Deadheading peonies & iris

Do you cut the brown shriveled up and dried flower heads off your peonies and iris once they are done blooming?
I'm curious....
Thanks
Tamberlin

To my knowlege you can take of the dried flower heads,off. But let the blubs feed themselves and grow for the next year. Let the foilage die naturally.

Yeah, good question. I've got seed heads (I think) on my peonies and irises.

I'd only save the seed heads if you're serious about growing the seeds as plants. Otherwise it's a drain on the energy of the plant.

I remove all deadheads on every plant as soon as possible. They are just not pretty. Peony foliage doesn't get cut until late fall, after a frost. Irises get cut back mid July.

Pirl, when you cut back your irises, do you cut the leaves down, or just the stems with the dried out flowers on them?
As for the peonies, I wanted to know if I should just cut down the stems... leaving the foliage for fall....
Thanks
Deb

Cut the stems back on peonies to where the leaves are or shorter if they're too droopy for you.

With irises cut the old foliage back to an 8" (fan shaped or straight across - doesn't matter). If there's nice new foliage I don't cut it back. Remove dead or dying foliage. YES, cut the stems back on old dried up blooms. It's the ideal time to transplant/divide if you want to or if they've become too crowded.

Ok, here's a question on dividing iris: If I divide now, not in the fall as planned (but most likely impossible due to my schedule), do I allow the roots i'm moving/giving away/etc. dry in the garage or do i plant them into pots for the meantime. I have quite a few iris and peonies that I'd like to give to my Mom for her garden.
Thanks
Tamberlin

Per radio's Ralph Snodsmith of the Garden Hotline, move peonies Oct. 15th.

If you wait until October to move irises it's almost, not quite a 100% guarantee that you will not have blooms next year but most of mine don't bloom the year after division anyhow. I think they hate me. I've moved them during bloom, after bloom, fall and they still don't want to bloom the next year. So that choice is up to you but while the ones you want to either move or give away are fresh in your mind I'd do it now. Plant yours in the spot where you want them and either put the others in a high trench or in pots but will you be labeling them? That's where my troubles always were - especially with ten varieties. If you just have two or three varieties you could write the name on a rock with a Paint Pen for each section and separate the sections with a brick, another rock, or whatever will stand the test of time. If you move them into pots a simple craft stick is a good label.

Do they sell a calendar that offers these tips printed on the dates that I can refer to every year at that time? These pointers are great Arlene. Thanks!

I don't know of such a calendar, Seandor, but just ask questions when you think of them and someone's bound to come up with an answer.

Harper, the exact time to do various garden chores is very dependent on your location. You should always check with your local extension for questions specific to your area. They really are a wonderful, underused resource. My agent is fantastic.

Mine could not be worse.

That's too bad. Complain, Pirl! Contact Cornell and let them know.

It's like batting my head into a wall when two of them live within three houses from us.

Ouch.

Contact my Cornell Extension... I believe I have the website for the Putnam County one.

Harper

I have the help of my buddy, Ralph Snodsmith, but thanks, Harper.

Ooops! Pirl, I was kinda talking to myself I guess, telling myself what to do... I think I gotta listen to Ralph more too!

Harper

Or get one of those perpetual calenders (or make one on MS Word) but then you still have to remember to look at it. I have all kinds of reminders but forget to check them.

Pirl - you said it -
i can make a thousand lists, but if i forget to look at them, what use are they?
* I tend to tape notes to the door, the computer monitor, toilet seat... anywhere to make sure I/the kids/the husband see it*

tamberlin

Even if I see the list and bring it with me it's just no guarantee I'll do what I'm supposed to do. It works better when I bribe myself with a cup of coffee as my reward or an early shower, etc.

Toilet seat?! That's a new one. I need one for my 5 year old that says 'Aim for the water!"

My aunt (who had 4 boys) used to put Cheerios cereal in the toilet and tell the boys to "Aim for the Target!"

