Advice author: Olga Androsova Date of publication: 05/28/2015

The second part of a detailed story about growing peonies. The previous advice was more general, with general information about peonies. This advice contains specific recipes for growing and propagating these beautiful and useful plants.

The first two years after planting stimulate better development and peonies blooming. Young plants can be fed with mullein solution at the beginning of summer. If it is not there, then use a solution of mineral fertilizer. There is no need to overfeed with nitrogen fertilizers. The foliage grows well from them, but the buds stop developing. In dry weather, water generously. The first two years the soil is loosened, but to a depth of no more than 5 - 7 cm.

Peonies bloom at 3 - 4 years old, best flowering at 4 - 8 - 10 years old. Some gardeners remove buds from three-year-old peonies to get better flowering in the future. From the age of five, peonies increase the number of stems and can reach up to 40 or more, depending on the variety.

While the shoots are growing, you can feed them ammonium nitrate(10 - 15 g per 10 liters of water for 1 - 2 bushes). During budding and flowering, complete feeding is used. mineral fertilizer. After flowering, fertilize with 5 - 10 g of superphosphate, 10 - 15 g of potassium sulfate per 10 liters of water. You can use humus and mullein solution (1:20) for feeding. Under an overgrown 5-6 year old bush, add a bucket of humus, 50 g of superphosphate and potassium sulfate. Peonies are watered abundantly before flowering, during budding, flowering and in case of drought.

To prevent the disease from gray rot and spotting, the petals of faded buds are removed and sprayed. In spring, the soil is watered with a solution of potassium permanganate (2-3 g per 10 liters of water for 1-2 bushes). Before flowering, you can treat the bush with a 1% solution of Bordeaux mixture. You can also treat with copper oxychloride (40 g per 10 liters of water) before flowering against gray rot and after flowering against spotting.

To prevent the stems from dying when flowering, provide supports.

For winter, the above-ground part of the peony is cut to ground level. But they do this when the stems die after frost. If they have just turned yellow, it is too early. Early pruning is harmful.

The peony's rhizome can grow upward. In the fall, the bush needs to be hilled up and humus is added on top.

As already mentioned, peonies are propagated mainly vegetatively. There are several techniques for this. More often they resort to dividing the bush. Divide the bush before three - four years do not do it. Five to seven year old bushes produce more planting material - cuttings. Bushes that are 8 - 10 or more years old, if they begin to bloom poorly, can also be rejuvenated by division.

Dividing the bush can be done early in the spring, before the shoots begin to grow. But it is better to divide and replant the bushes in the fall, that is, the entire operation of dividing the bush is carried out at the time when renewal buds form on the rhizome and before the active growth of a large number of autumn suction roots begins. This time will be different in different areas of residence (beginning of August until September 10-20 and until October 5-10). In some varieties, renewal buds are formed not only on the rhizome, but also on adventitious roots, which is good, since more divisions will be obtained.

The bush is dug up using a shovel and fork, carefully so as not to cut or tear the roots. Wash with water and leave in the shade for 5 - 6 hours. Dried roots will be less brittle. The stems of the bush are cut at a height of 10 - 15 cm from the rhizome. They try to loosen the rhizome. They deal with the roots so that when dividing into renewal buds there is a sufficient number of roots. Then the rhizome is cut into pieces so that each section contains 3-5 renewal buds, part of the rhizome and a sufficient number of adventitious roots. The roots are shortened with a knife to 10 - 15 cm. Roots that are rotten and directed upward are removed. When dividing, there may be pieces with 1 - 2 buds. The divisions are disinfected with a solution of potassium permanganate (3 - 4 g per 10 liters of water) or a solution copper sulfate(100 g per 10 liters of water, hold for no more than 20 - 25 minutes to avoid burns). To heal wounds, sprinkle with a mixture of crushed coal and colloidal sulfur (in equal parts) and leave for a day in the shade. A few hours before planting, the cuttings are dipped into a clay mash with a 1% solution of copper sulfate. You can add heteroauxin (2 tablets per 10 liters of water).

After transplantation, peonies from divisions with 3 - 5 buds bloom in the second or third year. If the division had 1 - 2 buds, then the peony will bloom in the third or fourth year and such divisions are more likely to die. A large division with seven buds and without pruning the roots develops quickly in the first year, but it has few suction roots, and in the future it can quickly die.

