Peonies are one of those early flowers that delight us with bright colors, when many plants are just waking up after winter rest. Lush bushes with large flowers decorate any area, and cut buds in a vase refresh the interior of our homes for a long time. Today we will tell you how to grow peonies from seeds and how to care for them.
How to plant tree peony from seeds?
Most often, tree peonies, as well as herbaceous peonies, are propagated by scioning, cuttings or dividing the bush.
In this case, planting is carried out in early autumn. However, many gardeners wonder how to properly plant a tree peony in the spring. This can be done if you use seeds instead of a seedling. True, this method is longer, more troublesome, and also less reliable. The germination rate of peony seeds is quite low, and the first flowers on a seeded peony can be expected no earlier than in 5-6 years. Peony seeds ripen around September - early October. The slightly open seed pods will tell you that they can be collected. Before you start sowing, the seeds should be dried for three days. Then they are placed in loose fertile soil to a depth of about 3 cm. This must be done before the first frost, and if the soil is dry, it is recommended to water it abundantly. Before the onset of full winter, the sowing site must be covered with leaves or spruce branches.
Although some seeds may hatch in the spring, you shouldn’t count on it too much. The bulk of what is sown will come up in the second or third year. If you do not want the space in your garden where seedlings should appear to be empty for two or three years, you will have to subject the seeds to temperature stratification. To do this, they are planted in a pot and left to winter outside. In March, this pot with the seeds planted in it is taken into the house and stored at room temperature. With the onset of warmth, the seedlings can be transplanted into open ground. Having undergone such hardening, the seeds should produce a much higher percentage of seedlings than with the conventional method.
You can also learn how to properly plant peonies in the spring from a specially prepared video.
Why are peonies rarely grown from seeds?
Peonies are rarely planted from seeds. This is a labor-intensive, painstaking, lengthy task. This requires skills and experience.
Physiological characteristics of the plant that you need to know before starting work:
- The seeds do not germinate well. The reason for this is a hard shell and a weak embryo that finds it difficult to break through it.
- Low ability to absorb nutrients from the soil.
- Of the germinated seeds, only a fifth of the seedlings will have decorative properties.
- The need for long-term stratification of seeds before sowing - alternating exposure to warm and cold temperatures. This is necessary in order to activate the growth point.
- Very slow growth. Plants add several centimeters per year, and begin to bloom for the first time after 4-7 years.
- Some varieties do not produce seeds.
Tree peony is difficult to grow from seeds, even if you immediately start germinating freshly harvested seeds. They germinate only in the second year. They bloom after 7 years.
For growing from seeds, usually herbaceous types of peonies are used: milky-flowered, evasive (Maryin root), thin-leaved, black, wild. The seeds have a shell that is not as thick as that of the tree peony and is better able to germinate. They bloom in 4-5 years.
Caring for peonies in autumn
Pruning mature plants
There is no point in postponing the process until spring - soft shoots are worse to trim, and it is not very convenient to protect them from freezing. Cutting the stems early will weaken the bush; when the leaves wither, it’s time to start growing it. The most appropriate time is after the first frost (late October-early November), when the stems bend toward the ground. They are cut with pruning shears flush with the ground.
Peony pruning
Watering
On the eve of winter, abundant watering of the root area is necessary. It is advisable to combine it with feeding, especially in cases where the mineral substance is added dry. Watering is carried out before scattering granules or after adding nutrient solutions.
Fertilizer
Many gardeners advise applying fertilizing after pruning, using it in liquid form from the beginning of autumn to the first ten days of October. Their need is obvious, because the growth of roots does not stop, so they need nutrition.
For autumn fertilizing, experienced gardeners recommend using fertilizers of the potassium-phosphorus group, which have a positive effect on the formation of new buds.
Attention! Contact of chemicals on the neck of the bush should be avoided. When using dry fertilizer, scatter from 10 to 15 g under the bush
potassium and 15-20 g of phosphorus. In the form of a solution, add a crushed and dissolved tablet in 10 liters of water to the soil. A good top dressing would be mixed bone meal (1 cup) with wood ash (1.5 cups). The mixture promotes plant endurance during low temperatures
Using dry fertilizer, 10 to 15 g of potassium and 15-20 g of phosphorus are scattered under the bush. In the form of a solution, add a crushed and dissolved tablet in 10 liters of water to the soil. A good top dressing would be mixed bone meal (1 cup) with wood ash (1.5 cups). The mixture promotes plant endurance during low temperatures.
