Peony not blooming.

I live in the Willamette Valley, Oregon. I have a peony that formed buds but did not open up, and the buds look dried out. The plant itself looks healthy. About ten years ago, at a different residence, I had the same thing happen. The plant is in full/mostly sunny location in a pot and is watered every 2 to 3 days, when the top of soil is dry but still slightly moist underneath.

Hi redrnqtr, your Paeony is suffering from what is called a physiological disorder which is caused by unsuitable growing conditions
Paeony's are hungry plants both for manures/humas and water, they really dont like the confinds of pots as they like to get their roots down into the soil, but the tuber part, has to be just about on top of the soil, I think being in a pot has caused it to be starved of both the things I have mentioned, for now I would cut the dead flower stems off as they will not flower now, dont cut the leaves off but let them die down naturaly as this puts energy back into the tuber for next years growth, then if you can, plant it into the garden, in a nice big and deep hole, fill the hole with manure/compost mixed with some of the soil from the hole, this will help the soil to retain some moisture, make sure that the tuber is almost visiable as they like to be baked/warmed by the sun, give it a good watering, and next year it should flower it's socks off, try not to disturb the roots as you replant. If you cant put it into the garden in a nice bright spot, then a real large tub might do, like a half barrel, as they need lots of room for the roots to expand and moisture to keep the tuber plump and healthy. the pots dry out really fast in summer for such a large tuberous plant to cope with the drynes and lack of neutrients the need the tuber is the hard bit that all the leaves and flowers grow from, the roots are undr this tuber. good luck, hope this helps. WeeNel.

I am new to this gardening forum stuff as well as new to gardening. I came online to find some answers and this was one of my questions. I purchased 2 paeony (paeonies?) this year. I totally madeover my front planting area. Last year I dug out all the clay soil left by our builder and placed top soil. This year I tilled that with several bags of miracle grow tree and shrub and 3-4 bags of manure compost. The area is approx. 20'X 4'. I had some drainage problems before and ran a french drain in the new area. One plant is on the left of the area and one on the right. On the left the paeony is starting to brown especially on the tips. I am having some yellowing of a hibiscus near this plant with leaves falling off. The hibiscus has shown buds, but no blooms yet. The paeony on the left looks healthy, but no buds or blooms. The area gets full sun 8am-5pm. I do water every night as we have been in a drought. My question is this. Is this a overwatering problem? Is it possible the new plants just won't bloom until next year? I read above and feel I planted them correctly. They may be even slightly higher than the soil level. I also have not mulched yet as I was adding several shrubs and flowers and wanted to wait until I was done. Does this make a difference. I know this may be alot but would apprecitate any advice you can give.

Sorry. It should read the paeony on the right has started to brown.

I'm not familiar with Miracle Grow Tree & Shrub--is it a fertilizer or is it a soil or soil amendment of some sort? If it's a fertilizer, then tilling several bags of it into the area sounds like it may have been too much, so it's possible some of the plants are suffering from fertilizer burn.

For the hibiscus, was it recently planted? Their leaves tend to turn yellow and fall off when they're transplanted or moved around too much, it's perfectly normal and the plant should recover fine.

Yellowing leaves can also be a sign of watering issues, either over or under watering, the way to tell which is going on is right before you would normally water, stick your finger down a few inches into the soil near the plants and see if it feels wet, if it does then you're watering too much, but if it seems really dry then you may not be watering enough. I would definitely put some mulch down, it will make it so you need to water less, plus it'll keep the soil more consistently moist instead of alternately soaking then baking and drying in the sun, even if you're giving plants the right amount of water, that cycle of soak/bake can be stressful and the mulch should help cut down on that a little.

And I wouldn't worry about whether the plants bloom this year or not, newly planted plants will often take a little time to get established, they focus on growing nice strong roots first and sometimes they may bloom the first year but sometimes they may not and it's not really anything to worry about. On the peonies though--you don't mention where you're located, but I think they need some winter chill to bloom well, so if you live in a warm winter climate that could be one reason why they're not blooming.

If Paeoney's are burried too deep, they are prone to flower failure, all they do is make more leaves at the expence of flowers, the right way to plant them, is by haviny the tuber, ( that is the fat swollen bit) just under the soil in no more, (MINE have been in the same spot for years and the tuber is now on show sitting on top of the soil) but the roots grow deeper under the soil, I, Like Ecrane dont recognise the Miricle Grow stuff, so If it is a plant feed, then you have added too much, if it is a ready mixed compost/soil with food added for you, then add to your own soil, then it should be OK, too much plant food can kill the plants by burning the roots/stems or any other part of the plant that it comes into contact with, for a feed all you need is a small handfull either scattered around the plant and forked into the soil, or at planting time, mix it into the soil as you backfill the planting hole, always add water after feeding as it helps to get it to the root faster. the yellowing and browning on the leaves are either too much feed and water, or not enough water and Ecrane has explaned how to test for watering, clay soil holds onto water and also gets a crust on it as it bakes in the sun, so if you have a crusted soil, then the watering you do will not get to the roots and runs off the top of the soil doing nothing for the plant roots, it is best to try and break up the crusting by either hand forking the top inch of soil or gentle forking with a large fork, just be carefull as you work close to the plants that you dont damage the roots. so check out the things that both Ecrane and I have sugested, hope this helps you a bit. WeeNel.

