{"id":2932,"date":"2012-10-04T12:00:51","date_gmt":"2012-10-04T16:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=2932"},"modified":"2012-09-28T16:33:44","modified_gmt":"2012-09-28T20:33:44","slug":"peonies-require-very-little-care-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2012\/10\/04\/peonies-require-very-little-care-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"Peonies Require Very Little Care Ever"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Lovely White Flowering Peony (P. lactiflora)<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

Grandma\u2019s peonies (Paeonia lactiflora<\/em>) are back in vogue. There are single- or double- flowered varieties. The single petalled types appear to Southern U.S. heat better (USDA hardiness zones 3-8).\u00a0May blooming peonies\u00a0come in red, pink, purple, yellow,\u00a0or white colors. Depending on\u00a0variety, plants grow 3 to 4 feet high and wide. Their large showy flowers attract\u00a0numerous pollinating insects.<\/p>\n

Many old\u2013timey varieties are as popular today as they were nearly a century ago. ‘Festiva Maxima’ (double white with red splash), \u2018Kansas’ (double red), ‘Raspberry Sundae’ (double light pink), ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ (double pink), and \u2018Seashell\u2019 (single pink) are some heirloom favorites.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Peonies are commonly planted as foundation shrubs because of their bushy appearance. They are long-lived perennials which take a year, sometimes two, to become established (bloom well). Shoots die back in late October and\u00a0can be\u00a0cut\u00a0away either fall or winter.<\/p>\n

Grow peonies in full sun and compost-rich soil. Prepare the soil deeply in advance, adding lots of peat and\/or compost. Afternoon shade is recommended in zones 7-b and 8.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Fall is the best time to plant peonies. Do not crowd peonies, spacing them 3 to 4 feet apart, according to the variety planted. Set the fleshy dormant roots, being careful not to bury the eyes more than 2 inches deep. Container grown plants may be set in spring or fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lay a\u00a02 to 3 inch organic mulch around peonies, using bark chips and not wood-based mulch. Irrigate peonies\u00a0during extreme dry spells. Do not splash water on the foliage and flowers;\u00a0overhead watering\u00a0may\u00a0initiate diseases such as leaf spots and botrytis. In late winter feed with granular 10-10-10 or equivalent fertilizer before peonies emerge from the soil.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Large double flowered types tend to fall to the ground after a hard rain unless supported by a special wire “peony\u00a0cage”. Place one or more wire supports above each plant\u00a0soon after spring growth starts.<\/p>\n

Peonies seldom\u00a0need dividing, which is\u00a0performed in the fall. Ants are not a pest on peonies and actually aid in pollinating the flowers.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re shopping for either old or new P. lactiflora<\/em> cultivars, check on-line at: \u00a0Klehm\u2019s Song Sparrow Nursery.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lovely White Flowering Peony (P. lactiflora) Grandma\u2019s peonies (Paeonia lactiflora) are back in vogue. There are single- or double- flowered varieties. The single petalled types appear to Southern U.S. heat better (USDA hardiness zones 3-8).\u00a0May blooming peonies\u00a0come in red, pink, purple, yellow,\u00a0or white colors. Depending on\u00a0variety, plants grow 3 to 4 feet high and wide. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[747,774,551,944,625,202,843,630,705,113],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2932"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2932"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2932\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3882,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2932\/revisions\/3882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}