Preparing for winter
To preserve the perennial in regions with harsh winters, it is covered with a layer of soil at least 10-15 cm thick, or other covering material (sawdust, leaves, compost).
Important! In order to prevent disease, cut parts are not used for covering; they must be burned to prevent the appearance of fungus
Planting peonies
How to plant peonies
Growing peonies will not require a lot of time or excessive effort from you.
The most important thing is to choose the right area for peonies, because they will grow there for many years. The root system of adult plants reaches a depth of 70-90 cm, so replanting a bush that has reached 4-5 years of age is not an easy task.
Peonies prefer to grow in well-lit areas; sunlight for 5-6 hours in the morning is highly desirable. But peonies are afraid of drafts, so it would be nice if they were protected by tall bushes or trees.
Do not plant peonies in low areas: the rhizomes can rot from stagnant water.
In the photo: Growing peonies in a flower bed
As for the choice of soil, loam with an acidity of 6-6.6 pH is best suited for peonies. If the soil is too clayey, you will need to add humus, sand and peat. In sandy - peat, clay and humus. Sand, wood ash and organic matter are added to peat soils.
Planting peonies in autumn
Peonies are planted and replanted in late August - early September. A week before planting peonies, they dig holes measuring 60x60x60 cm at a distance of 70-100 m from each other; a drainage layer of 20-25 cm of coarse sand, broken brick or crushed stone must be laid at the bottom of the holes. Then a layer of top dressing consisting of compost, humus, 100 g of lime, 200 g of superphosphate, 100 g of potassium sulfate, 300 g of wood ash is poured in a layer of 20-30 cm. Then the holes are filled to the top with earth mixed with compost. In a week, by the time the peonies are planted, the soil in the hole will have subsided, which will make it possible to place the peony rhizome in the hole, sprinkle it with garden soil and lightly compact the soil.
Keep in mind that peonies do not tolerate deep planting: the result will be a dense green bush without flowers.
If you want to wait for lush flowering from peonies, deepen the rhizome so that the upper bud is no deeper underground than 3-4 cm. In addition, in the first year after planting or transplanting, peonies do not bloom and look lethargic. It happens that peonies will not bloom the next year, but this is not a problem if the bush looks healthy - it’s just that the peony bush has not yet reached maturity.
In the photo: Peony bud
Planting peonies in spring
Actually, peonies are not planted in the spring. But it happens that in the spring you received the planting material you dreamed of... and what to do? In this case, experts suggest planting peonies in a 2-3-liter pot and keeping them in a cool, dark room - a basement or cellar - until planting them in the ground, keeping the soil moist. To do this, you need to place snow or pieces of ice on top of the soil, which, when melted, will moisten the soil in the pot. At the end of April or May, the peony is taken out into the garden and buried in the ground directly with the pot, where it will remain until the autumn transplant into a prepared hole, carried out by transshipment, that is, together with the earthen lump in which the rhizome was located.
Plant varieties
Tree peony (Paeonia suffruticosa) is a spreading, branched shrub that can grow up to one and a half meters in height. The leaves of the plant are bright green and feathery. The flowers are large and fragrant.
Their color can be very diverse, like the climbing varieties of roses described earlier, ranging from all shades of pink, red and ending with yellow-orange. Flowering continues for 1-2 weeks, but even after the flowers fade, the bush does not lose its decorativeness and attractiveness, thanks to the unusual shape of the leaves.
There are more than five thousand varieties of tree peony in the world, most of which are Chinese. All of them are divided into three garden groups :
- Chinese-European peonies with double flowers;
- Japanese - simple and semi-double;
- hybrid varieties.
The most popular varieties of yellow peony: Demeter, Golden Pattern, Alhambra, Keneri. Among the red and pink: Vesuvius, Gauguin, Ariadne, Icarus, Guphaestus, Breath of Love, Raphael, Misery. White peonies: Pearl Wind, Mrs. Shirley Fry, Renkaku, etc. American winter-hardy varieties are also popular: Garden Treasure, Bartzella, Prairie Garm .
