I love peonies. To me they're like lilacs and roses, classic flowers. They take up a little space, but if you put a support ring around them, they'll stay upright and beautiful. What color are your peonies? Mine are white with red edges and I like to put them with roses, lavender and dutch iris. Also they do well with annuals like cosmos and zinnias. I'm sure other perennials would look good too, as long as they didn't crowd the peonies. I'm hoping to add rozanne geraniums this year and maybe some tall lavender phlox :)

Do you plant right in the clump or adjacent? I'm assume large perennials are adjacent. I'm thinking of something that would grow up through the peony leaves, like morning glory on a climbing rose (I'm trying that in the spring).

I've let my peonies flop and caged them. I like them both ways. However, it's easier to cut the lawn if I cage them. :) I have pink, white, and the one I just transplanted is red/pink with a yellow centre.

Your peonies sound very pretty! I've never heard of planting a perennial in the peony, but I'm no expert :) You might want to post this question on the perennial forum, too. It seems like there are more people over there lately, and many seem to be from this forum.

I would not plant anything in the peony. I would also not plant annuals too closely, especially while the peonies are forming their roots. Let's just say I had an unfortunate incident doing this. I would plant something to co-ordinate for the long term. The morning glory might be neat, but it might also rob the peonies of sun, etc. in their formative time. What about Explorer or Morden roses; maybe some campion, which is gangly on its own, but will make a gorgeous companion plant. Lots of choices for perennials that you can use!!

Nancy.

How much space do you have for the area? 6 full-size peonies can take up quite a bit of room. I have salvia planted with my peonies and they bloom together. Behind my peonies I have asters and in front chrysanthemum that I keep cut back pretty hard, so I have some interest during the fall. The asters and mums look nice when the peony foliage gets its nice, bronze color. I had also planted tons of oriental and asiatic lilies around the peonies which was great, but I was allergic to the orientals and beetles and chipmunks had their way with the asiatics, so I gave up on both.

There are lots of choices of perennials and annuals. You may just have to experiment based on the amount of space you have and what you think might complement the peonies nicely both during and after bloom.