How to Plant and Grow Peony

With their layers of large petals, vibrant hues, and sweet scent, peonies make a beautiful addition to any bouquet or garden. Although pink is a fan favorite, colors include white, red, yellow, and orange. The plants may look delicate, but they're quite hardy and easy to grow with proper peony care and conditions. Peonies also perform well outside your garden; you can enjoy cut peonies in a vase for up to three weeks with good upkeep or dry them to admire their colors for even longer. Peonies are hardy in USDA Zones 3-8, which includes most of the United States, so just about anyone can grow a few thriving plants in their garden.

Known for their large, beautiful spring flowers, these long-lived and tough perennials will return year after year. There are many different types to choose from, with different growth habits, flower shapes, and colors. Even when not in bloom, these plants have deep green and leathery foliage that stands up to the vigorous weather.

Where to Plant Peony

Plant your peony in well-draining soil and full sun, where it receives at least six hours of direct sunlight daily. Make sure the spot you choose allows the plant to have undisturbed roots. Give it shelter from the wind, but don't plant it close to other trees or shrubs, or the plants will compete for resources.

Spring-blooming peonies are wonderful specimen plants. They can also be massed in the back of low borders or planted in a single row for a showstopper hedge.

How and When to Plant Peony

Peonies are sold as bare-root tubers or as divisions of a young peony plant. Plant them in the fall, a few weeks before the first frost. If you need to move an established plant, this is the time to do it. If you must plant in spring, check that the ground is workable and there's no risk of frost. Spring-planted peonies usually lag a year behind fall-planted peonies.

Dig a hole for a peony nursery plant that is twice as wide as the container it is in and the same depth. Set the plant in the hole at the same depth it was in the container. A sure way for a plant to lack blooms is to plant it too deeply. When planting multiple peonies, space them 3 to 4 feet apart to allow them plenty of room to grow. Water the garden bed.

Bare-root tubers of peonies shouldn't be placed more than 2 inches below the soil level. Otherwise, they'll still send out shoots but won't flower. Dig a shallow hole and position the bare-root plant. Cover it with soil, pressing down to remove any air pockets. Water the plant.

Peony Care Tips

As long as peonies' basic needs are met, they will live for many years. 

Light

Peonies thrive in full sun but will tolerate partial shade. Full sun ensures the plants have good blooms and keeps the foliage healthy. 

Soil and Water

Peonies will do best in well-drained soil. If the soil is too heavy, they will benefit from some compost being added. This plant also dislikes having its roots disturbed and can protest by withholding blooms.

Water peonies at the base of the plant at ground level rather than on the foliage to prevent diseases from taking hold. Give them enough water to soak into the top 5 inches of soil. Continue to water your plants even after the flowers have faded so the leaves remain healthy.

Temperature and Humidity

Peonies are cold hardy; many types can tolerate winter temperatures as low as -40°F, which makes them excellent choices for cold areas. Herbaceous peonies need a winter dormancy period of about six weeks where the temperature stays at about 40°F, so they aren't often grown in hot areas. The plants grow best in average humidity.

Fertilizer

To fertilize your peonies, apply compost, bone meal, or well-rotted manure in early summer as a soil amendment. You can also use a fertilizer with higher levels of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K), following the directions on the product. Avoid nitrogen-heavy (N) fertilizers. These promote good foliage growth but discourage strong blooms.

Pruning

After peonies have put on their show for the year, a little TLC will ensure that they come back even stronger next year. Deadheading, or removing faded flowers, helps the plant save energy for next year's blooms and prevents fungal diseases. Remove the spent blooms, but don't cut away any foliage (the plant will need those leaves to help build up flowers for next year).

For herbaceous peonies, you can cut the whole plant to the ground after a fall frost has killed off the foliage. In the spring, new growth will appear from the roots. For tree peonies, prune them in late spring. Be sure to remove any damaged wood. Make your cuts at an angle, right above outward-facing buds.

Pests and Problems

You may see lots of ants on peonies. Don't fret; they won't harm your plant! Just ignore them, and they'll eventually leave to feed elsewhere. You should inspect your plants for signs of common peony diseases, though. Here are a few to watch out for:

• Botrytis blight: This happens in damp seasons when leaves get too wet and develop dark gray mold.
• Powdery mildew: Mildew shows up as a white powder. It's unattractive more than it is harmful to your plant.
• Peony blotch: Also known as red spot or measles for the color of the lesions. It won't kill your plant, but it does disfigure it.
• Peony wilt: A fungal infection in the soil that leads to the destruction of the leaves and stems. Unfortunately, it usually results in plant death.

How to Propagate Peony

The easiest ways for home gardeners to propagate herbaceous peonies (the most common type in the United States) is by division or seed.

Division: In the fall, after the herbaceous peony foliage has faded, dig the entire plant up with a shovel. Remove as much of the soil from the roots as possible. With a sharp knife, cut off sections of the crown, making sure each section has roots and at least three buds. Replant the sections immediately in a prepared garden bed and water them well. Note: division doesn't work with tree peonies; gardeners usually sow seed for them.

