How deep did you plant them? Roots should be at least 4-6 inches below the soil so that the stem will develope it's own roots. Feed with a general fertilizer 10/10/10 or something similar now and again after frost. Put mulch 3-5 inches deep around plants this fall. Can be tree leaves.

How deep is your shade? Your tree peonies are a dark red so planting in some shade will lengthen the time the petals stay on the flower but too deep of shade will not allow the plants to build enough energy to survive. Do not expect them to bloom next year. It sometimes takes a couple of years for a tree peony to bloom.

Another thing and this depends more on your climate and soil. Here I have a problem with the plant appearing to be dead either the first or second spring. Do not bother the plant. No moving the stem to see if still alive. The stem I think dies back into the root area then has enough strength to form a new shoot. Most will live on that new shoot but I have had a couple that took more time to become stable. The wait is hard but teaches patience.

Gingersnap,

I am not familiar with a tree peony named Yakumo. I have another that I purchased under a similar name. It is Yagumo. For the life of me I cannot find a photo of the bloom. I may be on my other computer. The flower is reddish purple. I will see if I can find a photo of the flower.

I just remembered that I took a photo of the bed it is in this spring and copied a section of that photo so you can see the structure of the overall plant. Yagumo is the dark red/purple in the center of the photo.

Leon

Leon,

Yakumo is an alternate spelling for Yagumo. I had thought it was so checked Carsten's site to make certain.

Sorry Guys,

I really blew it. I went to the peony bed later to verify that the photo was correct and sure enough it was not. I was at the office when I posted that photo and took the plant placement from the schematic that I have on my computer. I drew up the schematic several years ago and thought I drew it from the east side. That particular plant in the photo is not Yagumo; It is Hana Daijin. Yagumo is in the same place but on the west side of the bed. I will try to find a photo of it later.

Again, very sorry for the confusion.

Leon

Mai Fleur,

By the way. The peony inside the wire ring is P. handel-mazettii. I had the wire cage filled with mulch during winter. The plant is about 2 feet tall now.

Leon

So is one of mine the other one I did not plant until very late and at that time one of the roots showed rot. I keep hopeing it will come up.

On a side note I came accross some peony seeds I purchased at the APS meeting last year and one of the envelopes was handel-mazettii. The packages are in the frig will plant after giving them a good cool spell. As usual I seem to have better luck with germination doing things backward. cold, heat, then winter chill.

Peonyman, why do you have your plant caged as in the above photo? We have deer, groundhogs, rabbits, and other various plant eating wildlife, and it seems that the peonies are the last thing they eat - in fact, I don't think they eat the peonies at all, but that could be because they are so focused on dining on all the yummy hostas and impatiens...

This time of year the fawns are starting to move around and they will taste everything. They will generally spit the plant out but by then the damage is done. If you notice the one in the ring came from a rockgarden person from Oregon to a friend of ours. He had too many so he shared. The plants came fairly late so the ring and mulch was to protect from early sprouting and baby bambies until this plant becomes woody. This peony is fairly rare in this country so trying to establish it is very important.

This is my first time posting since I joined. I would like to know if someone could lead me in the right direction. I recently had a neighbors girlfriend run a stolen truck rampidly thru my flower gardens. I am at present putting together a list of damaged plants and hardscape to turn into the insurance company., otherwise to small claims court. I need to know if their is a site that I can go to that would actually give a dollar amount for peoniy bushes according to the years of age of bush or number of eyes.I need this to use in order to try to evaluate the replacement cost of my peony plants that were my mothers and are around 50-60 year old peony bushes. I know it take years to get these plants to this size if you start with a peony bare root with 2-3 eyes. These bushes have approximately 50 blooms or more on them. How can I determine an accurate price. I know this is a hard question to answer because some peonies are more expensive then others, but I need a general idea.Please help.Most of them are older peonies like Festiva Maxima, Felix Crouse, Karl rosenfield, Raspberry Sundae and such. I am currently also working on an estimate for the tree peonies and other plants she destroyed. Any suggestions. Does anyone know any experts in the peony world that could also give me some advise. So upset about this, need gardeners advise and thoughts. Thank you.

Couple of suggestions. If you remember where you purchased the plants and they have a website check out the current prices then go to another seller and check out their prices. If both have catalogs ask for a copy of each to show the adjuster. Same for the tree peonies. However unless the truck dug the peonies out they should come back next year. So insurance company is unlikely to pay you anything and a judge that knows plants would probably laugh you out of the court. If the damage actually dug the plants out of the ground and the damage prevented you from rescue then you may have a claim. It depends on the state if you could access the plants and replant and you did not I doubt if you would have any claim. But that is between you and your insurance/court.

On tree peonies it would be good if you had a picture to show how large they were. But again if the tops were just damaged and the plant returns even though smaller again for several years you may not have a claim except for mental anguish.

I am sorry you had this happen but the damage at least to the peonies is probably not as bad as it appears since they are hardy plants. If they weren't very hardy you would not have the 50-60 year old plants.

If any of the broken tree peony stems have buds on them you could try cutting off all of the foliage and sticking a freshly cut piece into moist sand. The piece should probably be no longer than six inches or less. If you have the touch it could root and provide a new plant.

Thanks for your advise. I have been researching prices and looking thru all my garden pictures. A tree peony is not suppose to have its branches removed by 95%. She scalped it. I am at a great loss since it takes years for a tree peony to reach maturity. Yes, the hostas and herbacious peonies should come back next year. I will probably have to take a loss on my personal anguish, discust and not to mention all the personal labor time it took to grow these plants and nursher them to the sizes they were when they were run over and destroyed. I hope all comes back in 2011. If not, I will be at a great loss and it will be too late. I should not have to go thru this because of the neglect and irresponsibility of one underage driver. Thanks again.