No less famous are domestic plant varieties: Masquerade, Pechorin, Dreams, Maria, Marianna, Irina, Peter the Great, Girlfriend's Blush, Moscow Evenings .
Variety Moscow evenings
Such a wide variety of tree king varieties is mainly due to the variety of color shades. The most common is the Rock peony with simple flowers in soft pink or white shades.
A characteristic feature of this variety is the presence of a bright fuchsia-colored spot inside the flower. Such peonies are quite common. And it’s not surprising, because it doesn’t require special care, but its crazy flowering following the riot of tulips is simply stunning.
If you plant bushes of white and bright crimson peony next to each other, then in a year or two, to your amazement, you will see that the white flowers will turn into pale pink. The conclusion is not difficult to draw: if you want to keep a peony flower white, be sure to plant it away from pink-red peonies.
In addition, this simple variety has good winter hardiness. The oldest bush has been living on the site for more than 10 years; it is not covered with anything for the winter.
Practice has shown that peony is not afraid of 20-25 degree frosts. Unless they are fertilized, like roses, which we already talked about feeding in the fall https://2gazon.ru/ozelenenie/cvety/rozy/uhod-r/udobreniya-i-podkormka-r/p-osenyu.html. Designers also prefer yellow varieties (Delaveya and Lutea), in which not one, but several flowers bloom on the shoot.
Methods for propagating peonies by dividing the bush and cuttings
When caring for peonies, propagation is carried out in three ways.
The easiest way is to propagate peonies by dividing the bush, in which the rhizome is dug up from mid-August to mid-September, and then divided so that each piece of rhizome has at least 3 buds. In this case, the old roots are shortened and new plants are planted in a previously prepared place. Using the method of propagating peonies by layering, in the spring a box without a bottom measuring 50 X 50 cm and 35 cm high is placed on the bush. As the shoots grow, 5 cm layers of soil (humus, peat) are added to the box. The soil in the box should be moist. During the development process, the peony forms renewal buds and additional roots. From mid-August to mid-September, it is necessary to cut off the stems under the new buds and plant them in the nursery for growing.
When propagating peonies by cuttings, two weeks before the bush begins to flower, early in the morning, a leaf stalk is cut off near the ground, and the cut is made with a sharp knife. Take a cutting from the lower or middle part. An oblique cut is made under the bottom sheet every 1.5 cm, and an upper cut is also made above the top sheet every 1.5 cm (the top sheet is shortened by 1/3).
No more than 2 cuttings can be cut from one stem. They are placed in water to which a root formation stimulator is added and left for one day. Then the cuttings are planted in a greenhouse - these are boxes, where the bottom layer is formed by 30 cm of earth and 10 cm of sand. Plant at an angle of 45°. The leaves should not touch each other. The planted cuttings are covered and shaded for the first few days. They are sprayed twice a day for two weeks. After the cuttings have rooted, the greenhouse is gradually opened. For the winter, the leaves are cut off, covered and the plants are left in a greenhouse.
However, not all varieties of peonies can be rooted this way.
Watering and fertilizing
Since planting peonies is usually practiced in the spring, after moving the seedling into open ground, you should take care of its proper watering and fertilizing. Since tree peonies are quite large bushes with large flowers, they need fairly abundant watering. In total, moisture is added twice a month, but natural precipitation should also be taken into account: if it rains, the planned watering can be skipped so that moisture does not stagnate at the roots of the bush (Figure 5).
Note: In total, watering one bush requires about 6-8 liters of water, but this figure is individual and depends on the size of the plant and weather conditions.
Agricultural technology includes the following nuances:
- In the summer heat, you can water the peony more often so that the leaves of the crop do not wither and the top layer of soil does not dry out.
- Starting in August, the plant begins to prepare for a state of vegetative dormancy, so at the end of summer the frequency of watering begins to gradually decrease, and in the fall it is completely reduced.
- A few days after rain or watering, you need to slightly loosen the soil around the bush. At the same time, it is important not to bury the garden tool into the soil too much, so as not to damage the roots of the plant that are close to the surface.
- To prevent moisture evaporation, the tree trunk circle can be mulched with humus, but its layer should not be too thick. Otherwise, the surface roots may begin to overheat.
