Peony Frustration
Until I got home on Monday, peonies had been growing on me. Not literally, but over the last couple of years my enthusiasm for peonies had been slowly increasing. ,
Initially, that level of enthusiasm was quite low. In fact, it was only the steady barrage of wistful sighs from Judy that persuaded me to plant any peonies at all. My reluctance came from the fact that individual peony blooms are so short lived and vulnerable to rain, wind, and people walking by without first removing their shoes.
Also, peonies have limited value to wildlife, so their place in a habitat garden is open to question. Although ants do like to eat the nectar that can be found on Peony buds and actually help the Peony flower to open.
Even so, four years ago I planted four peonies, all singles: ‘America’, P. anomala, ‘Abalone Pearl’, and another one whose name I’ve lost. These plants charmed me as they expanded and bloomed each season. The opening of each luxurious flower became a much anticipated event.
I was also inspired by the interplanting of Peonies and Alliums at the Chicago Botanic Garden, to the point where last year I ordered three ‘Snow Swan’ Peonies to plant among my own ‘Purple Sensation’ Alliums.
And at the recently concluded Garden Bloggers Fling in Toronto it was impossible not to stare goggle-eyed at all the gigantic and glorious Peonies. Surely those Canadians are engaging in some kind of Satanic magic in order to grow all those impossibly beautiful specimens.
Anyhow, imagine my dismay when I returned home from Toronto on Monday only to find that the flowers on both ‘Snow Swan’ and the nameless Peony had come and gone during the five days trip. This was probably the result of a major thunderstorm on Monday, which provides absolutely no comfort at all.
It must be admitted that Peony ‘America’ did very well this year. It had more large, single red blooms than ever before. What’s more, it has a second round of buds that should be opening in a week or so. And all this despite that fact that it gets more shade and root competition than is ideal.
So I won’t be digging up the Peonies I already have, but I won’t be planting any more for the foreseeable future.
How did the Peonies in your garden do this year?
gardeninacity 
My peonies all came and went very quickly too, but the Itoh peony has left behind some big fat seedpods. There are others too besides the Itoh ones, that make colorful fat seedpods, giving you another season of interest. Check out the woodland peony, Paeonia japonica, at the online nursery Keeping It Green, here: http://www.keepingitgreennursery.com/products/paeonia-japonica-woodland-paeonia. Great plant that can take shade.
Thanks for the link – that looks like a great plant!
This is exactly what I’m afraid of. Not for the Peonies, as they were done weeks ago, but all the other things I’ve been watching and waiting for in my own garden. With 90 degree + temperatures who knows what sort of disasters I’m going to be coming home to.
My one inherited Peony always blooms when a rain is predicted. I really don’t mind because it’s a great excuse to cut the flowers and bring them indoors.
That’s what we should do – bring the buds inside before they fully bloom. Somehow it feels like cheating, though.
This year mine started blooming beautifully, and the early ones lasted very well, but just a couple of days after the last one started to open we had two days of torrential rain, hail, and wind! 😦 I rescued dozens of them and brought them indoors…. I have to say I still love them though! The only answer is to cut them in bud to enjoy their fleeting beauty and scent indoors. My peony season can last for over six weeks, but this year it was slightly shorter.
At least you got to them in time to bring them indoors.
I share your frustration, but then I see your beautiful white flowers and I am switched to aquistion mode!
Aquisition mode seems to be my default setting.
I feel just the same as you, I dug mine out last year as they had flowered poorly but now I see some of your choices and think I could find room for Snow Swan.
Maybe I’ll get to see ‘Snow Swan’ blooming in my garden next year.
They are fleeting but worth the space, I think. They’re so drop-dead gorgeous that I forgive their shortcomings.
It’s hard not to be swept away by their charms when they are in bloom.
My peonies were also over by the time I came home. We finally had a big storm and all petals were dispersed. I believe peonies do help wildlife, especially with giving out the sweet nectar. I have a post coming talking about that subject. Wasps especially are are great visitor, and in the post – “peonies’ nectar attracts the beneficial wasps which eat the larvae of the Japanese Beetles, and we all know what they do come summer.” Also, I think it is a myth that ants help peonies to open. Possibly the reason ants may help, “possibly to have ants dine on insects detrimental to the peony. There must be a logical function to the luring in of the insects.” I did enjoy the peonies at the Fling. At least we both saw them before the huge storms came. Did you not like the bride factory at the Fling? Now that is an example we saw of the peonies attracting wildlife!
I did enjoy the Oshawa Peony garden. If I didn’t get to see all of my own Peonies, at least I got to see lots of huge ones in Canada. Between the Peonies and the Parkwood Estate, it was apparently a very big day for weddings!
In my new garden I only grow a tree peony not any herbaceous ones. Love your single flowered ones though. Although they do not contibute much to wildlife, they’re tough and easy plants that need no attention and deserve a place in our gardens. By the way, I think they look good out of season too.
I don’t grow tree peonies. One reason is that I assume you grow them as standards, a form I don’t really like. But maybe I’m wrong about that.
They naturally grow into a bush or tree-like shape and look very elegant. I don’t think I’d call it a standard as this is more a lollipop-shape.
No peonies at the little house in the big woods. Too much shade. This doesn’t bother me at all. I’m not a huge fan of these showy flowers.
I wasn’t either until recently, and I still don’t like the big fluffy ones.
