Blooming Herbaceous Peonies
It's that time of year when my herbaceous peony garden is blooming!
I’m always amazed by the dazzling display of these beautiful flowers - it’s one of the most anticipated sights at my Bedford, New York farm. Friends and family love the peonies as much as I do and rush to see them in all their splendor. When I first planted this garden, I knew I wanted many, many peonies in one large area. I chose a location across from my Winter House, where there's lots of room and full sun - a spot where I could also see the floral show from my window.
Enjoy these photos.
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- Hard to believe this is the peony garden in early April. The tips of the plants are just poking through the soil
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- In early May, my herbaceous peony bed is filled with knee-high stems and dense green foliage. Everyone is always so excited to see this peony garden explode with color. Before the flowers appear, my outdoor grounds crew puts up stakes, so the peonies are well-supported as they grow. We use natural twine and metal uprights I designed myself for this purpose.
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- My design includes strong steel stakes with two eye holes – one at the top and one midway. This allows for two levels of supportive twine.
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- Not long after, one can see all the buds atop the stems. When I first planted my peony garden, I focused on pink varieties, and planted 11-double rows of 22-peony types. I chose the varieties for their colors, their forms and their long blooming periods.
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- By the third week of May, the blooms appear. One of the reasons these peonies thrive here at my farm is because of the soil. It has a pH of 6.5 to 7.0, which is ideal. It is also amended with superphosphate and Azomite, a natural product mined from an ancient mineral deposit in Utah. These natural additives improve root systems and overall plant vigor, resulting in this fantastic profusion of blooms.
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- Look at the transformation – rows and rows of gorgeous blooms. The view inside this boxwood hedged garden is breathtaking.
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- The peony is any plant in the genus Paeonia, the only genus in the family Paeoniaceae. They are native to Asia, Europe, and Western North America.
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- The leaves of the herbaceous peony are pointed with a shiny, deep green color.
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- Peonies are one of the best-known and most dearly loved perennials – not surprising considering their beauty, trouble-free nature, and longevity.
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- Herbaceous peonies grow two to four feet tall with sturdy stems and blooms that can reach up to 10-inches wide. We spaced the plants about three to four feet apart to avoid any competing roots.
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- Peony blooms range from simple blossoms to complex clusters with a variety of petal forms.
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- The peony’s fragrance can vary, but most have sweet, clean scents. And, do you know… pink peonies tend to have stronger fragrances than red peonies? Double form white peonies are also very aromatic.
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- Semi-double peonies are those which have single or double rows of broad petals encircling more broad petals and an exposed center crown.
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- Flower colors come in white, pink, yellow, red, and coral and the various shades and tints of each.
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- The majority of peonies are hybrids and classified as herbaceous, or as deciduous tree peonies. The peony is showy, frilly with tuberous root systems.
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- Peonies are considered northern flowers – they tolerate and even prefer cold winter temperatures. They are hardy in zones 3 through 8 and need more than 400-hours of temperatures below 40-degrees Fahrenheit annually to break dormancy and bloom properly.
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- For the most part, peonies are disease resistant. They do, however, take some time to get established, so be patient. And if you happen to see ants crawling on your peonies, don’t worry. The insects are attracted to the sugary syrup produced by the buds. Once the flower opens fully, and the sucrose has been finished, the ants disappear.
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- Among the varieties in my collection – ‘Elsa Sass’, ‘Victorian Blush’, ‘Fringed Ivory’, ‘Martha’, ‘Madylone’, ‘Lullaby Coos’, ‘Vivid Glow’, ‘Angel Cheeks’, ‘Miss America’ and ‘Flying Pink Saucers’.
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- This is ‘Star Power’. It has pure white, large blossoms with bold round guard petals and red tipped stigmas. When using peonies for display, cut those whose buds are beginning to show color and feel similar to firm marshmallows. Always cut the stems at an angle and change the water daily.
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- This flower form is more rounded with a large number of petals rising in the center to form a distinct mound.
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- The only disadvantage of peonies is that each field yields one crop of cut flowers for a couple of weeks only once a year, and then that’s it – until the next season when they bloom with splendor once again.
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