Sweet-scented and soft-petalled, peonies are one of the world's favourite flowers. Though they tend to have a short but glorious blooming season peaking in May, peonies are likely to appear in flower shops and on farm stands from late March. With a myriad variety of the flower – herbaceous, tree and the enormous hybrid of the two – there are many ways to grow and care for these lovely flowers. If treated well from the outset, in fact, each type of peony will continue to flower for more than half a century.
There are a few simple but crucial measures that can be taken to get a strong flowering display, most of which hark back to the planting, which has to be done with considerable thought and care – get it wrong and you’ll be disappointed; get it right and the relatively tough and surprisingly accommodating Paeonia will largely look after itself.
A common cause of a flowerless season is planting too deeply. You should always ensure the ‘crowns’ of herbaceous peonies are not more than an inch below the soil, as they need the coldness of the winter to signal that it’s time to get a move on! Tree peonies can and should be planted a little deeper, as most cultivated plants are grafted onto rootstocks. Therefore, make sure that the graft union is sunk slightly to encourage the grafted plant to form its own roots. Ideally plant both in the autumn when the soil is still warm – this allows them to settle in well before the following spring.
Give herbaceous peonies sun! The more the better, but six hours of it per day if possible for the best flowering display. Tree peonies are most content with dappled sun. For both forms, make sure that the soil is fertile, and free draining to avoid their roots sitting in water. Mixing in grit as
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