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The Culture of Peonies
Intersectional and herbaceous peonies are easy of culture! Full sun, well drained location and few precautions are the only requirements to grow successfully peonies in your garden. Simply follow these recommandations.
PLANTATION
(Download
the instructions of plantation in PDF)
At Pivoines Capano, we dug, divide and plant our peonies only
in the fall. We strongly believe that it is the best period to
guarantee a successful planting.
You can plant in the fall until
the soil is not frozen. Plant in full sun, in a well drained soil
and if possible, where it will get a good snow cover for a natural
winter protection. Do not plant your peony at the same location
where another peony was planted before. Soil can exhausted and
contain fungal diseases.
It
is also recommended to prepare the soil in advance, as early as
the spring season before the arrival of your peony. Mix bone meal
and/or well rotted manure with the plantation soil. Never use
fresh manure. The eyes and the crown must never enter in direct
contact with these products. Apply them far from the crown.
Herbaceous
(lactifloras, hybrids and species)
A
peony division is made of 3 parts: the eyes (or buds from which
the next year stems will develop), the crown (the mother-nutrient
source of energy) and the roots.
On
an herbaceous peony division, the eyes are always on the crown.
Dig a hole large enough and place your peony so that the highest
eyes on the crown are placed to a maximum of 5cm (2 inches) under
the surface of soil and all the roots should pointed toward the
outside and downwards. Cover completely the plant. It is essential
to mulch your peony the first winter after its plantation. Never
use fresh manure.
***Herbaceous
planting diagram
Intersectional
hybrids
On
an intersectional peony division, the eyes may appear either on
the crown or on the stems.
Find
the section on your division that constitutes the limit between
the actual crown and the stems. Place your division in the plantation's
hole so that the first eye above the crown is at soil level.
Be sure that all visible eyes on the crown are inside 5 to 10
cm under the soil's surface and with the roots always downwards.It
is essential to mulch your peony the first winter after its plantation.
Never use fresh manure.
***Intersectional
hybrids planting diagram
Winter
protection
It
is essential to mulch (straw, needles of pine) your peony the
first winter after the plantation in order to avoid the soil-heaving
of your division in springtime provoked by freezing and thawing
cycles. This protection is neededonly the first winter after
plantation. Remove this mulch in the spring, as soon as the first
shoots start to emerge.
MAINTENANCE
Pruning
in the fall for the herbaceous (lactifloras, hybrids and species)
Herbaceous
peony's foliage will die down to the soil after first frost. At
the end of the season, here in September, cut foliage down to
the soil and dispose of it. Do not use it in your compost in order
to avoid the propagation of fungal diseases.
Pruning in the fall for
the Intersectional hybrids
Intersectional
hybrid's foliage is much more cold-resistant than the herbaceous
one. It will keep its beauty later in the fall. Good news because
it also means that your Intersectional peony continues its growth
later in the fall. So before pruning, wait until the foliage has
been reached by a big frost. When it happens, cut each stem
at 10 cm(about 4 inches) above soil in order to keep some
eyes located at the basis of the plant. Dispose of the foliage
the same way as you do for the herbaceous.
Fertilisation
Do
not over-fertilise your peony. The following method is the one
we use here at Pivoines Capano for a peony grower. A light fertilization
in the fall the first 2 years following plantation. The third
year after plantation, fertilize twice a year: after blooming
and in the fall when the plant is dormant. Bone meal, chemical
fertilizers (5-10-10 or 12-12-12) or well rotted manure
could be used. These products should be applied far from the crown
at about 15 cm of the plant. Never use fresh manure. The eyes
and the crown must never enter in direct contact with your fertilizer.
Protection
against fungal diseases
Fungal
diseases can affect your peony specially the first year following
plantation whereas your plant is more vulnerable. Here at the
nursery, as a preventive method, early in the spring, when the
young shoots emerge, we apply a fungicide on the plant and the
soil around. We repeat this application two other times at a 15
days interval. In August, after blooming, if the temperature is
hot and humid, it can be necessary to make another application.
The following method is the one we use here at Pivoines Capano
because we grow lots of peonies. You will not necessary needs
it entirely.
When to expect the
first flowers
Although
your secret desire is lot of flowers from your peony the first
year following plantation, I would highly recommended that you
cut all flower's buds as soon as they appear the first spring.
