Perceived Peony Problems

As we slide into November and are waiting for our peonies to arrive from our supplier and ship out to you, I can feel a small sense of panic among those of you who have ordered in colder climates. So I want to spend a few minutes both reassuring you and giving you a strategy or two to push through that sense of impending frozen ground doom. First the biological argument.

Peonies are a plant that requires cold. If a plant doesn’t receive a minimum of 6 weeks in soil temperatures lower than 42F, it very likely won’t flower in the following season. Which is why you won’t see peony plants or farms in places that remain warm all summer, and why they do so danged well in Alaska, Maine, Wisconsin, and other cold spots.

The other biological concern is harvesting the bare root at the end of the season. You really want to wait until it is all the way done and the leaves have died before you dig it up and divide it. Which means you’re going to wait as long as you can in the autumn so you make sure you’re sending a product that is healthy and well-managed.

So how do you make it work when you’ve got late moving peony root product and ground that freezes early in the season? There are a few different ways, but I’ll give you my favorite two:

1. Dig and cover.
   When we lived in Maine, zone 5b, I wouldn’t even start planting my bulbs and roots until right around Thanksgiving. Rarely did the ground freeze before late December, but even in the cold years, I could dig through November. If I was feeling antsy about digging the spots where I would plant my late arriving peonies, I’d dig them now and cover them with leaf mulch to make sure they stayed soft and plantable. When the roots arrived, I’d clear the mulch, drop the root in, cover it up, water it in, and move that mulch back over until spring.

2. Pots.
   Every peony you’ve ever seen in a garden center is in a pot. So you, too, can pot your peonies! I like to put mine in pots for a year here on this farm because it is so danged wet over a winter that they just rot in the ground. So I grow them on until they’re a little more established and then I plant the whole thing out with active roots, which can handle the water we get. Peonies make great planter plants too, if you want something big and blousy. For a smaller root that I’m just planning on keeping in the nursery for a year, I’ll choose a 3 - 5 gal pot, depending on the root size. If I’m planning on keeping it in a pot for a long time, I’ll go bigger, knowing that it will need room to stretch its legs and put on root growth. Either way, water them in and let them sit outside all winter long. Snow is an insulator, don’t forget!

So if you’re in a spot that is getting cold fast, try not to worry about a late planted peony. Dig those holes now, or stock up on nursery pots, and you’ll be just fine.