Hi Glad,
On the issue of smallness, two possibilities occur to me.

Many peonies need several years to hit their stride. Time will cure that. Hopefully this year or next you will begin to see an improvement.

On the other hand, how deep did you plant the peonies? Were the bud "eyes" planted about 1 in. below the soil line--or no more than 2 in. below the soil line? If you planted them deeper, they will have blooming problems and might need to be re-planted higher up.

As to smell, I'm not sure all peonies feature fragrance. And ants aren't essential for bloom, so I wouldn't worry about that.

Maybe someone else will have some other advice.

Kate

Hi Kate,
Thanks for the pointers. i have always loved peonies but have never grown them, so I am new at this. Yes, I did not plant them very deeply (I worried if I planted them too shallow).
I just thought ants were a necessity for the flowers to open. since they are antless, I guess everything is fine. I guess I'll just wait and see how they do this year.

Glad, the other thing that occurs to me is that peonies may not grow to well in Zone 7. They are northern plants--need a cold winter. I don't know what the weather patterns are like in your zone (it would be nice if a Zone 7 poster would come by), but I was under the impression that my zone (Zone 6) was about as far south as peonies like to grow. I have seen nursery catalogs make a special note that a particular peony (Festiva Maxima, for instance) is one of the few that can be grown successfully in the "hot South."

Do any of your neighbors grow peonies? That might tell you something.

I don't know for sure about this, but it is something to consider at any rate.

Hope you can grow them--they are so gorgeous.

Kate

Hi, Gladgourd...

I can't answer your question about your bloom problem, but I can tell you that peonies DO grow in Zone 7. I grew them without a problem when I lived in NC, and they're all over my new neighborhood in VA (still zone 7). I brought four with me, and only one bloomed this year...I'm hoping it's just a matter of the plants getting adjusted to their new home. A peony that I got from my ex-husband's parents' house many years ago took at least three years to bloom after I planted it in my garden. Could be that's all that's wrong with your plants...Good luck!

How much sun do they get? Are they mulched and free of competition for nutrients and water (i.e. no trees or other large plants too near?)

glad,

I may be a tenderfoot and new to most gardening. But I have grown heirloom peonies for years with great success in zone 7. I just stuck the root cutting in my MD clay soil and it has bloomed and expanded. the plant needs to be divided periodically. it will get crowded and get a leaf fungus.
The first year or two, or even three, it may not bloom, because of disturbance, so you have to be patient. and it's usually well worth the wait!

They bloom in May here in zone 7.

They like full sun! Watering recommended. Trim off the blooms when they die off. In the fall (about October in zone 7), trim the foliage to leave about 4 inches of stem. Mulch for protection over the winter.

for replanting, plant shallow but still covered. as Kate said above, the eyes do need to be covered, but not too deep.

As for the small blooms, could be the variety. there are over 300 prize varieties that were grown on a property nearby me.

As for ANTS - they do absolutely NOTHING to help or hurt the plant. It's a myth that that ants are needed to open the buds. they just like the sticky, sweet coating. and they do not harm the blooms at all.

Good luck, be patient!

K

Hi all,

After having said that I have had success in growing peonies from root cuttings and splitting, does anyone know if peonies can be successfully grown from seed? and how?

here's where my "tenderfoot" comes in - I only know about my 2 successes. and I am now grateful to my new MAG friends for starting me out with new ventures.

Thanks,
K

Yes they can be grown from seeds but do not expect a duplication of the parent plant.

Curious because I like to visit peony plantings are the peonies you mentioned above in a public or private garden? If public could I have name and city to add to my list.

Maifleur,

Currently, what is left of the original prize garden is located at Seneca Creek State Park in Gaithersburg, MD, so that is public. As I said, they bloom in May, now at different stages.

Unfortunately, when the Park acquired the property in 1963, they were unable to give the gardens the same degree of maintenance of the original prize gardener.

There is a small garden patch where many of the varieties have been preserved, maintained by park volunteers. There is a field, not maintained, and :( :( , has been used as a parking lot for a once-a-year park event, but mowed in the Spring for walking paths, when the plants bloom.

Anyway, beautiful, but small.

bummer about growing from seeds. I have a really beautiful cut bloom from a friend of mine, and was hoping to try and grow from the seeds.

Thanks,
K

You can always ask for a root or if it is a tree peony try to graft a cutting in August or September. Do a search on peony grafting.

Sometime the plants from seed are better than the parent plants some times worse. I you friend allows the seed pods to stay on an ripen you can try growing. Seed pods split when ripe.

I dug up a peony from moms property after she passed cause I wanted that part of her that she really loved and talked about those peonies. The first year after I dug them up and planted in my yard they did a yeomans job and neighbors just couldnt resist coming over to look at those huge flowers but the next year they didnt do well at all. But today I noticed that ants were all over the bulbs so it will be interesting to see how they do. I say they will do well and the ants are needed for that purpose.

There seems to be a difference of opinion in whether the ants are needed for the flowers to do well. Im guessing the bulbs produce a liquid that is sweet to draw them in the first place. Maybe its kinda like which came first "the chicken or the egg"

On your question about peonies producing seeds, yes they do. Several years ago I found several seed pods on my yellow Tree Peony High Noon. Next to it is a old fashioned peony with the Japanese form single white flowers. There are several other plants nearby but I think that was the most likely cross thanks to the bees. I now have 5 babies in their 4th year all acting like the old fashioned white by dying completely down in the winter. So basically I now have my own Intersectional Peonies. I am making a point to feed these babies well in the hope that at least one of them might bloom next year. Two of them have a branched stem versus the single baby stem. It will be interesting to see what color they are. Wish me luck. Janice

Good luck, Janice! Post pics if they bloom this year, I've wondered if anyone accidentally got their own Itohs via cross-pollination!

On the ant front--I actively discourage ants by broadcast spreading used coffee grounds in the mulch around my peonies. The ants stay away and I can cut blooms to take inside without ants infesting the house. I have over 90 varieties of peonies and have never had a problem with blooms not opening with no ants.

As I mentioned in a previous post I dug up my peonies from my moms yard after she passed . I dug up the whole mass dirt and all and planted it in my yard. I now think it has been 5 years since I did this and it has done ok in pushing out bulbs untill this year which has seemed to explode in bulbs, really uncountable. The last couple of years I made a point of getting all of the weed out and adding a bit of worm castings and mulching, the mulching really helped in keeping the weed out. So for those that have them planted you just have to be patient and dont give on the them, they will come.