Feeding the tree peony deserves special attention. This crop needs nitrogen and potassium, so these fertilizers are applied regularly. In this case, nitrogen preparations are added at the very beginning of the growing season so that the plant can actively increase its green mass, and phosphorus-potassium preparations are added from the beginning of the formation of flower buds until the end of the active growing season. However, in the process of fertilizing, you need to ensure that there is no excess fertilizer in the soil. This can also have negative consequences for the flower, so it is better to underfeed than to overfeed the peony.
Figure 5. After watering, the bush needs to be mulched
Young plants up to 3 years old are fed by foliar feeding: the required amount of the drug is diluted in water and the bush is sprayed. Adult plants can simply be watered with a fertilizer solution, and it is enough to carry out the procedure three times a season: at the beginning of spring, when the buds swell and after flowering.
Hello, dear readers!
Peonies are noble flowers that bring good luck, one of the most attractive in the garden.
It is not for nothing that the ancient Greeks were actively involved in the propagation of peonies, considering these beautiful long-livers (the flowers bloom profusely and magnificently for many decades) as powerful amulets against evil spells, protectors from adversity and misfortune.
The kings of the garden plot begin to smell fragrant in the last month of spring and delight us with their lush flowering until mid-summer.
There is never too much beauty! How to properly propagate exquisite flowers?
Seedlings of these wonderful flowers are quite expensive.
Therefore, if we want to plant more bushes of this plant in our garden, let’s master the propagation of peonies ourselves.
The topic of our article today will be the propagation of peonies in several main ways.
It's time to deal with this interesting and important issue.
When and what seeds to collect?
- Peony seeds reach an initial stage of maturity by the end of August. Collect while the shell is not too hardened. The color is lighter than that of mature ones, the shell is softer.
- Typically, seeds are collected from mid-August to early September. If you skip this moment, the seeds will become overripe, harden, and the shell will become too hard. But even if the deadlines are met, at best half of them will germinate.
- The seeds of herbaceous peonies (lacty-flowered, evasive, thin-leaved) are small - 0.5-1 cm in size. Their color varies from light beige to brown, the shell is elastic, leathery, smooth to the touch.
- The tree peony has seeds like a coffee bean or a black peppercorn; color - from brown to black. The shell is thicker than that of the seeds of herbaceous species.
Propagation of tree peony by vegetative methods
There are 4 methods of vegetative propagation of tree peony.
By dividing the bush, applicable for plants aged 5-6 years
Reproduction of tree peony by dividing the bush photo
The optimal time for the procedure is late summer-early autumn. Dig up and carefully divide the bush, be sure to treat the cut areas with a fungicide. Each division should contain 2-3 growth buds and roots 10-20 cm long.
Reproduction by layering
Reproduction of tree peonies by layering photo
Do this before flowering begins (in May). Bend the developed shoot in the ground, make a shallow longitudinal cut about 10 cm long on the bark, and treat it with a growth stimulator. Pin it to the ground with a staple and cover it with a layer of soil 8-10 cm thick, leaving the top on the surface. Keep the soil moist; roots will appear by the end of the warm season, but the sprout should be separated from the mother plant at the end of the summer of next year.
Grafting onto the root of herbaceous peony
Tree peony scion cuttings photo
In the middle zone, this is done in August.
Rootstock is a part of the root of a herbaceous plant 10-15 cm long. Scion is cuttings cut into semi-lignified shoots of the current year. It is good if the thickness of the rootstock and scion is the same. The grafting is done by grafting or rotating (if the scion is significantly thicker, only this method is used).
The roots for the rootstock must be dug up 2-3 weeks in advance and stored in a cool place.
Each cutting should have 1-2 buds (cut above the top one at a distance of 2-3 cm, below the bottom - 3-4 cm, remove the leaves). Use isopropyl alcohol to sterilize instruments. You will need a very sharp knife and sharp garden shears.
Rotary grafting
How to graft tree peony splits onto herbaceous roots
Make a cross-section on the root, and if the diameter of the root is larger than the cutting, you will need a wedge-shaped cut. Cut the cutting on both sides into a wedge (it is advisable to do this under water - this will prevent the porous tissue from becoming clogged). Then insert into the cut.
