Peonies - when to plant and tips for success

[RockingMyFiftiesNot]

Seeing some gorgeous photos of peonies blossoming on social media.
I'm guessing it's too late to plant for flowers this year, is there an optimal time to plant for next? And any tips for where to plant/care required etc ?

I planted one a few weeks ago and it's nowhere near blooming. It has about three inches of growth. Hopefully it'll come on with some warmth and sunshine.

Mine came up but didn't open its flowers the first year but has flowered every year since. They look lovely but don't last long and any big rain storm really ruins them.

We moved house in 2019 and I planted about a dozen different peonies, including three that I lifted from my previous garden. Make sure you don't plant them too deep or they won't flower, mix in compost and some blood, fish and bone. So far a new tree peony has had one bloom, one of the transplanted peonies from my old garden has buds in it, and two of the new ones have buds. Nothing yet from any of the others. But the foliage is gorgeous and hopefully they'll bloom next year. I left two beautiful mature tree peonies in my last garden, but there was no way I could have moved them in that very hot summer. Yes, their blooming time is short, but so lovely. I feel the same about camellias, and have just planted four more in my garden.

Thank you, sounds like it's ok to plant one now ready for flowers next year hopefully. How much space do they need around them?

I’ve found when in full bloom mine only need a foot and a half, I have six in a very small garden but I’m a bit of an obsessive. My tips would be to get one anyway and let it settle in this summer, you might get a couple of blooms. Put your supports in early so that it doesn’t flop with the wind or rain, and let the foliage die back naturally.

I got a nice one from Tesco yesterday, so I have my fingers crossed. It has a bud on it....

@SweatyBetty20

I’ve found when in full bloom mine only need a foot and a half, I have six in a very small garden but I’m a bit of an obsessive. My tips would be to get one anyway and let it settle in this summer, you might get a couple of blooms. Put your supports in early so that it doesn’t flop with the wind or rain, and let the foliage die back naturally.

Good idea, thank you

I have loads. I have no advice on planting them but in terms of ongoing care I literally leave them alone year on year, they come back every year and I just stake them if they get too top heavy.

I guess when they die back they get scraped up when I'm gathering leaves, but not purposefully.

I planted two about a month ago, and they have buds on them. I’m hoping they flower this year as they’ve grown in the time that I’ve had them and they look really healthy. I got them from Dobbies - a Shirley Temple and a Aleksander Fleming.

If you love pale yellow/lemon peonies get a Molly the Witch one - I cannot remember its botanical name, very long. Its gorgeous & suits the cold UK winters . I saw it flowering at Bodnant Gardens in North Wales a couple of years ago, but its unavailable here in NZ

They are expensive from the garden centre or nurseries! I got a couple of discounted tubers/ corms, not sure which, from Wilkos last September, planted them in pots and left the outside over winter and both have come up this year! One is larger than the other (biggest around 50 cms high, smaller about 30 cms, both have buds and will definitely flower this year! They were £1 for two and are Sarah Bernhardt 😱. So if you have patience, you can get a bargain! 😂

If you really want one this season you could buy one about to flower and leave it in the pot on until the flowers finish. I don’t give them any special treatment. My biggest ones ( I have about 15) grow to a couple of feet across but they die back slowly after flowering so other plants have room to grow up and flower later.
I put metal plant supports over them as soon as they start showing signs of growth, this helps keep the blooms off the ground when it rains.
I have been known to put garden umbrellas over mine if it rains heavily.. 🙂

Thank you everyone, lots of great advice. I was going to ask about where people had bought them, sometimes it pays to spend more at a garden centre, sometimes cheaper places at just as good in my experience, just hard to know

I got mine as tubers from J Parker's. I think they were £3.50. This was it last year.

That is gorgeous @MrsHamlet - and a lot cheaper than I imagined

One of my others was from Kelways and lot more expensive! The tubers didn't flower the first year but they are going great guns now. I bought three super cheap ones and was gifted two plants... you can't tell them apart now.

They are really easy to grow. They won't flower if the buds that poke out from the root are more than 2cm beneath the soil. Try not to overwater them, let the soil around them get fairly dry first. And plenty of plant food. Then once the flowers have gone and the foliage dies cut back the dead stems to ground level, and they'll be back next year. I have several that I planted only this year/ last year that have 5-10 buds on them! Usually they be flowering by now but everything is behind given the weather until this week was still like a normal March.

I have one that I struggled to plant in my horrible clay soil and then completely neglected, two years ago. Last winter it was minus 18C in my area (Perthshire).
Peonies must be indestructible, because it is now flaunting eight fat flower buds on tall healthy foliage!

Don't plant them too deeply - they quite like being near the surface.

@Babdoc

I have one that I struggled to plant in my horrible clay soil and then completely neglected, two years ago. Last winter it was minus 18C in my area (Perthshire). Peonies must be indestructible, because it is now flaunting eight fat flower buds on tall healthy foliage!

Wow, -18! I've only ever felt that kind of cold thousands of miles from the UK. Your peonies are strong!

I have two I planted in March. They look quite healthy but are doing bugger all re buds. Bit disappointing

MagentaDragon, thankfully it only gets that cold very rarely in my part of Scotland, and if it does it isn’t usually for more than a few days. I lost two small bay trees, some wallflowers and scabious and a forty year old tree fuchsia during this winter’s cold snap, so got off lightly.

@Babdoc

MagentaDragon, thankfully it only gets that cold very rarely in my part of Scotland, and if it does it isn’t usually for more than a few days. I lost two small bay trees, some wallflowers and scabious and a forty year old tree fuchsia during this winter’s cold snap, so got off lightly.

That's so sad. Glad everything else survived though. I remember in that kind of temperature, even in the proper gear, not being able to stay outside for more than 30 mins or so. And my phone shutting itself down because it can't operate at that temperature! Once I went into a cafe it came back on again.

@Northernlurker

I have two I planted in March. They look quite healthy but are doing bugger all re buds. Bit disappointing

How deeply did you plant them? The main reason that peonies do not flower is if the root from which the buds will spring it planted more than 2cm beneath the surface of the soil. If you think that may be the reason, let the foliage naturally die back this year then prune back down to the root, and replant it nearer the surface in the winter.