The Problem with Peonies (updated)

Peonies were the very first perennial my husband and I bought when we purchased our property in Middleton almost 25 years ago. At the time I knew little about them other than the poof of blooms simply took my breath away. At the local nursery I simply had to buy every single plant they had that was currently blooming. Fortunately for my bank account, there were only 6 available.

We planted them immediately and had a beautiful show for a couple of weeks- until they finished blooming that year. Then we did not see another bloom for 2 years. 

Two entire years...

Even though the plants grew thick and pretty foliage each spring, no blooms appeared. I honestly thought something had gone terribly wrong, so I started asking questions.

This is when I learned the true problem with peonies.

The problem isn't that they are:
*   Too big and fluffy
*   Too sweet
*   Too many varieties and colors to choose from

No, the problem with peonies is that even though they will grow for more than 50 years if taken care of properly, they simply do not like to be moved or transplanted.

Don't get me wrong. It will not kill a peony to be transplanted. However they will frequently focus on putting on roots for a year or two before they begin blooming again. 

NO BLOOMS??

The big bodacious blooms are the entire reason we grow these tough plants, but in reality this plant looks to the future. To give those blooms for decades to come takes a lot of energy and energy comes from their roots and shoots. Before I tell you how to improve your odds of getting blooms the first year or two after planting, let me tell you a pit more about the peony.

On a root in the fall you will find little white or pink nubs called "eyes". Each eye represents the probable number of shoots or stalks that will grow in the spring.

When you buy a plant at a typical nursery or store, they may or may not tell you how many eyes the root has.  Typical is 2-3 eye. If you are buying through a reputable local nursery, it may even have 3-5 eyes. Rarely, but in extra special times you can find a 6-8 eye plant. These will probably give you flowers the first year!
More shoots in the spring = more energy to create and grow deep foundational roots. So typically, the larger the root, the more likely you are to get flowers.

Typically anything less than 5 eyes, the plant will focus on making more roots and eyes for the next year rather than putting up blooms.

Knowing what I know now, I must have purchased plants with only 2-3 eyes. This made the plant take 2 years before enough energy was provided to the roots for it to safely produce flowers. 

Once those initial plants started blooming, it was simply spectacular! They have almost always been perfectly on schedule for the second week of June each year. I couldn't love them more.

So I dig and divide my roots to make more plants and this year I am buying more colors. :)

I am running out of spaces to put these beauties, so this is the first year I am sharing my peony roots. I'd love to hear from you. Now that you know about the problem with peonies and root sizes,

Do you pay extra to have blooms the first year?
Or do you get a good price and have patience?

It’s totally up to you!

Whatever the size you plant, here is some basic care information...
Care information:
•    Plant in full sun with the eye 1" below the soil level.
•    Give a good deep watering right after planting and whenever the soil is dry. (approximately 2x per week through the growing season)
•    Fertilize plants in May and the end of July
•    Grows 24”-30” wide and 32”-36” tall 
•    Cut and remove foliage in the fall after first frost

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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.

For the Love of Amaryllis

"Nothing helped my winter blues more than having amaryllis in my kitchen." ~Amy

My flower friend Amy was gifted a single amaryllis bulb from my workshop last Christmas season. Every time I ran into her, she gave me an update on how her plant was doing. She even used my instructions and had it blooming in the summer outside.

Nothing makes me happier than to hear how much joy flowers bring to people everywhere. This particular picture below was the Amaryllis I had in my own home last year. It began its first blooms right before Christmas, but this picture was taken on Easter!

Never have I ever had an amaryllis continue to put blooms on that late in the year, so I ordered the exact same jumbo sized 36+cm Peruvian bulbs again this year to see if we can have it happen again. (crossing my fingers as I write this)

Caring for an amaryllis bulb indoors could not be easier. No matter what variety or color or size bulb you have, they all want the same 3 things.

1- Sunlight. Amaryllis crave sunlight. They are almost like little sun worshipers. They lean toward the light consistantly and stretch toward even a small light if they aren't getting what they want.

2- Warmth. Amaryllis like to be warm and thrive in the warmest and brightest place in your home.  I like to keep mine in my kitchen where there is plenty of sunlight and the temperature is usually between 65-70 degrees in the winter.

3- Moisture. Amaryllis like consistant watering. It doesn't have to be every day, but don't let your soil completely dry out. When I water, I use very warm water. Not burning hot, but like a good warm shower water. This helps the bulb have an additional boost of warmth. 

In my amaryllis workshop, I teach how to care for your amaryllis bulb past its flowering time so it will bloom again for you in next summer.

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3 of the Best Self Seeding Flowers at Ella June Gardens

Not everyone wants to have flowers self seed in their gardens. This is primarily true for me as well. Self seeding flowers can give a less organized look. They can plant themselves exactly where you hoped to have a walkway instead of the location you planned for that particular flower.

In the right environment, however, self seeding flowers are going to give you flowers with little labor or effort on your part. In my simple life I call that AMAZING.  I can leave the flowers in place for just a few extra weeks while they set seed then when the conditions are perfect, they will sprout on their own.

The past 2 years I have experimented with several of these kinds of flowers and these are my top 3 that consistently drop seed, sprout and bloom.

1 - Queen Anne's lace or Dara - These sweet girls are prolific. They want to have more lacy lusciousness in the next season's bouquets and one simple stem left to grow old will send out seed and replant an entire patch. The nice thing about QA Lace is that it doesn't seem to stray far from the location of the Mother Plant who gave them life. In my gardens I can expect them to stay within 2'-3'.

2 - Nigella or Love-in-a-Mist - I wish I had more space in my gardens to try all the varieties of these beauties. So far the Albion Green Pods and African Bride have been the most consistent rebloomers. I absolutely love these little flowers. They also stay pretty close to the Mother Plants which is very helpful where I currently have them growing. 

3 - Feverfew - There couldn't be a happier surprise for me to have these reseeding around my garden beds. They do travel. One time I actually found some sprouted 60' from the Mother Plant. This was a surprise for sure! However, the great thing about Feverfew is that it let me transplant them to the location I want them. This does cause me to work a bit, but it is worth it to me to not have to baby the seedlings in my greenhouse for weeks to get them to the right size for transplanting. I have tried allowing several varieties of Feverfew to self seed and all have had similar results.

I am currently on a mission to see if my favorite Foxglove will reseed itself here in my gardens, but until I know how well it does I will certainly be enjoying these easy and delightful flowers.

What about you? Do you have self seeders in your gardens? What flower do you wish would be able to self seed?

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