How to Grow Peonies
Would you like to plant a flower that could live up to 100 years?
Are you looking to try your hand at gardening, but aren’t sure where to start?
For this week’s Beginner Gardening Wednesday easy to grow perennial, we have saved one of the best for last. Today, we are sharing about a perennial that has been known to live close to 100 years. This Wednesday, we are focusing on peonies.
Peonies can often weather the most difficult winters, are drought-resistant, and are not attractive to rabbits and deer.
If you are new to gardening, this article is for you. Every Wednesday, we publish articles about topics that are targeted for all our novice gardeners. During the month of April, we’ve been discussing perennials.
We like to refer to perennials as gardeners’ bread and butter because they are plants, flower, and shrubs that come back year after year. They often require little work and a peony is the perfect perennial to start with.
How to Plant and Grow Peonies
- Plant in the fall for best results – usually in October. If you live in the Southern regions of the United States, you’ll want to plant even later.
- Prior to planting, add compost while working the soil. While peonies are easy to grow they do love moist, fertile soil.
- Pick a spot in your yard or flower garden that gets full sun. What we mean by full sun is that the flower will receive at least 6 hours of unfiltered sunlight every day.
- Space them about 4 feet apart with planting.
- According to the Old Farmers’ Almanac, you should only place peonies in a hole that is 2 inches deep. Then fill the hole in.
A Quick Tip for Caring for Peonies
- Peonies have a huge and beautiful blossom. Because of this, their stems sometimes have a difficult time hold them up. You can help the stems by add a 3 legged metal peony ring. With the extra support for the stems the flower will grow up through the ring.
Your Turn
Do you have a question about perennials or peonies? Let us know in the comment section below.
