peony question

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rubia16 Saint Cloud, MN Jun 29, 2007

I put in five peonies last spring and am having some trouble. The deep burgundy one and the pale pink one got very tall (not bushy at all) and produced one amazing bloom. That's it. These were both put in as starter plants. The pink sorbet one came up, but is only a small bush (to be fair, a rabbit did shear it off after it had only just come up last year-- I planted a tuber) and has produced nothing. The white one I put in at the same time as the pink and burgundy ones (from the same local nursery) is also only a small bush (the rabbits left him alone). And the other type of white (it says "ruffled white" on the tag) one has disappeared completely. That one was a very small started plant .

Is the trouble that they are very yound plants and will need more time before they really bush out and bloom, or have I done something wrong?

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Jun 29, 2007

Plants like that will often take a few years to really get established and start blooming well, especially if they were really small when you got them. And if they've had setbacks like being munched down by bunnies that certainly doesn't help. I'd protect them from the rabbits and give them a couple more years before you give up on them.

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WeeNel Ayrshire Scotland, United Kingdom Jun 29, 2007

Hi Rubia, your paeoney's need time to settle into there new area, they are hungry feeders and dont like to be burried under the soil too deep, they prefere to have just a thin layer of soil over the tubers, they will send DOWN roots into the earth as they mature, but they also like a good drink of water, I always add some plant food to the planting hole and some new compost as this helps them retain some moisture when I water and helps keep the tuber nice and plump. Once they have finnished flowering, cut off the flowers and stem down to the bottom, then allow the foliage to die down naturaly as this helps also to suply the tuber with some food and strength to produce nice big blooms for the following year, it is said that they dont like a lot of root disturbance so if you have to ever move them, you may loose the flower production the next year, but if planted again properly, they will soon recover and flower again, good luck. WeeNel.

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rubia16 Saint Cloud, MN Jun 29, 2007

Thanks for the encouragement! I will cut the ones that bloomed and watch to see what happens next year.

--Lisa

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