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ants and peonies -- why?
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Posted by EarthlyDelights Z6 PA (My Page) on Thu, May 12, 05 at 8:49
| i'm new to peonies and notice ants, ants and more ant. there are only buds so far with blooms on the way. a friend told me they will get worse that ants will be almost embedded in the flower portion.
what is the reason for the ants? do they act as pollunators?
i'd appreciate any advise at all. |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: ants and peonies -- why?
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| The Heartland Peony Society has a FAQ section, and some of the questions are about ants. You might want to check this out. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Heartland Peony Society FAQs
RE: ants and peonies -- why?
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| The ants are attracted to the sweet juice of a bud about to open. They do no damage and are gone when the bud opens. If you pick a peony for the house ants will not be a problem. Al |
RE: ants and peonies -- why?
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thank you both for the information.
amulet, thank you for the web site, very informative. |
RE: ants and peonies -- why?
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| In fact its an old wives tale that peonies need ants to bloom or be pollinated by them. The eye buds are set in the late summer into fall for the upcoming year.The ants as someone mentioned, love the sweet nectar. If they persist after the flowers open, cut the stems and shake the flowers and the ants will fall out of them. |
RE: ants and peonies -- why?
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| Ants have this habit of liking sweets....and the wax coating on the bud is what they like. That's the only reason they are there....to feed. They do nothing for the bud's opening. On roses, aphids secrete honeydew....ants love honeydew...so the aphids secrete and the ants eat. Along comes a ladybug. Ladybugs like to eat aphids....but that's the ant's meal ticket...so they attack the ladybugs. See, they're not so dumb. |
RE: ants and peonies -- why?
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| When I cut peonies to bring in the house, I stick them upside down in a bucket of water for about 5 minutes to drive the ants out of the blooms. Works like a charm, and doesn't hurt the bloom a bit. |
RE: ants and peonies -- why?
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| flowerluvr thanks for that info, these flowers are so fragrant and i am having company on sunday, and would love to cut them and bring them in. the only problem, sooooo many ants inside the gorgeous flowers. i'll take your suggestion and soak them before putting them in a vase. i can't wait to get more of these beauties. i have them lining one side of my house, halfway up. would love to do the entire side in them and get some other colors. right now i have shades of pinks and white. i thought i had gotten some reds, but i guess they weren't marked properly. again, thanks for your help |
RE: ants and peonies -- why?
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Oh do I feel relieved to know that the ants won't gobble up my buds! I have been knocking them off each day and wondered how futile this seemed to be...Never had a peony bush before.
Let the blooming begin! |
RE: ants and peonies -- why?
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| My mother always said it was a co-op thing. Ants like the sweet peonie secretions and as they walk about and eat away at the waxy coating it loosens the the very tight cabbage-like blossom holders. I don't think it's required by the peonie for ants to be present, but I do notice that my peonies with the most ants bloom all at once and the blooms are fully opened, gorgeous and fragrant, whereas the peonies in a different area that gets regular bug treatments and thus no ants, bloom alot more sporatically. |
RE: ants and peonies -- why?
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| I read (somewhere...) that you pick the buds when they just start to show color but not opening just yet; when they feel kinda like marshmallows. The ants are easy to remove being on the outside only and the peonies last that much longer in the vase! BONUS! |
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