Well, I was going to take a photo of the Probably Sarah Bernhardt here, but it rained yesterday and so now they have been renamed Prostrate Probably Sarah Bernhardt ….*sigh*
Well, the real Sarah Bernhardt came to a tragically premature end, so maybe there is some symbolism in what happened to your peony.
This was a grand year for my peonies. You may want to try one of the new Itoh peonies. they stand up to the weather and seem to last considerably longer than the herbaceous ones. See my photo of Itoh peony Bartzella at https://johnsviccellio.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/dscn2195.jpg
OK, those are nice! Thanks for the link. We did see some Itoh peonies in Toronto – they had gigantic flowers.
The few peonies I grow were spectacular this year, prompting me to flip through catalogs to place my fall order for ‘America’, one I have also admired. I had rescued a husky ‘Krinkled White’ from destruction perhaps 5 years planting it in a rather challenging site producing only one or two weak flowers. This year — drop dead gorgeous! The only exception is a Tree Peony I have grown out here for about 15 years. I occasionally experience some die-back on that one but this year I only had 3 blooms low to the ground due to winter damage.
I know just how you feel — they contribute little to nothing to the environment, look terrible after wind and rain, but when they bloom in a good year — oh my!
The operative phrase being “in a good year”.
Well, the satanic magic is a little slower for me, as I live four hours north of Toronto (snort!), so mine aren’t actually open yet. As for the short lifespans of the flowers, they definitely do that here as well. I prefer to think of peonies (all perennials, but especially peonies) and good friends who come for a short visit every year.
Have you ever tried drying them? They look like carnations because they shrink, but at least you can enjoy them all year. The double ones, anyway.
Never tried drying them – good idea.
What a shame to miss your peony season. ‘Abalone Pearl’ is a lovely one. A couple of years ago the peonies were ruined by rain–depressing. But this year the weather was very nice for them and they bloomed well. I cut 6 or 7 buds and stored them in the refrigerator (need to check on them come to think of it).
Glad you had a good peony year.
I’ve staked too many peonies for other people to have them in my gardens. I do like them, but I like them better when they’re “over there.”
The kinds I have are not too much trouble, but I wouldn’t want to have a huge number.
Your peonies are lovely – I haven’t grown any for years, but there was a special on the herbaceous variety, so I ordered a few to trial in an area dominated by spring bulbs – the hope is that the peony foliage will cover the dying leaves of the bulbs. I’m not expecting flowers for a few years anyway!
I think you are right that Peonies mix well with bulbs.
Mine are blooming now, and I’m taking it all in. Not as many blooms as last year, though. I think the surrounding trees got their leaves a little earlier, which shut out the sunlight to the Peonies. The ones that bloomed smell fabulous, though.
So glad that your peonies waited for you to get back from Toronto!
Mine bloomed several weeks ago but only lasted about 48 hours. The blooms shriveled up as if the temperature dropped suddenly – but it didn’t. I’m not sure what happened.
That sounds very frustrating. With me it’s usually rain that ruins the show. They are supposed to be problem-free plants in terms of pests and disease.
I can’t help it – I love peonies. Mine are blooming right now and I shake the ants off and bring them in so I can enjoy the fragrance. 🙂
I can understand the attraction, even if I don’t feel it as intensely.
I must say I do love peonies, all these are heavenly, especially Peony ‘Abalone Pearl’! I find them to be exceptionally slow-growing, I have had one for years, each year it had one bloom, this year it has three and I knocked one off, cursing I was! Mine do last weeks though and close in the rain.xxx
Ours have been slow to start, but then seem to pick up steam. Could be a difference in climate.
AWESOME POST!!!
Thanks!
Our tree peonies are quite short lived but the herbaceous ones last and last. I am especially fond of the foliage.
It’s good for filling in an area after the spring bulbs are done. The foliage is nice, though foliage generally is not my thing.
As someone who grew up with peonies in Indiana, and absolutely loves the big fluffiness of them, and their divine scent, I believe you should enjoy anything you can get. In the desert, it’s a life with no peonies. Sometimes I see them in Santa Fe, and I run straight toward them, nose out. I don’t care if they’re a pain or they’re brief – oh, that wonderful smell!
That said, I’m sure you have tons of well-performing plants that bloom longer and smell just as wonderful. Peonies just happen to be my fav. You should plant whatever you dang want!!!!
Ah, so you are a Hoosier. Sounds like you miss peonies. But I suppose there is a lot of stuff in Albuquerque not readily available in Indiana. I agree with your sentiment about people planting what they want (except no invasives).
True! Except what’s invasive in one part of the country isn’t necessarily in another. I think people should be well informed before they plant anything.
Yes, I was a Hoosier! And lots of my relatives are in Chicago and Milwaukee…I think that’s why I enjoy your blog so much. It’s like a piece of home. Please keep up the good work!
I’m also experiencing peony frustration this year. As the buds on others’ peonies are getting fat and beginning to open, I have nary a flower bud on mine. Over the years, as I’ve added compost to the top of my sandy soil, the peonies have gotten buried further and further. I meant to lift them last fall to position the eyes near the surface, but I forgot. This bloomless year will should provide sufficient motivation for me to remember next fall!
Hello Jason, I probably have the world’s smallest peony. I got it as a bare root from the supermarket and each year, it grows to the exact same size of 10 cm high, three leaves and that’s it. It’s done this for the last three or four years. If it does it again, it’ll probably be the last time it does it!
Most of mine were great but a few need to be moved and I am adding more fragrant ones….some are in too much shade but they do OK….the constant rain had me cutting and arranging them.
Mine are also doing better in shade than I would expect.