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.
How to grow peonies in the UK?
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.
Where do peonies grow best?
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 well as organic matter before planting can help on the claggier soils.
How to care for peonies?
To encourage a strong flowering season, feed peonies the autumn before with a top-dressing of a high potash fertiliser – bonemeal is an effective slow-releasing option. Potash will encourage flower production. Make sure you don’t overwater! As mentioned previously, peonies don’t appreciate water-logging, and should only really need watering if they go through an extended dry spell.
Deadhead when the flowers begin to fade, cutting back to a strong leaf bud. Cut back herbaceous peonies in the autumn and remove the foliage. Doing so discourages the dreaded Botrytis which could lead to peony wilt.
Peonies need a little time to mature. The younger (and cheaper) the plant, the more time it will need to develop before a strong display. Savour the short flowering period and make use of cut flowers (although try to resist cutting flower stems in the plant’s first year). Cut long stems when the buds are still quite tight first thing in the morning, and immediately place the stems in cool water. If you want to get the most out of your cut peonies, keep the vase out of the sun in a cool place, and keep everything clean, changing the water daily and removing lower foliage. That’ll ensure the best display of peonies as they complete their dramatic cycle of opening and then shedding all their glorious petals.
Which peonies to plant
Choose the old-fashioned, classic varieties with glorious, fully double flowers, like the pale pink ‘Sarah Bernhardt’, ice white ‘Duchesse de Nemours’ and crimson-magenta ‘Karl Rosenfield’. Or the more open single types, such as the white ‘Late Windflower’ and crimson ‘Lord Kitchener’, which have central bosses of gold. Some of the most exquisite colours can be found in the intersectional group, including the covetable ‘Julia Rose’, which has silky, semi-double raspberry pink blooms with buff tones (the peony equivalent of the ‘La Belle Époque’ tulip), or ‘Kopper Kettle’, which has coppery apricot blooms.
The early-flowering and delicate white Himalayan Peony.
A more abundant, stronger white-flowered cultivar. Try Paeonia lactiflora ‘Nymphe’ for a good pink, and ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ for a good double flower.
Difficult name to pronounce, but a beautiful pale-yellow species Peony, whose elegant, rounded leaves make it an interesting foliage plant.
A deep scarlet; or Paeonia delavayi (tree) which is deeper still.
Silky white petals with a burgundy base.
The best places to buy peonies
Specialists who I see at every Great Dixter plant fair.
Good independent specialist nursery.
Historic Peony growers.
Where to see peonies in full bloom
Until recently, home to the National Peony Collection.
London’s oldest botanical garden.
Home to recently re-opened Temperate House.
Good for species.
A beautiful display of over 6,000 peonies derived from over 50 varieties of the plant, peaking in May and June.
Home to one of the UK's finest collection of peonies (as well as the inspiration for Edward Elgar's compositions).
Hosted every April, the Luoyang Peony Festival is an epic event.
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