Sorry! This will help your peony to get fully established. If
you insist, keep only one flower's bud, let it bloom and cut it
immediately after. It
is possible that your peony do not bloom the first year after
plantation. Don't worry, it should bloom the following years.
DIVISION
In
september, dig your peony carefully, taking care of keeping all
the roots. Cut all the foliage keeping only 4 inches of stem. Wash
the peony roots with a soft water jet. This will ensure that all
the eyes and the crown will be clearly visible. Be careful not
to damage eyes on the crown.
Put
your plant on a stable work table, well cleaned. Watch carefully
the whole plant. Eliminate all the damaged or rotted parts.
Each
peony division should have at least 3 to 5 eyes on the crown.
Determine how many divisions you will be able to do in counting
the number of eyes and how the roots crown system is organized.
Keeping this standard division with 3 to 5 eyes will greatly help
the survival of your plant even if one or two eyes are damaged
by frost or manipulation during the plantation. For the general
gardener, bigger divisions could be made i.e. with dozen of eyes.
That's even better!
Start
cutting in inserting the point of a sharp knife in the crown and
gently completed the division with only one movement. If the crown
portion is too big for only one movement, cut along the crown
with your knife until you will be able to gently separate the
divisions. Your divisions are now ready to be cleaned. Eliminate all damaged parts or rotted. Cut the roots keeping only 7 to 8 inches.
Your new divisions are ready to be plant in their final location of your garden. Read and follow carefully the planting's instructions in the section of my site.
MORE
ABOUT PEONIES
PEONY ASSOCIATIONS:
The Canadian Peony Society : www.peony.ca
Blooming calendar: www.bloomdate.paeonia.com/
The American Peony Society: www.americanpeonysociety.org
Heartland Peony Society: www.peonies.org
Other related sites
www.paeon.de
www.paeonia.ch
www.quadriga.net
www.gardenlist.com
GARDENS WITH PEONY COLLECTION IN CANADA
• Les Jardins de Metis: collection of botanical species: www.jardinsmetis.com
• Le Jardin Roger-Van den Hende: mainly lactifloras: www.fsaa.ulaval.ca
BOOKS ON PEONIES
French:
LES PIVOINES, par Rock Giguère, Les Editions de l'Homme, ISBN 2-7619-2224-7, 2006
Botanique et horticulture dans les jardins du Québec-volume 2, sous la direction de Rock Giguère, Éditions Multimondes, ISBN2-89544-037-9, Août 2003
Pivoines, par Jean-Luc Rivière, ISBN 2501 034 97-X, Novembre 2000
Le monde fabuleux des pivoines, par Michel Rivière, ISBN 2-9509816-0-7
Botanique et horticulture dans les jardins du Québec-guide 2002, sous la direction de Rock Giguère, Éditions Multimondes, ISBN2-89544-026-3, Avril 2002
Vivaces, vol. 1, par Roger Phillips et Martyn Rix, ISBN 2-7066-1224-X, 1991 (Bonne description, avec photos, des espèces botaniques de pivoines).
Pivoines : comment les choisir et les cultiver facilement, par Jean-Luc Rivière, ISBN 2-84138-152-8, 2002
English
Peonies, by Pamela McGeorge, Firefly Books, ISBN-13: 978-1-55407-168-5, 2006
The Gardener's Peony, by Martin Page, Timber Press, ISBN 0-88192-694-9, 2005
The Book of Mediterranean Peonies, by Gian Lupo Osti, Umberto Allemandi & C., ISBN, 2004
The Genus Paeonia, by Joseph Halda with James W. Waddick, March 2004, ISBN 0-88192-612-4
The peony, by Alice Harding, updated by Roy G. Klehm, ISBN0-88192-274-9, reprinted 1998.
Peonies, by Allan Rogers, ISBN 0-88192-317-6, 2000
The Gardener’s Guide to Growing Peonies, by Martin Page, ISBN 0-88192-408-3, 1997.
Peonies the Imperial flower, by Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall, ISBN 0 297 82424 4, 1999
Growing shrubs and small trees in cold climates, by Nancy Rose, Don Selinger and John Whitman, ISBN 0-8092-2491-7, 2001
The Book of Tree peonies, by Gian Lupo Osti, Édition Umberto Allemandi & C. , 1999
Chinese Tree peony, par ¨The peony Association of China¨, ISBN 7-5038-2019-5, 1998
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