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val_bliss

After bloom time

val_bliss
19 years ago

I've just moved into a home with an established peony bed that's about 40 feet by 3 feet. We moved into the home during bloom time last summer, and they were lovely.

The peonies take up about 1/3 of the bed in clumps throughout the length of the bed.

I want to add other things to the bed this summer, and I have a couple of questions.

What do you do with peonies after the bloom? Does the foliage remain for the entire summer. I want to plant some larkspur and taller varieties, and they will be much taller than the peonies.

What else do you plant in a peony bed?

I'm in southern Connecticut, Zone 6.

Many thanks, Valerie

Comments (4)

  • maifleur01
    19 years ago

    Most will have foliage all summer. The leaves are how they make the food to provide flowers next year. You may interplant with about anything. The only thing you need to worry about is acidity and if the roots are too close to the peonies.

    After blooming for a neater look cut the flower stems down to below the leaves. Watch your plants some will provide yellow to bronze to red autumn foliage if autumn cooling is long enough before freeze stops the process. You might want to mark which ones you like the best in case you wish to redo your beds.

  • ego45
    19 years ago

    You may plant anything that wouldn't need a frequent, and better not at all, divisions, as Peony don't like their roots to be disturbed.
    For that reason bulbs (daffodils for before and lily for after the peony bloom) are not suitable.
    Depends on a layout of the bed you may consider to plant group 3 clematis and let it grow without support i.e. meandering 'free style' in a bed.

  • maifleur01
    19 years ago

    Sorry, I'm a let nature take its course. I don't divide my bulbs. My answer was based on your statement that the peonies are in clumps. you would not plant right next to the peonies at least a foot or more away. There was a speaker several years ago that advocated planting lily's close enough to the peony but far enough from the roots that the lilys pushed through the foliage of the peony which supported the lily and gave additional flower time to the foliage. Most annuals without an extensive root system could be planted in and around the peonies. There are also books on companion planting and cottage gardening which you can get some ideas from. If 2/3 of the bed is free area experiment.

  • kimjeffries2010_yahoo_com
    12 years ago

    After the blooms fall off, the "seed looking' mass that is left, are they seeds that can be replanted? They look like seeds....

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