On farms where they want to get a large number of cuttings for sale, the rhizome is cut so that the cutting consists of a small piece of rhizome with one bud and a small root. Such cuttings are planted for rooting and growing in ridges filled with good garden soil with compost. The cuttings are planted with row spacing of 20 cm and 15 cm between each other. The seedlings are grown for 1 - 2 years.

You can propagate peonies in your garden without digging them out of the soil. In the spring, after the soil has thawed, on one side of a bush that is at least five years old, rake the soil to a depth of about 10 cm and, with a sharp shovel, cut off part of the mother bush (0.5 - 2 cm) below the renewal buds with small roots. Cuttings are rooted in cold greenhouses or in a bed with fertilized garden soil. To improve growth, it can be treated with heteroauxin (100 mg per 1 liter of water for 6 hours). At the mother bush, the cut site is sprinkled with a mixture of crushed coal and colloidal sulfur. The bush is covered with earth. After 2 weeks, shoots from dormant buds will begin to develop on it. The disadvantage of this technique is that the integrity of the rhizome is violated and rotting is possible.

Peonies can be propagated by shoots. In cloudy weather, 3 to 5 days before the buds open, 5 to 15 shoots are cut from the bush. From one stem, cut 2 - 3 cuttings with two internodes with a sharp knife. In cuttings bottom sheet cut off completely, and the top half. The cuttings are placed in a heteroauxin solution (1 tablet per 1 liter of water) for 8 - 10 hours. They are planted in a cold greenhouse, in which garden soil is poured, and on top there is a layer of sand of 5 - 6 cm. The shoots are planted obliquely with row spacing of 15 cm and 7 - 8 cm between each other.

The cuttings are planted to a depth of 3 - 4 cm so that the leaf axil is closed. The greenhouse is covered with frames and the glass is whitened. The temperature is maintained at 20 - 25 degrees. S. It is very important to keep high humidity air. 3 - 4 times a day you need to spray the shoots manually or use a special water sprayer. After 25 - 30 days, an influx (callus) forms on the cuttings, roots appear after 45 - 50 days. The frames are raised. Some shoots develop buds on the surface of the sand, and they are covered with greenhouse soil. The cuttings remain in the greenhouse. IN winter time make a shelter. Next year it will be clear which of the planted shoots have taken root. Then the cuttings can be planted with a clod of soil in August - September open ground. This method is quite labor-intensive; the percentage of surviving shoots is small. It is used less often, for example, in order to keep a bush of a valuable variety intact, but still propagate it.

On your site, you can use propagation by vertical layering. Early in the spring, rake the earth around a five to eight year old bush. Place a box without a bottom (50 x 50 cm), if the bush is large, select a larger box. A mixture of garden soil with compost and sand (1: 1: 1) is poured into the box to a depth of 10 cm. Then, as the shoots grow, a mixture of garden soil with compost and rotted manure (1: 1: 1) is added. 300 g of bone meal or 150 g of superphosphate are added to the mixture. The bedding is made to a height of 25 - 30 cm. Water and mulch. The outside of the box is covered with earth to retain moisture inside. Fertilize with heteroauxin 2-3 times (2 g per 10 liters of water). The buds are removed, the leaves are saved. In the fall, the boxes are removed and the bushes are unplanted. All shoots are carefully cut off. On which renewal buds have formed, they are immediately planted in nutritious soil. For the winter, cover with humus or spruce branches. Do not cover with old leaves to avoid infection. In early spring, the shelter is removed and cared for as for young seedlings.

It is better to buy seedlings for planting in a specialized nursery. They will sell the variety you have chosen and give recommendations on care. The variety must be chosen according to its intended purpose, because there are varieties intended for parks and flower beds, for decorating flower beds, and there are varieties for cutting flowers into bouquets.

