggestions, and what do do about those pesky ants!

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How To Get The Most Blooms

• Peony plants take their time when it comes to blooming, but if they are content with their location, they will bloom for dozens of years.
• A new peony bush will take two to three years to produce blooms. But be patient…when you see your first blooms, I promise your heart will want to burst.
• The first thing to do for beautiful blooms is to make sure your bushes get the proper amount of sun. Most cultivars do well in full sun, but some are content with as little as 6 hours per day. Make sure to check before purchasing your shrubs.
• Plant your peonies in well-draining soil, and add some compost. Cover the roots with a layer of mulch, and use fertilizer after the plants have been in the ground for a month.
• Peonies are perennials that thrive in US Hardiness Zones 3 – 8. Most peonies need cold winter months to recharge, so areas below zone 8 (geographically speaking) don’t have as much growing success.
• Once a peony bush begins to bloom, it’s also super helpful to remove the wilted flowers. By removing the spent blooms, the peony bush has more energy to produce new blooms, instead of trying to keep the wilted ones alive.

Peonies and Ants

• The ants don’t hurt the peony buds. It’s not proven, and there’s some debate about this, but many gardeners believe that the ants help the bud-opening process. Supposedly they dine on the sugary liquid that leaks from the bud. So maybe ants on your peony buds are a good thing?
• When we lived on Sutton Place, I never saw an ant outside on a peony flower, and I never saw any ants after I brought the cut flowers in. If you do see ants, gather your peony stems together, while still outside, and hold them upside down. Give them a very good shake. That should rid the blooms of most of the ants.
• To go a step further, you can dunk your blooms in a bucket of water for about 15 minutes. That will rid your peonies of any ants. It was also suggested by a reader that you can simply hold your blooms under running water, like a hose, and then give them a good shake.
• Plant your peony bushes in a spot that’s away from your house. That way you won’t be so aware of the ants, and maybe you can just ignore them!

‘Kansas’

The dark pink peonies pictured above are ‘Kansas.’ I had three bushes, and they were the first peonies I ever planted. I absolutely adored them. It took two years to get big blooms, but it was definitely worth the wait!

‘Jan Van Leeuwen’

‘Jan Van Leeuwen’ has large white petals with a round yellow center. They are truly spectacular, and a very unique peony to grow. You can see them in my garden on Sutton Place, pictured above.

‘Elk Grove’

I had two bushes with light pink blooms called ‘Elk Grove.’ I planted them just a couple of years before we moved, so I didn’t really get to enjoy them. If you are looking for a perfect pink peony, this is an excellent choice.

We’re uncertain about the specific cultivar of my daughter’s peonies. They are the prettiest, pale shade of pink with just a hint of lavender. After doing some research, we narrowed the choice down to ‘Moon River’ or ‘Sarah Bernhardt.’

Tip For Sturdier Stems

• Trim off all the tiny buds at the top of a stem, under the biggest bud. These baby buds are sometimes called side buds. This eliminates a stem with five or more blooms at the top. I had this problem, and for the first few years, most of my peonies were on the ground because the tops were so heavy. Clipping the extra buds really helped. This also allows the peony plant to focus all its energy on the large bloom at the top, rather than on opening multiple buds. Side buds are commonly seen on many of the old fashioned, heirloom peonies.
• Use a peony support ring or even a tomato cage to keep your blooms off the ground. Install the ring or cage in early spring, so as the peonies come up, they naturally grow into the support. The foliage completely disguises the supports, and you won’t even know they are there.