Tree Peony question

Has anyone ever planted a bare-root tree peony in a pot? I have one in the ground which is happy so far but bought a few more and I don't know where to plant them yet (impulse buy). So I read somewhere that they do very well for a few years in a large planter pot but I am a little apprehensive to do it, mainly if they will be all right during the winter here. If anyone has done this, I'd love to know your experience. Thanks-Brit

Never planted one in a pot before. Do you plan on leaving the pot outside all winter? Freezing and thawing ice could break the pot. Peonies do need a period of cold though. Someone else may know more about this and help with your question.

In addition to breaking the pot, being in a container tends to knock about a zone off the hardiness of plants. I'm not sure what zone you're in, but when you subtract off a zone that could put you near the lower end of its hardiness which is a little risky too. I'd probably sink the pot in the ground for the winter--that way you get better protection from cold but you maintain your ability to move it around later.

They are plastic planters right now (I planned to move them into bigger ones as they grow) I thought anything else than that might crack too. We are a zone 5-6 (moving on up due to the ozone) and I know they are hardy to -20-30 below zero (so says the info on it). That would be like a zone 3. We only get about -15 tops. Any kind of peony or even most bulbs need a certain amount of chilling hours to thrive. I read that keeping bubble wrap around the containers during a deeper freeze would protect them. My mom told me to sink them into the ground, as ecrane mentions, so maybe I will do that just to be sure, ALL 7 of them!!!!! My problem on Daves Garden is I never seem to find anyone who is in my region. Everyone seems to be midwest and west coasters. I saw someone post from Massachusettes and I almost teared with joy! Seriously though, its hard because unless you've toughed a northeast winter its hard to know about plant's hardiness. I just asssume so many things grow well in your warmer areas! As for pastime, I just noticed your zone 5a, so (I've never been to Illinois) do you have 4 seasons with a snowy winter? And I keep seeing people refer to their zones as a or b. What does that mean?

Actually, hardiness -30 only gets a plant rated as zone 4a, -20 would get you 5a. That's why I'm concerned that if you're in zone 5b-ish and can see temps of -15, in a pot exposed to the elements the plant may not be hardy.

The "a" and "b" are just ways of splitting the zones in half so you get a little bit more accurate sense of what can survive in your area or not. The "b" half of the zone is always slightly warmer than the "a" half (typically a full zone is 10 degrees difference in lowest winter temperatures, and the half zones are 5 degrees apart)

If you want to find more gardeners in your area, you might consider subscribing--there are regional forums that are open only to subscribers and there's one for the Northeast so you can find people who live near you (if you're not sure about the price of subscribing for a whole year, you can buy a subscription for a couple months for $5 or so and try things out to decide if it's worth it or not). But in terms of how useful people's advice to you is, I think anywhere in the midwest that's in a similar zone to yours will have similar temperatures, but unless they're right on the Great Lakes they may not have quite as much snow as you do. Having lots of snow actually helps you out, when a plant's buried under snow the cold harsh wind can't get to it and do further damage. So those people in zone 5 that get less snow than you may have it a little worse than you in terms of getting things to survive the winter.

We get lots of snow. I live about 60 miles west of Chicago. We also get bone chilling NW winds out here in the boonies. My tree peony is planted on the east side of the house and is protected somewhat from the wind. So far it's made it through 3 winters. I always buy plants rated for zone 4 just to be on the safe side. Tree peonys are so expensive, I would be afraid to leave it in a pot over winter at my location. You could try laying your pots on their sides so they don't get jammed with ice, and cover with leaves or mulch. A covering of snow should help also. Good luck. Let us know the outcome in the spring.

Diana

I think I will mulch the plants well in their pots and sink them into the ground. Hopefully they won't get waterlogged in the pots (that will definitely kill them!). Thanks for all your helpful advice everyone! -Brit

If your worried about too much water around the pots in winter where you sink them into the ground, then add some grit to the soil both under and around the pots as this will help with the drainage for the temporary spot for winter, also as you said, add a good bit of mulch on top of the soil when you plant them as this will act like a blanket for cold winters, dont pile it onto the stems though or it could cause rot to set in, soon as the frost/freeze is over, lift them out from the hole so they get warmed up easier, prepare the planting site well with well rotted organic matter when you do find the right spot and if they are grafted onto a root stock, you should make sure this joint is buried under the soil for them to do well. good luck. they are wonderful plants and can grow really big in the right spot. WeeNel.