Grafting tree peony splits onto the root of a herbaceous photo
Wrap the top with a special tape for grafting (when using regular tape, turn the adhesive side outward), you need to grab a cross section of the root. The top should be coated with garden varnish.
Vaccination in the butt
How to graft a tree peony onto the root of a herbaceous peony
Make cuts on the root and cuttings (they should be smooth) at a slight angle, align and fasten in the same way.
Grafting a tree peony into the butt photo
What to do with grafted seedlings
What to do with grafted tree peony seedlings photo
You can plant the grafted plants in a greenhouse for 3-4 weeks; when planting, the scion should be above the soil level. Water regularly.
Another (more preferable) method: the grafted material is placed in boxes, covered with moss or sawdust, covered with plastic bags and kept in the basement for the same time.
Grafted tree peony ready for planting in a permanent place photo
Successfully grafted plants are transplanted into open ground, placing them at an angle. For the winter, cover with a layer of straw, which must be removed in the spring. The cuttings are grown until the fall, and in the fall they are transplanted to a permanent place of growth.
Grafted tree peony seedling in the second year of life photo
Propagation by green cuttings
A fairly effective method (about 60-70% takes root). At the same time, you can obtain a significant amount of planting material. Cuttings should be prepared before the lignification process begins (during June); cutting is best done in the morning. Leave 2 growth buds, make an oblique cut under the bottom one (at a distance of 1.5-2.5 cm), and an even cut above the top one (at a distance of 2.5-3 cm). Shorten the leaves by ½ or 1/3. Treat with a growth stimulator.
Plant in the sand-peat mixture at an angle, deepening it by 4-5 cm, cover with a jar or cut plastic bottle on top. Keep the soil moist and spray the leaves. The first roots will appear in 1.5-2 months. Remove the cover gradually. For the winter, bury the cuttings in a hole and cover. In the spring, transplant to a test bed for growing - by autumn a shoot should develop from the lower bud. Then you can transplant it to a permanent place of growth; if you wish, postpone the procedure until the next season.
Planting technology
Peony seedlings are planted in May or September-October . For planting, choose a bright (possibly semi-shaded) place, protected from the wind, without strong drafts.
You can lay drainage at the bottom of the hole, then, if necessary, add the fertilizers indicated just above, as well as compost. When planting, make sure that the root collar is at soil level. Finally, water the seedling well and mulch the planting area (but not with sawdust or pine needles).
Please note that the bush will soon need a lot of space, so calculate the space for a plant with a diameter of at least 1-1.5 square meters. m.
Transplanting peonies
When to replant peonies
Wild peonies grow in one place for up to fifty years or even more. Hybrid varieties that originate from the officinalis peony can grow without replanting in the same area for no more than ten years; after this period, the bush must be divided and transplanted to another place. In addition, dividing and planting the bush is the easiest and most reliable way to propagate peonies. But for this purpose, 4-5 year old bushes are used, which have already fully bloomed once or twice. The fact is that the root system of peonies grows greatly over the years, so it is easier to cope with a younger rhizome than with an old one, so in order to ensure that the quality of flowering of your peonies does not decrease, it would be better to divide and plant the bushes every three to four years . Peonies are replanted in September.
In the photo: White peony flower
Replanting peonies in autumn
How to replant peonies? In autumn, the bush is dug at a distance of 25 cm from the rhizome, then carefully loosened with a pitchfork and removed from the ground. The rhizome is cleared of soil with a peg, then washed with a not very strong stream of water so as not to damage the fragile buds and eyes of peonies.
The above-ground part is cut off almost to the root. The washed rhizome is left in the fresh air so that the water drains and the roots slightly wither and become more elastic. Then the old thick roots are trimmed to a length of 10-15 cm at an angle of 45º.
Carefully examine the root and only then proceed with division.
If the bush is old, then it is most convenient to drive a wedge into its middle with a hammer, which will split the rhizome into several parts. Often in the middle of old rhizomes there are voids and rotten areas that need to be cleaned, disinfected with a strong solution of potassium permanganate, and then the sections are powdered with fungicide. The divisions should consist of part of the root collar with well-developed 3-4 eyes and several roots. You need to try to divide the rhizome into approximately equal parts, so that there are no too large sections that will hurt for a long time after transplantation, or too small ones that may die.