For planting, you can purchase seedlings obtained not only by dividing the bush, but also by cutting stems. The main type of seedling is division. In the nursery they buy a one- to two-year-old plant, grown from a small section consisting of a rhizome with the remains of stems, with young light adventitious roots and 1-2 large buds. You should not buy small divisions with roots covered with rough, woody skin or with sharp, small buds. If you want to get a division with 3 - 5 buds, its rhizome should have the same number of branches and several adventitious roots, and it should not be thin. Such a piece of land is expensive. There is no need to take sections with wet, rotten sections. If the roots are pink or white coating, possible infection with root rot. If there are nodular thickenings on the root collar or roots, infection with some disease is possible. Such pieces are not worth buying.

Peonies attract not only from the aesthetic side, but also from the economic side. For a number of people, they become a matter of growing cuttings or obtaining bouquets for sale.

Buy and grow peonies. In any case, good luck to you!

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Do not pull the bush out of the ground by grabbing its stems. This way you can tear them off, and the kidneys will be damaged along with them.

Now you should wash the rhizomes from adhering soil with a weak stream of water. A peony divides much better if its roots are a little “withered.” To do this, leave the plant in the shade for 2-4 hours.

After this time, you need to put the bush with its roots down on a flat surface. hard surface and use a stake or wedge to divide the roots in two. And then the division of the peony can be carried out with an ordinary knife, previously sterilized in alcohol.

The best division is a part of a bush with 3-5 eyes and the same number of roots, which are cut to a maximum of 12 cm.

Cut old roots from the bush, sparingly. Otherwise, the young seedling is unlikely to grow fresh shoots in the first year. By making peony divisions too small (with 1-2 eyes), the plant will not develop quickly enough in the future, and will bloom a year later.


All, planting material ready for further transplantation.

Preparing the soil for planting peonies

Since peonies are light-loving, if possible, choose a well-lit area of ​​the flower garden for planting them. Do not plant plants near other crops, since peonies need complete freedom - the bushes sometimes grow greatly, and the plantings will interfere with each other.
Besides, root system requires a lot of flowers for growth and development nutrients. And large trees and shrubs located nearby will take all the “vitamins” from the depths of the soil, preventing the peonies from blooming in full force.

Peonies can be cultivated in soils of almost any composition. Although the best option for them is clean loamy soil. But it is better to avoid swampy and excessively damp soil. The plants will bloom, of course, in these conditions, but not as luxuriantly as we would like. To avoid flooding the flowerbed, make sure that the level groundwater here was located at a distance of at least 50 cm from the soil surface.

If there is an area that is too wet, when the groundwater is much higher than the designated limit, it is better to plant peonies on artificial beds that are higher than usual. There is another option - to arrange flower beds around drainage grooves. Do not ignore these tips, as this will lead to complete rotting of the root system of the seedlings.

Have you planned to plant peonies in the coming season and have you already chosen a “good” place for them? The time has come to prepare holes for planting for them. Do this at least a month or two before the upcoming planting work. Pits with a depth of 60-70 cm and a diameter of up to 70 cm should be located no closer than 80 cm from each other. By following this planting pattern, you will ensure the most suitable conditions for the development of bushes, and you will also have less worries about caring for them.

Then the dug holes should be fertilized. Use a nutrient soil mixture for this:
compost,
peat,
well rotted manure,
potassium sulfate (150 g),
bone meal (350 g),
up to 200 g of superphosphate,
up to 170 g of slaked lime (if the soil is acidic).

All components must be thoroughly mixed with top layer soil previously removed from the flower bed. As a result, you will end up with approximately 2/3 of the hole filled with a highly nutritious mixture. She will serve as that source useful substances, which are required for the growth of pions.

Planting peonies

Choose suitable variety peony for planting in your flowerbed - that's half the battle. It is equally important to find high-quality planting material. By purchasing diseased seedlings, you will provide yourself with headaches for a long time, since your bushes are unlikely to bloom. Therefore, take cuttings only from specialized nurseries.

Experienced flower growers will confirm that a good, abundantly flowering peony can only be grown from a young bush. No sense from the old ones large plants there won’t be any - most likely they won’t bloom at all.

It is believed that best material for planting peony - a one- or two-year-old plant, which is obtained from a small division with 2-3 buds and a small shoot of the rhizome. The roots of the seedling are light, and the buds are large.

So, the holes for planting have been prepared, the cuttings have been purchased. How to plant peonies correctly?