Thank you both for the insight. The Miracle grow is just a top soil. It is supposed to feed for up to 3 months. Since I wrote, the hibiscus has started to bloom. I think I was over watering. I am afraid I may not have fixed the drainage problem completely as the right end seems to hold more water. I will work on that or just water the right side less. I will check the tuber. I am not sure I noticed that when I planted. The top of thwe root ball is just above the level of the surrounding soil. I will take a look. Should I dig them up to check for the tuber? I thank you all for your help? Know anything about hydrangea?


Tapper

I know some things about hydrangeas--what problem are you having? If it's in the same full sun bed with the hibiscus and the peony that's the problem right there. I can't think of too many climates where hydrangeas will do well in full sun, most places especially if you have hot summers they need afternoon shade.

Well, originally I had planted them in the same bed. I realized my mistake after the first day. I was unfortunately going out of town and I quickly repotted them and had a neighbor water them They looked o.k. when I returned. I then planted them in the back yard where they get some morning sun and are shaded by some trees in the afternoon. If I do not water them everyday, the leaves and flowers wilt very quickly. I talked with someone who recommended I cut some of the blooms that were struggling in order to energize the rest of the plant. I did this and almost immediately the leaves became strong. The remaining flowers became somewhat stronger too. Now some of the leaves are being eaten by something--I cannot tell what, and the remaining flowers are dying/wilting. The leaves still seem strong. I feel as though they may still be getting too much sun and was going to try a northen planting, but I am afraid I have already moved them too much. I mulched around them, today and am hoping that will help. If I lose the blooms can I prepare for next year? Am I supposed to see new stem/bark growth. I can take a picture to show you their condition, but am new here and am not exactly sure how to download that on here, but I can figure that out.
Thanks,
Tapper

By the way I am in Zone 7 I think. Charlotte, NC

I would leave them alone for now. The initial transplanting was a bit stressful, many plants will stop blooming when you transplant them because they need to focus their energy on making strong roots so I wouldn't worry about what's happening to the flowers. If you've got them in a spot where they get afternoon shade then they should be fine so I wouldn't move them unless you have more problems with them there next year. If the leaves are still wilting a lot, then it could be that the tree is taking too much of the moisture, but if the leaves are fine (except for whatever's eating them) then the location is probably fine.

My peony did the exact same thing last year. But this year I had large beautiful blooms. I don't think I did anything differently, I put a little fertilizer on it when the blooms started to emerge. I heard they an be tempermental, and sometimes take a few years to bloom. Definately worth it, they are beautiful.

Hi Tapper, your Hydrangia, should be fine, it is still a young tender plant and has not had enough time to put down any roots yet, these are quite tough plants once established, do check that it aint too close to the tree roots as stated before, trees do take up a lot of moisture from the soil as they have a much deeper, stronger root system and well established, give your hydrangis as much compost/manure around the roots as poss as this will help to keep the soil moist for a wee bit longer, water as often as needed till it gets established, as regards new leaves amd stems, you might get some new growth this year but dont think it will flower, these shrubs flower on new growth made in spring, so what I do with mine, I leave all the dead flower heads on (once dryed, you can cut the flowers off and take them indoors for a dry flower arrangement or spray them for Christmas decoration silver/gold etc) I leave the flower heads on mine as I get heavy frost and it helps protect the plants from too much frost, but come spring, soon as I see new leaf buds appear on the stems, I cut off the stems and the dried flowers, cut them down to about 8/12 inches, then all the energy will go into making new stems and flower buds on the spring growth, they will flower on this new strong healthy shoots, give them a plant feed forked into the soil after you prune them as they are hungry plants, you can buy Hydrangia feeds form garden shops, but I just use a general multipurpose feed for them, I also have an acidic soil which they seem to prefere. As for your Paeoney, I would leave it alone as they dont like a lot of root disturbance, they are not too tempremental, just try get it right at the start, mine have been in the grownd for about 20 years in the same spot and been planted around/behind etc as I change my border schemes from time to time, I am trying out tree paeoney's from last year and so far no flowers yet, but you have to be patient with gardening and some plants need time to make roots before flowers, so long as they seem healthy and green, they will eventually perform for you. so good luck and happy gardening. Weenel.

Thank you all for your help. It is really great to have a forum like this for beginners like me. I will take your advice and be patient. I just didn't want my wife to kill me for killing the 2 hydrangia I bought in a short time. I will look ya'll up again if I run into any problems... and if you know me, I will.

Hi WeeNel,
I started this thread in June, and haven't had a chance to come back to the site until today. Thank you so much for your reply! I am trying to put a newer home in on my dad's place, hope to have it in by the end of summer, and so should be able to plant in the ground! Is the fall a good time to transplant the Paeony? It's hard to say, but I think it would be a couple of months before it gets really cold. (Who can predict the weather?) We have evenings that get below freezing in the winter, but the days are usually in the forties. Thanks again for your help, this is a wonderful site!

In your climate fall ought to be a great time for planting just about anything. So unless peonies have some sort of weird requirements you should be fine.

Ecranes right on, again, fall is the best time to replant, in fact, best time to plant trees, shrubs and many plants that will wilt before your eyes if moved or planted in summer, spring is also good before the heat gets the soil, too dry and warmed to the extent it crusts over, IF your at all worried about the Paeoney and the shallowness of the planting of the tuber, as I said, they dont flower if too deep under the top soil, but you can always add an extra layer of mulch to help it through the worst of the freeze, then as I told you to mark the spot with a garden cane, it will be easier to remember the Paeoneys, and remove some of the mulch come real spring and the sun will heat up the tuber, remember to add manure/feed to the soil as they are hungry feeders, good luck, hope you have prize winning flowers for next year, these plants really give their all if happy. Weenel.