Tree peonies can be trimmed or even cut to the ground and they can emerge again. I know of one guy in Cut Bank, Montana who normally has his tree peonies die back then come up again from below ground. I have one tree peony that has been eaten off, stepped on and broken off below ground and is today a very nice plant. Any new stems should come up late next spring perhaps as late as July. So all may not be lost.

As far as the idiot driver has she expressed regret for what she has done? Are her parents the type to have her take responsibility? If they are and you feel she would not do damage to your plants perhaps a little manual labor could be in her future. The real idiot is the person that allowed her to drive.

The only other thing is if the insurance company will do a partial settlement now and the rest next summer.

It does really hurt when you see all your careful work and planning torn up. But now you have a chance to perhaps change the position of a plant that was just not in the right spot.

I am very surprised to hear that a tree peony can be cut to the ground and emerge again. I have been told otherwise. I have one other tree peony that the neighbors dog has broken off two of the bottom branches and they emerged the next season from the ground as a herbacious pink bloom, the tree peony was red. I was told that they are not to be cut back this drastically. I still have not been able to get my hands on the police report as they say they have not finshed with it. I do not let any gardeners in my gardens except me. I know all my plants and their locations and do not want an unresponsible, unknowledeable person touching my gardens. She nor her parents have not even called me. I do not know the young lady and the police department said they can not give me any info until the report has been finished. Hope the judge our insurance adjuster is a gardener. Still trying to research the actual value of tree peonies that are between 5-8 years of age after planting. Some of my new peonies have not even wintered over yet, and they are planted about 2" below the soil level. They were not meant to survive have a car tear over them and rip up the soil. I will be very upset if my mothers peonies are reuined, they have been in the family for 50-60 years.......with nonbody driving on them. Thanks for your help.

The girl's family has probably been told by the insurance company not to contact you. This size of tree peony rarely comes on the open market as this size is considered a landscapers plant.

Could you put a list of the tree peonies on here? Between Peony Man, Davein Ohio and myself we could help. Or perhaps there is a landscaper that lurks on here could provide trade information.

Thanks for the help. As to date, still have not been able to get a copy of the police report. The two tree peonies that I am talking about are both Hoki. One had about 8 bloom the other about 20 blooms. I researched the price thru our local garden centers and on the internet. The going price for a replacement in a 2 gallon pot is anywhere from $24.99-$49.99. Unfortunately, mine are older and I do not have the receipt. Most plants are only quaranteed for the first year. I believe one of the tree peonies I planted about 5+ years ago and it already was about a 3 year old plant; the other has been in my yard for about 8 years and had the twenty blooms because I started with a larger bush. I need the actual value for the replacemnt cost of these, not starter tree peonies. I did not even mention about the new Itoh peony I just purchased "Singing In The Rain" for $80.00. This has only been in the ground a couple months. I am worried about the damage to the eyes. Top of it was tore off also, not sure about underneath. My mothers bushes were all about 50-60 years of age. The probelm is: When she drove thru the yard, her truck must have hung up on a decomposed tree stump which I had behind the one tree peony. She had to take off hard to get out of the garden since the ground was wet from all the rain we have recetly been having which caused her to tare up the top of the beds and surrounding area of grass. I need to get my facts straight and prepared this year in case they want to settle soon. I know I will have to wait till next year on the herbacious peonies, but it could be too late for a claim then. Thanks again. By the way, I haven't even mentioned all my perennials that she destroyed also. My beautiful new iris that were just planted in July. I hope the court will be gracious enough to consider my labor for removal and replacement of any plants. I have asthma and the hot weather around here has been unbearable. By the way, does anyone know of a website that sells decomposed tree trunks. I need a replacement cost for it. One does not find them in the local garden center and I am too old to try to go marching thru a woods to get a new one. I paid for this one and for it to be brought to my house. This lady that had the woods has passed on and her children have sold her land. Thanks so much.

Easier said than done. Franklin Chow's company in Pennslyvania has larger Hoki's for $75 up. However to ship I believe they would have to be reduced in size. There is a company in San Jose that had older peonies but their site is not working well tonight, or my pc is dying again. http://www.4peonies.com.

Perhaps someone you know is taking their child to Penn State or the area close if so ask if they would pick it up for you. That way trimming could be kept to a minimum.

For the stump you might put an add on Craigslist asking for a free stump that could be delivered. I would only put that someone drove though your yard and you would like a replacement stump delivered because you are unable to pick it up. I see all kinds of things there.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pennslyvania peony nursery

Thanks again for the reply. I realize that it will be costly to order a larger Hoki and have it delivered. I do not know anyone in Pennsylvania. I'll try the web site you suggested to use as a reference for when I put in my claim. Anyone that grows tree peonies knowthat it take along time for them to reach mature sizes. With patience and excitement being the key. I hate the thought of having to start all over with the new smaller ones. The older I get the time goes by faster. These plants will most likely outlive me eventually. I am old fashioned, I do not want or never have used Craig list and such. My mother always said be careful what you ask for. Heaven only knows who is at the other end and what they really want. I try to keep my life more private. I find peace and privacy in my gardens. I only garden for myself and not any garden awards or show. I should not have to be the one looking for this old stump, if she did not run over it...it would still be here. I just needed a value to put on it for the claim. I will wait and see what they plan to do about this. If you want to know what happens, just put up a post, otherwise I will not bother anyone anymore. It looks like I have to wait till the insurance or small claims court lets me know how they will handle all of this. Only us gardeners know how much time, money and hard work we have put into our gardens. Thanks again for your suggestions and time.