Peonies hardy and gorgeous flowers
Had it with planting and replanting annual flowers and spent bulbs? Tired of deadheading, moving and pruning? Are you sick of expensive perennials that died or failed to thrive? Want a hardy, almost-carefree plant with great spring and fall color and drop-dead gorgeous flowers and more time enjoying your garden than laboring in it? The common herbaceous peony, Paeonia lactiflora, may be the answer to laborious and less than satisfying flower beds. A group planting of peonies is truly beautiful and requires almost no care.
Available in every garden center now, peonies are an inexpensive yet truly rewarding garden perennial. Bright red shoots in spring, russett and gold fall colors and those glorious cabbage-rose-like summer flowers will make you say “wow.” If that’s not enough, peonies are so easy to grow and maintain anyone can have fabulous flowers. You might just want to fill all your beds with them.
You can plant nursery grown peonies now. Just knock them out of their pots and plant at the same soil level as they were in the pot in any well-drained, sunny or partly shady area of your yard. Water well the first year and thereafter they will thrive and flower for years to come (peonies have been known to live for 100 years).
Once established they are fairly drought resistant, have few disease problems, don’t require much fertilization in adequate soil, require no pruning or deadheading (although they look tidier if you do) and can easily survive our coldest temperatures. Peonies expand each year, and after the plants are well established can be divided for more plants or left to grow into large clumps. Maintenance couldn’t be easier.
Mulch around the plants with compost to maintain soil-moisture and rake up the dead foliage after fall’s killing frosts. Occasionally during bloom time you may need to prop up heavily laden flower stalks, but you can also leave them au natural for a charming old-fashioned look.
That’s all there is to growing great peonies. Put on the tea kettle and find a cozy spot on the deck; you’ll have lots more time to sit back and enjoy your garden.
In the garden this week
•Rake up and compost any remaining garden and lawn debris – adequate circulation now can help prevent disease and insect infestations.
•Begin planting cool crops like lettuce, radishes, spinach and cold crops like cabbage and broccoli. Hold off on annuals until after our last expected frost, which is May 15.
•Pull or hoe germinating weed seeds now and you will have a lot fewer to deal with later
•Add a 2-inch layer of composted mulch around your shrubs and perennials to maintain soil moisture, deter weed seed germination and enrich the soil.
•Reseed bare patches in your lawn.
•Nurture your soul and reinvigorate yourself by taking a few moments to savor the new life that is unfurling around you.