It is better to plant and replant peonies in the middle zone during the period from August to the end of September. Practice shows that even with later planting, peonies take root well. But it’s still better not to delay the work.

There is another option - planting peonies in early spring (around April). But be careful - these ornamental plants It is quite painful to tolerate early spring transplantation, and especially if you yourself divide the bush. It is possible that the spring peony will be slightly behind its autumn relatives in growth.

If you simply move the bush to another along with a lump of earth, then the work can be carried out without any fear both in the fall and in the spring - the plant will take root Fine.

An important point when planting peonies - correctly determine at what depth to plant the division. Focus on the following data - above the upper buds the soil layer should be 3-5 cm (on loams) or 5-7 cm (on sandy soils Oh).
To avoid mistakes and correctly set the depth of planting peonies, many gardeners use a special planting board (length - 100 cm, width - 20-25 cm). In the center of this board you need to hammer a 5 cm thick (for loam) or 7 cm thick (for sandy soils). When planting seedlings, the board is placed directly above the hole. And the lower bar at the same time shows the depth level above the soil surface.

Peony shows good survival rate if the roots of the seedling are first dipped in a heteroauxin solution. Prepare it like this: dissolve 2 tablets of the drug, 50 g of copper sulfate and clay in a bucket of water. After this, the division must be dried.

To plant a peony, deepen the roots to the required distance and sprinkle them with a little garden soil. The roots should be pressed tightly with your hands to ensure that the soil adheres tightly to them. Then fill in the rest of the seedling. Just do not compact the soil around the bush with your feet - this can damage the root system. Fresh plantings should be watered.

Peonies propagate by dividing the bush and root cuttings, less often by vertical layering, stem cuttings and seeds (the last three are labor-intensive and require certain skills and conditions for implementation). Seeds are propagated mainly by amateur breeders when developing new varieties. This is quite painstaking work. When grown by sowing seeds, the bushes bloom in the 6-7th year and later.

Reproduction by dividing bushes. You can divide bushes from the age of three to four (over early age Peony officinalis and interspecific hybrids propagate). However, better results and a significantly larger amount of planting material are obtained when dividing 5-7-year-old bushes. By this age, a large amount of nutrients accumulates in the rhizome of the bush, which ensures the development of young seedlings. For mother material, it is not advisable to grow bushes older than 8 years, since, despite good growth and flowering, due to severe rot damage to the underground part, the yield of high-quality planting material is reduced.

Reproduction by vertical layering. Reproduction of peonies by vertical layering is quite simple for amateurs to perform. Of course, not all varieties are equally amenable to propagation in this way. However, subject to certain rules you can get good results. It is advisable to use bushes aged five to eight years for vertical layering.

In early spring, in April, as soon as the ground thaws and warms up, and the peony renewal buds begin to grow, they are exposed as much as possible by carefully raking the soil around the bush, and a box without a bottom is placed, measuring 50x50 cm and 34-40 cm high. If the bush is large, take box bigger size. A 10 cm box is filled with good garden soil mixed with compost and sand in a ratio of 2:1:1. Then a soil mixture is prepared, consisting of compost, garden soil and preferably rotted manure in a 1:1:1 ratio. Add 300-400 g of bone meal or 150 g of crushed superphosphate to the mixture per box.

The finished mixture is poured into a box in layers to a height of 25-30 cm as the shoots grow. The top of the soil is mulched with a 3-4 cm layer of peat to avoid the formation of a crust and watered with water as it dries. The outside of the boxes is covered with garden soil to reduce drying out of the inner soil, especially in hot weather. It is advisable to conduct three outside root dressings, as well as two or three root feedings with heteroauxin (2 tablets per 10 l) with an interval of 10-15 days. Flowers in the bursting bud phase are removed, preserving the leaves as much as possible.

In the second half of September, the boxes are removed, the bushes are unplanted and all shoots are cut off. Those of them on which renewal buds have formed are immediately planted in specially prepared school beds with light nutritious soil. For the winter, it is advisable to cover the plantings with a layer of peat or compost 5-6 cm thick. In the spring, as soon as the soil thaws, the cover is removed. Care in the first and second years is the same as for young seedlings. The same bush should be propagated a second time in this way no earlier than after 2 years.

