Planting Bareroot Peonies
Planting peonies (or most perennials) from bare roots is my favorite way to plant.
It seems to give them a head start, but I totally understand… it can be a bit intimidating.
Peonies like to be in their home (in the dirt). Sitting outside of the soil's protective barrier could cause the roots to get a bit stressed.
To wake them up and get them ready to settle in through the winter, here are 6 easy steps I follow when planting bareroot perennials.
6 tips for bareroot planting.
1. Soak the roots in cool water (not warm) for 20-30 minutes
2. Choose a location that gets at least 6 hours of sunlight per day..
3. Make the hole wide enough the roots won't have to bend to be in the hole and 1" deeper than the root.
4. Place root in the hole.
5. Add potting soil, compost or fertilizer to the hole.
6. Backfill the hole so the entire root is covered with about 1"-1.5" of soil (no more than 2" or you won't get blooms for a couple years).
Peonies are fairly low maintenance plants, and like I have said a million times they want to live many long years. Some have been known to live over 100 years. I don't plan to live long enough to find out if these last that long, but I would love to be able to grow them long enough for my grandsons to have one when they buy their first home.
Caring for your planted Peonies
To get long lasting peony plants, here are the 5 steps I follow...
1. Grow them in full sun… at least 6 hours of direct sunlight each day.
2. Water regularly throughout the growing season. (well draining, not sitting in water).
3. Fertilize in May and July when they are most actively growing or putting on new eyes for next year.
4. Leave the flowers on the plant the first year. The roots grow from sunlight on the leaves, so give it a boost by not cutting any leaves the first year.
5. Cut back the foliage after the first frost each year and remove it from your gardens.
What about Diseases?
Peonies don’t get many diseases and most pests ignore them.
However, grey spots on Peonies leaves or stems is generally a sign of botrytis. They can begin forming mid July.
The first time I noticed it on my peony plants I was shocked that the plants I diligently cared for could have some kind of fungus growing on them.
Fungicides, herbicides or pesticides are not something used in my Gardens - even organic ones if I can help it. So the horror of having an obvious sign of disease sent me to figuring it out.
I spent weeks studying it and I admit the information I read was more than a bit confusing. Then I remembered Fall Cleanup.
Cleaning up the flower beds in the fall has always been my husband's favorite time to do it.
That year, after the first frost, we started with the peony plants first. Rather than composting the leaves, we put those babies right in the dumpster.
The next spring, the plants were plenty healthy without any sign of the nasty botrytis... until early autumn. That fungus was back again. We dealt with it the same way.
For over 20 years we have been dealing with botrytis the same way without it damaging the peonies or spreading to other plants.
How do deal with Botrytis
Our process is simple...
1- Cut back the foliage to the ground after the first fall frost.
2- Remove all foliage from the gardens immediately. Do not compost leaves or stems with botrytis.
Peony plants are super long lived perennials. It is my goal to have them last for generations to come. The gray spots may be noticeable in the Fall, but the plants will ultimately be fine if you remove old foliage after frost and before the spring growth.