My peony twig

14 years ago

So, my wife loves peony but did not think we could grow them down here in southeast Texas. But Park Seed had the itoh Singing in the Rain on sale, so she went ahead and bought one.

It arrived in a 3" pot with one 14 inch twig. There were two brown but not entirely dead leaves on the poor twig. I dug a 2 ft hole and amended the clay soil with composted manure and leftover soil from my raised garden beds.

Most of the internet sites focused on bare root plants and what little info I found said to plant the peony even with the existing container soil line. I did that, but this leaves the "crown" of the plant sticking out of the soil...

So for the peony experts, is there a decent probability that my twig (er, my wife's twig) will actually grow?

Thank you,

Gregg

Comments (4)

maifleur01
14 years ago
A peony of this type generally does not have a stem with leaves coming from it. You should plant as a regular herbaceous peony. A root this small should probably be planted with the crown just below the surface of the soil. If your plant lives you will know when new leaves appear next spring. Most of this type of peony will grow from a piece of root so it will probably make it but will not bloom for several years unless you really feed it well.
intersectionalpeony
14 years ago
Your plant is a clone grown from tissue culture (TC).
This is not a problem. However, the young plants are fragil the first year or two. Carefully monitor moisture during the year. TC plants can dry out easily due to their small roots. I suggest some protection from the sun until the plant gets a couple of years old (not heavy shade). I have about 50 TC plants. Some 4 years old. I still have 9 of the 10 TC "Singing In the Rain" I purchased in 2008. The 3 I purchased from Select bloomed this year (much to my suprise).
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montgomery_tx
Original Author
14 years ago
Thank you Intersectionalpeony and maifleur. Sorry for the very late response but I apparently did not set my settings for response notification.

The peony root is alive and has sprouted. If I can figure out how to post pictures, I will.

I have no idea if I will get any blooms, but it's been fascinating to watch this northern plant growing in the gulf coast region of Texas!

Gregg
maifleur01
14 years ago
It may take a couple of years depending on the age of the roots that you received. Given the odd weather you may have problems with the chill hours in some years but perhaps not this one. Keep us advised and post pictures when it blooms.