Have your peonies sprouted yet?

[TheSpottedZebra]

Mine seem to have not
They should be up by now, right? This would be their 3rd year, 3 plants. Nada.

I look almost every day and I don't see them!

@AllTheWeatherAllTheTime I did the same as you with mine, it grew a few leaves that first summer, and then one flower the next year.
It's the one I've posted pics of previously on this thread (been hugely successful this spring!) though mine turned out not be a SB (still not over it...)

Peony garden sounds heavenly! I saw M&S had bouquets out today, there were dark pink ones that smelt like Turkish delight, really resisted buying a bunch.

I just spotted a peony plant in bud in tesco all on its own - it's come home with me.

Ok, everyone. My Not-Sarah-Bernhardt-Despite-Box-Saying-So peonies are starting to bloom.

The flower smells fishy. Absolutely fuming.

I've had one flower and they've been in
in over 5 years
What am I doing wrong?

Evtheria - that looks exactly like my not Sarah Bernhardt despite saying so on the box peony! (I sent a photo to Taylor’s who thought it was probably Karl Rosenfeld). I was thinking this morning that it was a happy accident as it fits better with the surrounding plants, but I haven’t stuck my nose in it. Must investigate …

Sadly, these are definitely not SB? SB are huge, and also tend to be late flowerers. See pic of mine (from last year). My garden is in the south, and they’ve still not flowered yet; usually end May. Sarah is, like her namesake, a diva and likes to put on a late, but snowy, entrance.

OP: did your peonies flower last year? Usually takes a good few years to throw up even one flower, and peonies hate being moved. When I moved from my previous house, I took one peony with me and it was 3 years before it gave me one miserable flower, and a good 7 before I got a decent amount. Mine are now getting a bit too large, and are slowly declining in numbers. 2 years ago I got a massive 50 flowers …. Yes, I’m very sad and I count them all!

That’s true. The ants like the nectar .. and in return protect the peonies from other insects. They won’t actually eat the bud. I used to remove a lot of the smaller buds on my peonies, to save energy for the larger flowers.

I’m not in the UK anymore, and am really missing my peonies. They sell stunning ones here in the markets, but I don’t have the energy to invest years in planting them again.

I’ve also got just one flower. Mine have been in about 7 years and last year we had a record flowering with 3. Maybe it’s exhausted itself.

@Oriunda Gorgeous photo! Yes, unfortunately I realised mine were the wrong type about 2yrs ago, when the first bud it grew opened to reveal deep pink. Clearly still aggrieved, especially now as these are not fragrant either!

Mine are still in bud with little protector ants crawling over them! The buds look quite large and a rich deep pink so I am very hopeful about the flowers! First year of flowering and I have no memory of what was on the label when I bought them five plus years ago.

Mine are flowering! My other plant had one flower (planted last year) but the bud got completely eaten by a caterpillar. I think the other one is Sarah Bernhardt so hoping for a light pink.

Peony garden at Kew report back. We went on Thursday , it was a glorious day, so sitting outside in a T-shirt having a cup of tea , and being amused by the duck that thinks it is a pigeon was wonderful, could feel my bones soaking up the vitamin d.

The peony varieties are staggered to reach peak flowering so it wasnt a huge glorious vista but there were lots out, some that were over, and plenty still in bud for future visitors to enjoy. Lovely to see how many colours and sizes there are. I think it is a display that will improve with age, it is quite a new area and as others have said they are a bit fainting couch about being moved.

Any photos, @viques ?

And for those interested the “ I didn’t know they had that” moment this visit was discovering the bonsai trees. One is nearly 200 years old. They have a whole collection of them out in rotation, apparently there is one gardener whose overall responsibility they are. I love the very niche Kew jobs you find out about when you read the labels.

All on my phone and I am useless at moving stuff from device to device. sorry!

Just looked to see if there are any online Kew pictures and it seems that on of the episodes of Kew a Year in Bloom on channel 5 , available on catchup, is about the development of the peony garden, I might watch that later.

Three are nearly there....

Jesus...Read that subject title too quickly...thought it said "have your penises sprouted yet" choked on my pims!

Any day now...

Mine are at a similar stage to yours @ilovesushi but covered in ants.

It's in its third year and I've got 5 flower buds. Doesn't sound like much but compared to the first year when I got two leaves, it's not bad. I'm so glad it's in a pot. We're moving this year and it's bad enough leaving my roses. I'd be so annoyed if I had to leave the peony after waiting for it to grow.

My first one opened today!

Two buds now on a two year old plant. Nowhere near flowering yet tho

Almost....
The others are nowhere near

I have 40 bids this year, they make me so happy and I love the ants !