On another note, if I wanted to save the seed pods from the iris and grow the seeds, what do you think the outcome would be (bizarre cross, nothing or maybe something interesting - I've never tried iris seeds before)? There are some pretty impressive looking pods on these things... almost as if the "Pod People" have invaded.

tamberlin,
I am not sure if iris seeds are true to the mother plant but I cut off the seed heads of iris, peony and anything else I don't want to propogate . It is waisted energy for the mother plant to make seeds if you are not going to plant them. If I do want to propogate them I only leave a few on the plant to get bigger more robust seeds and let them develop. I have always thought of letting things go to seed as a waist of the plants energy that it could be spending on a better root system or healthier foliage
laura
(who feels like she has "gone to seed " tonight)
: )

tamberlin - try it. You have nothing to lose and may get a nice one but with all those pods you'll have a LOT of seeds. We saved one pod last year and then carefully refrigerated it and promptly forgot about it at planting time in the basement.

Laura - I agree it is a drain on the energy of the plant but once in a while we can let loose and watch someone experiment.

I've gone to seed, too. Deadheading daylilies saps my energy.

pirl
don't get me wrong I experiment all the time! I have stuff all over the place when I want to propegate something I let a few seed pods develop so they are stronger and more likely to fare well and cut the rest
laura

Have no fear, I figured that out from the accurate way you spoke of draining the energy. Maybe someone's let me go to seed too often?

Pirl, do you think if I plant the seeds in the garage over the winter they will get enough of a chill? It seemed to work with the delphs and daylilies....
Tam

I'd check up on how to do it on Google. We refrigerated the pod (still there) and I think the book said it took a month - not in the freezer, just the refrigerator. I don't know how cold your garage gets or fluctuations in temperatures so I'd hate to say yes when it might not work for you.

pirl ,
me too! but it is fun to experiment what is the most challenging thing you have started from seed ? or cutting?
laura

Whatever was most challenging is probably dead! Meconopsis bloomed and then I found out I shouldn't have allowed it to bloom the first year. There never was a second year.

We tried a lot of T & M seeds that didn't work out.

Biggest success is always impatiens but daylilies are so easy.

Coleus is definitely my biggest success from cuttings - almost too easy.

I have tried so many things over the years but never daylily I will have to try it how long after do they get big enough to bloom? I have had success with clivia & plumeria from seed . the clivia are still growing in their new homes but the plumeria ultimatly died . I also did a plumeria cutting of petite pink that got too large for my house so I gave it to the local high school who in two years gave it to wellsley college and I believe it is still in their green house . I also root those sweetpotato vines they sell for containers at 3-4 dollars a pop they root in a glass of water in less than a week!
laura

An actual sweet potato was the first plant I ever grew. I was 6 years old and it was a school project. I still have the pretty little piece of pottery in which it grew.

Plumeria had to be brought in and it just got to be too much. They now reside at the dump along with Hibiscus. Clivia went to live in Florida. Phormium may depart, which is painful since it was a $50. plant last year and dwindled down to about 6". Color me guilty of zone envy at times.

I grew a sweet potato in first grade too! we had in the kitchen window, what fun! I guess thats about when I was first hooked on gardening! I hope they still have the time to do things like that in school!
laura

A while back on this forum people were questioning deadheading DLs because they felt it wouldn't encourage new blooms. I never got to respond and lost the thread. Glad to have the 2 of you straighten it out here. Deadheading won't help all plants keep blooming (it will help many). But it will help all plants redirect its energy (into the plant or bulb, if not into more blooms).Plus the plants and garden look better. I don't think we should be fanatics about anything, but I think the lack of cutting back and deadheading are 2 of the biggest mistakes gardeners make.

From year to year, you can loose plants by not taking care of them. Dead heading is one of the things on certain plants you have to do.

If daylilies are not deadheaded the spent blooms will still drop off but they'll attract earwigs galore. Yesterday I got 2254 deadheads but didn't finish today and stopped at 910 with a good portion of the back remaining and all of the front. It's so much nicer to look at and for photographs.

Pirl, I can't imagine! I keep my DL population down just in case.

I find my dantier DL drop thier blooms and seed pod better. My big guys drop them slower and the seed pod remains more often. That's my theory. Does it hold up?

Aren't peonies almost the same as rhodo's? If that is the case aren't you suppose to snap off that year's supply of buds for the next year? Just curious myself.

I snip peonies and snap rhodos.