Seed: Most peonies produce seeds that can be harvested and sown, but peonies grown from seed often don't resemble the parent plant. Prepare a garden bed that will be home to the young peonies for the first three years. Fresh seed that is harvested immediately after the plant blooms delivers the best plants the soonest. Purchased dry seed should be sown in summer. It requires longer to hydrate and break its dormancy period. Press peony seeds into the soil no more than 1/2 inch deep and 1 to 2 inches apart. Don't cover the seeds with soil. Water the bed and apply 1 inch of wood chips or wood mulch. Cover the entire bed with a sheet of clear plastic, weighted down on the edges, and leave it in place until the following early spring when the seedlings start to grow.

Growth Habits of Peonies

Peonies come in three main types: herbaceous, tree, and itoh. Herbaceous peonies (Paeonia lactiflora) are the most common in gardens, with hundreds of varieties to choose from. These varieties usually have scented flowers in shades of pink, red, and white. As the name suggests, herbaceous peonies don't form woody stems. Instead, the stems stay green and flexible, so they may need staking to keep them from flopping over, especially when the flowers get wet in the rain. These peonies produce new growth from the plant's crown in spring, which all dies back to the ground after a frost, similar to most other perennial plants. They grow between 2-3 feet tall.

As the name suggests, tree peonies grow from a trunk-like base (Paeonia suffruticosa or Paeonia lemoinei, also called deciduous peony). They are more expensive and grow slower but can eventually reach up to 5 feet tall. Tree peonies also don't need any staking because their woody stems can withstand the weight of the huge flowers. For example, 'Seidai' is a tree peony variety that produces double-flower pink blooms that can reach 8 inches in diameter.

The itoh peony, or intersectional peony (Paeonia lemoinei x Paeonia lactiflora), is a hybrid of the first two types. These types of peonies offer more unusual colors, such as orange and yellow. Some popular varieties include 'Bartzella' and 'Cora Louise'. They grow to a middle height between the garden and tree types, usually about 3 feet tall.

Types of Peony

There is no shortage of colorful peonies to choose from. Here are just a few favorites.

'Blaze' Peony

Paeonia 'Blaze' offers single, 6-inch-wide scarlet-red blooms early in the season. It grows 26 inches tall. It was released in 1973. Zones 3-8

'Bowl of Beauty' Peony

Paeonia 'Bowl of Beauty' blooms in midseason. It has 10-inch-wide, anemone-flowered or Japanese form, deep sugar pink cupped flowers. The center is crowded with narrow creamy white petaloids. It was introduced in 1949. Zones 3-8

'Festiva Maxima' Peony

Paeonia 'Festiva Maxima' is an heirloom from the 1850s that's still popular. It bears white flowers with tiny flecks of crimson and grows 3 feet tall. Zones 3-7

Fernleaf Peony

Paeonia tenuifolia has cupped rich red single 3-inch flowers in early to mid spring. Its deep green foliage is fernlike, with many segments. Zones 3-8

'Sarah Bernhardt' Peony

Paeonia 'Sarah Bernhardt' is an heirloom selection from 1906 with soft pink flowers and a lovely fragrance. It grows 3 feet tall. Zones 3-7

Peony Companion Plants

Baby's Breath

With its loose, billowy panicles of tiny single or double pink or white flowers, baby's breath provides a lightness and airiness to flower gardens. The creeping forms drape beautifully over rock walls. After bloom time, shear the plants to deadhead and for neatness. Plants prefer sweet (alkaline) soils with full sun and excellent drainage.

Shasta Daisy

Easy, always fresh, and always eye-catching, Shasta daisy is a longtime favorite. All cultivars produce white daisy flowers in various degrees of doubleness and size. The sturdy stems and long vase life make the flowers unbeatable for cutting. Shasta daisy thrives in well-drained, not overly rich soil. Taller sorts may need staking.

Flax

Look at the delicate little flax plant with its masses of open, silky flowers, often in purest blue, and it's hard to imagine that it can also produce tough linen fibers. Each bloom lasts only a day, but the plant stays in bloom for a while since it produces so many—not only in blue but also clear yellow, depending on the variety. Flax must have a light, free-draining soil. Wet feet will kill it. Flax enjoys full sun but will tolerate light shade, especially in the southern portion of the United States.

Garden Plans for Peony

English-Style Front Yard Garden Plan

Give your home a welcoming feel with an exuberant cottage garden in the front yard. Cottage gardens generally feature a colorful assortment of plants in natural disarray, sometimes with clear pathways and sometimes without. This English-style front garden plan captures the essence of a cottage garden. 

Deer Resistant Garden Plan

Deer may be beautiful creatures, but they also can wreak havoc in a garden. If you have a deer herd that sees your yard as a salad bar, you have to get creative to keep the hungry critters from snacking on your plants. Selecting deer-resistant varieties—including peonies—that are lower on Bambi's menu is one effective strategy.