Thanks Wee! While I am talking to a real Scot, I must ask you how much you know about heather! I have just "discovered it" being that it is very rare in the states (at least in the northeast!) But it is starting to pop up in nurseries lately, to my delight. I have acid soil and have just put in a few heathers last month. They look happy enough. I did post a thread about this before but no one knew anything about Scotch heather, only the Mexican kind, as I recall...have you ever grown this? There is only one distributer of heather that I know of and it is in Massachusettes and I checked Galloway Heathers in England, UK anyway- and they have a beautiful selection..so many lovely things come from your country and its such a shame we don't have easier access to them!

Hi Britbrighton, Brighton being a good old Scottish name, as you already have acidic soil then you should have no trouble growing any Scottish Heaths or Heathers, the Scottish name for Heather is Erica and a lot of our females are called by this name.
To geow them well, they like peat added to the soil and maybe a top dressing each autumn would also help them out, just lift up the stems/foliage and add it around the plants, each year after flowering, if you find the soil you have too wet, sticky, just add some horticultural sand or sharp grit to the soil to help with drainage. Snip off the old dead flowers to rejuvenate them for next year, when you prune/snip dont cut into the darker woody stem or it may not grow from that part again, same as Lavenders.
To get more plants, they are easy to take cuttings from, Just tug downwards from the stem some young side shoots with or without a part (heal) of the old stem, and pop them into a small pot with sand/peat mix, you do this around July to October, try to keep the pot soil just moist and only water if really dry, the cuttings should root within a few months, mist them now and again if the indoor air is dry too, I have better luck if I stick the cuttings around the outer edge of the pots as the soil dries out quicker when I need to water them, place a Polly bag over the pot helps too but stick a cane in to keep the bag off the cuttings, put the new cuttings outside in spring if you have cold winters or when they are about 3 inches high if you get mild weather. Or you can layer cuttings by pegging a stem into the garden soil till it roots then cut it off from the parent plant. good luck. hope this helps you out. WeeNel.

Thank you so much! That is very, very helpful. And just in time! I just got my shipment of eleven more heathers and my first try at Winter and Spring Heaths! I say my English roots are coming out! :)

.....I notice that a lot of info on heather says it should be grown on a slope/hill for drainage. I did NOT plant my heather this way, not even in a mounding garden. Is this going to be a problem? We DO live halfway down a mountain so that is technically a "slope", isn't it? We don't have any stagnant water problems. Do you think planting heather on flat land will kill it....?(I know we have veered off the main thread here!). Also, since my heathers are babies, I don't know what the effect will be in their maturity but I planted all my heathers along the sunny foundation of my house-Not in a freestanding garden. Is this going to look odd as they mature? They are among my azaleas, Rhodes, cotoneaster and Euonymous. Are heathers too wild-looking to be next to the house?

Your mountain would count as a slope, but what really counts is how level is the ground right where you planted your heathers. If it's flat, then you don't get the drainage benefit of being on a slope in that particular area. But if your flat land has good drainage then it shouldn't be a problem. (that's why they tell you to plant on a hill/slope because the drainage is better) However, the absence of stagnant water doesn't necessarily equal good drainage, so I'd look at what type of soil you have. If it's on the clay side you may have trouble and might consider putting them somewhere else either in a raised bed or on a slope.

Definitely NOT clay. Very good acid soil with lots of organic materials. I wonder if I can wait until next year to dig everything up and make a mound...

If your soil has really good drainage then you probably don't need to do that, I was just worried if you had clay soil.

Phew! I envisioned myself digging up my nearly fifteen heathers I have collected throughout the months and replanting. I just couldn't see how I would have made a mounding garden for my heather around already mature Rhodes and azaleas which have to stay ground level because of their mature size. Thanks for the tip.