Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 2: Choosing the Right Conditions
• Method 2 of 2: Planting and Caring for Peonies
• Warnings

Peonies can be a bright splash of pink, yellow, red, or white in any garden. These flowers need sun and fertile, well-drained soil. Every gardener should know that peonies need four to six hours of direct sunlight per day to flower.

Steps

Method 1 of 2: Choosing the Right Conditions

1. 1 Please note that peonies grow well in places with winter chill. Peonies grow best in areas where there is a bit of winter cold and therefore are not recommended for growers who live in the lower regions of the Southern United States. Peonies in zones 8 and 9 may not bloom if they are too warm in winter. The minimum temperatures in zones 8 and 9 reach from -12.2 to -6.7 degrees Celsius.
   • Gardeners living in warm climates should choose early flowering varieties because they tend to tolerate gray mold and will fade before it gets warmer outside.
2. 2 Choose a sunny location with well-drained soil. The choice of the planting site will determine how well the peonies bloom. Choose an area where they will receive at least six to eight hours of direct sunlight each day. Moisture should be well removed from the soil. Otherwise, the roots or tubers of the peony may rot or fungal diseases will begin to develop on them.
   • In the shade, they will be able to bloom, but not fully.
3. 3 Measure the pH level of your soil. Ideally, the soil should be organically balanced, with a pH level between 6.5 and 7.0. Measure your soil pH at your local garden center, or buy a dedicated soil pH kit to measure it yourself.
   • If you decide to use the pH test kit, take the soil from a depth of 10 cm. Be careful not to touch the test kit with your hands, as this may distort the test result.Collect soil in a clean bowl, loosen any clumps, remove weeds, grass or roots, and let the soil dry.
   • Transfer the dried soil to a test container, add the chemical solution and the recommended amount of distilled water, cap the container and shake vigorously.
   • After the soil has settled, check the color of the liquid in the test container against the pH scale provided in the kit.
4. 4 Adjust the pH of your soil if necessary. Peonies can last for many years. Prepare the site before planting so that the peonies are guaranteed to grow and the buds bloom throughout their long life. Prepare the site three to six months before planting to give the soil time to settle. Add sulfur or lime to adjust the soil pH if needed.
   • The dosage of additives to change the pH of the soil depends on the type of soil and the desired pH level. For example, to raise the pH of a sandy soil from 5.5 to 6.5, you would need 1.12 kg of lime for every 4.5 square meters of soil. For clay soil, with the same indicators, 2.47 kg will be needed.
   • To lower the pH in sandy soil from 7.5 to 6.5 will require 0.22 to 0.34 kg of aluminum sulfate per 4.5 square meters of land. With the same indicators for clay soil, 0.67 kg will be required.
5. 5 Add some organic matter to the soil. If necessary, spread 7-15 cm of sulfur or lime over the flower bed. Good options include sphagnum peat moss, composted chopped pine bark, well-aged cow dung, and compost. Use a rotary tiller to thoroughly fertilize the soil at a depth of at least 30 cm.
   • A depth of 7.6 cm is sufficient if the soil is already saturated with organic matter. If it is impossible to determine the level of organic composition, add fertilizer at a depth of 12.5 - 15 cm.

Method 2 of 2: Planting and Caring for Peonies

1. 1 Plant peonies in early or mid-fall in holes 30-50 cm deep. The eyes or buds of the top of each tuber should be covered by no more than 2.5-5 cm. Planting peonies before frost allows them to acclimatize and often helps them bloom earlier than under other conditions.
   • However, even so, peonies may not bloom in the first season. It can take up to five years for seedlings grown from seed to bloom.
2. 2 Don't plant peonies too deep. Gardeners should be careful not to plant peonies too deep, or the plants will grow with foliage and no flowers. Seedlings that have been fertilized too much with mulch can also suffer from this problem. In spring, remove the mulch and check that the root buds are buried no more than 5 cm into the soil. Otherwise, you will have to dig up the plants to raise them to the correct level.
3. 3 Water the peonies. Water the peony tubers well every 10-14 days until frost. Deep but infrequent watering will stimulate deeper root growth, making the flowers more drought tolerant.
   • When the ground is frozen, spread a 2 to 3 cm layer of organic mulch over the peony's tubers. Remove the mulch in the spring when the first new stems appear.
   • Start watering the plants after winter if they are not getting enough water from the spring rain. Continue watering them every 10-14 days throughout the growing season.
   • In the fall, when foliage begins to fall after the first severe frosts, remove the leaves and stems and water the peonies less often.
4. 4 Feed your peonies a low nitrogen fertilizer. Peonies do not need to be fertilized too much, but a small dose of low nitrogen fertilizer will help them bloom. Use fertilizer in a ratio of 5-10-10 or 5-10-5
   • In general, the addition rate is from 0.45 to 0.67 kg for every 4.5 square meters, but it can fluctuate. Follow the manufacturer's recommendations for fertilizing the soil. Fertilize the soil with a layer of 15.2 to 45.7 cm from the stems of the peony. Do not allow fertilizer to touch the stems.
   • Spread a few centimeters of fertilizer gently over the top ball of soil with a rake. After fertilization, water the peonies generously so that it gets deeper with water, to the roots.
5. 5 Don't prune peonies in summer. Gardeners are advised not to prune peonies in July and August, as this can weaken the plant and there will be fewer flowers. Sometimes in such conditions the plants do not bloom at all.
   • However, it is possible to prune plants to soil level in the fall months to prevent any illnesses during hibernation.
6. 6 Separate old plants if they stop blooming. Bunches of peonies that have been growing for more than five years and are no longer in bloom may need to be separated. Peonies surrounded by other plants may not bloom because they lack nutrients. Separation will help rejuvenate the plants.
   • However, the plants may not flower for some time after transplanting.

Warnings

• In the summer, gardeners are not advised to over-water the plants, because this contributes to the development of diseases, and diseased flowers do not bloom.
• Sometimes it is impossible to do anything to save the flowers. Late frosts, droughts and other natural disasters - all this can interfere with the flowering of peonies. Plants that are still healthy should recover and bloom next year.