In the photo: Growing peonies in the garden
How to replant peonies
You need to plant the cuttings in the ground using the method that has already been described. The area with transplanted plants must be mulched with a seven-centimeter layer of peat for the winter; the mulch can be removed when reddish peony sprouts break through it in the spring. During the first two years after transplanting, peonies must develop a root system, so be patient and do not let young plants bloom. In the first year, pinch off all the buds that appear, the next year, leave just one bud on the bush and, when it bursts, cut it as short as possible and consider how well the flower matches its variety. If the match is incomplete, then you will have to pinch off the buds for another year, leaving only one, until the flower fully matches its variety. This may happen in the third year, or maybe in the fifth.
Features of flowering
The flowering of the hybrid tree peony begins in May-June. At the same time, the timing of the beginning of the formation of buds directly depends on the correct care of the plant and the climatic conditions of the region. The flowering time of the crop is short: only about 15 days, but thanks to the splendor of the buds and the rich color scheme of the petals, this crop will become a real decoration of your garden (Figure 6).
Figure 6. The main value of tree varieties is in the splendor of flowering
It should also be taken into account that the tree peony does not bloom immediately after planting. Grafted plants produce their first buds two years after planting, and self-rooted plants produce their first buds after 3-5 years. At the same time, the number of inflorescences will increase every year.
Caring for peonies
Caring for peonies in autumn
In autumn, as already mentioned, it is time to plant and replant peonies. Peonies are not planted every year, and if you have no plans to propagate them this year, caring for peonies in the autumn comes down to trimming withered stems and leaves, which then need to be burned to destroy viruses, bacteria and pests that may , they settled in them. The remaining stems on the bushes should be sprinkled with ash at the rate of 2-3 handfuls per bush. That's all there is to do in the fall. Now we’ll tell you how to care for peonies in the spring.
In the photo: Blooming pink and white peonies
Caring for peonies in spring
Peonies require infrequent but plentiful watering - 2-3 buckets for each adult bush, so that the soil is wet to the depth of the roots. Plants especially need moisture in early spring, during the growth period, as well as during budding and flowering, and in August-September, when new buds are formed in peonies. After watering, it is imperative to loosen the soil around the bushes and remove weeds, if any. Make sure that when watering the water gets under the bush and not on the leaves.
Feeding peonies
As soon as the snow melts, the ground around the bushes is watered with a solution of potassium permanganate at the rate of 2-3 g per 10 liters of water for two peony bushes. When the shoots begin to grow, you need to fertilize the plants with ammonium nitrate at the rate of 15 g of nitrate per 10 liters of water. Starting from the second week of May, young plants are watered once a month over the leaves from a watering can with a sieve with a solution of complete mineral fertilizer in the recommended concentration. Add washing powder to the solution at the rate of 1 tablespoon per 10 liters of water - this will prevent the solution from simply flowing down the leaves into the ground. Feeding is done in the evening or on a cloudy day.
How to grow hydrangea from cuttings - instructions
During the period of budding and flowering, it is necessary to mineralize the soil with the following solution: 10 g of superphosphate, 7.5 g of ammonium nitrate, 5 g of potassium salt per 10 liters of water. Two weeks after the end of flowering, you need to feed the peonies with a solution of 10 g of superphosphate and 5 g of potassium salt per 10 liters of water. You can alternate mineral fertilizers with organic ones, and instead of a solution, scatter dry fertilizers in the furrow around the bush, followed by moistening and embedding into the soil.
In the photo: Opening peony bud
Caring for peonies in the summer, after the peonies have bloomed, consists of timely watering, fertilizing after flowering, weeding and loosening the area.
Peony pruning
When to prune peonies? Complete pruning of peony stems is done in late autumn, when frost sets in. But if there is a need to do this earlier, then try to cut the stems not too low, leaving shoots with three to four leaves above the surface of the ground. The fact is that at the end of summer, peonies lay replacement buds, and the success of this process directly depends on the presence of leaves on the bush. Therefore, by the way, when cutting flowers you need to follow this rule: cut the peduncle not very close to the root, leave a part of the stem with several leaves on the bush.