Reproduction of peonies. Master Class

Galina Dyakova

Photos used: Bonnier Publications LLC/Oleg Kulagin , Bonnier Publications Publishing House

The simplest and most common way to propagate peonies is by dividing the bush. Best timing for this purpose - from the end of August to the end of September.

WHAT DO YOU NEED?

Materials

• Mother bush

Tools

• Wooden stake
• Hammer
• Secateurs
• Garden knife
• Shovel
• Watering can

1

Digging up an old, overgrown peony bush is not easy. Therefore, first, the stems are cut by a third with pruning shears, tying them so that they do not break off along with the buds. Then, with a sharp shovel, they dig in the bush from all sides and lift it carefully, trying not to damage the roots. Rinse with a hose under running water to wash away the soil and better see the buds on the rhizome. If the bush is old and very large, first wooden hammer drive a stake into the center of the rhizome and divide it into two parts.

There are several ways to propagate peonies. The simplest and most reliable vegetative method of propagating perennials is dividing peony rhizomes. Dividing the rhizome is done during peony transplantation.

First of all, it is necessary to cut the peony stems quite low, 10-15 cm from ground level. Next, you should dig around the rhizome of the plant in a ring and carefully remove the bush from the ground, trying not to damage the renewal buds. Under no circumstances should you pull the peony rhizome by the stems; some of them will certainly come off, and along with them the largest, best buds.

Use a strong stream of water or a wooden peg to remove excess soil from the roots and rhizomes of the peony near the eyes. The peony bush is easier to divide if the roots wilt a little, let it lie in the shade for three to four hours. Once washed and slightly dried, it is placed with its roots down on a hard surface, for example wooden board, slowly begin to hammer a wooden wedge into the center of the rhizome, due to which the peony bush falls apart. Further division of the peony rhizome is carried out with a sharp knife. The knife is sterilized with alcohol, and the trimmed fabrics are rubbed with crushed charcoal or treated with any fungicide.

The best peony division is a part of a bush with 3-5 eyes and the same number of roots, shortened to 10-12 centimeters. The cut of the peony rhizome is made strictly across so that the wound is smaller. Old roots are cut off sparingly, like unnecessary ballast. Otherwise young plant in the first year it will not grow new ones, but only assimilate the reserves available in the old roots. And next year it will suffer due to insufficient development of the root system.

Too small divisions with 1-2 eyes and a small piece of rhizome will develop more slowly, and flowering will occur a year later. But for young people healthy plants there will be a perfectly developed updated root system. Such small plots must be grown over a period of one to two years on specially prepared beds.

Planting holes for peonies should be prepared in advance, approximately 2-4 weeks before planting.

First of all, they dig holes 60x60 or 70x70 cm. The bottom of the holes is loosened and filled 2/3 with a nutrient mixture: 15-20 kg organic fertilizers(rotted manure or compost), 200 g of superphosphate or 400 g of bone meal, 150-200 g of potassium sulfate, and for acidic soils 200-300 g of lime. The upper third is filled with fertile soil.

In waterlogged areas, drainage must be done: broken bricks and pebbles are poured into the bottom of the planting hole, deepening it by 15-20 cm. In areas with high level When groundwater stands, the plant is planted almost on the surface of the soil, pouring soil on top, almost like potatoes on the crest of a ridge. The distance between plants is 100-120 cm. When planting peony, the buds on the rhizomes are buried 3-5 centimeters below the soil surface. If you drown them deeper, the peonies still grow well, but they refuse to bloom. If planted too shallowly in winter, the bushes can be “squeezed” out of the ground by frost.

The roots of the peony cuttings are placed freely in the planting hole, without bending, and carefully sprinkled with earth, compacting it and filling all the voids in the gaps and crevices. Having filled the plant up to the upper buds, you should water it well, and then compact the soil. But you should not trample it too much with your feet, as this can damage the fragile roots.

You can also use the method of planting a peony “in the mud”, when the hole is filled with ready-made soil about 2/3, the soil is compacted and filled to the top with water. Without waiting for it to be absorbed, the section is placed directly in the water to the required depth and, holding it with one hand, is covered with the other at the same time. landing hole the remains of the soil. The soil poured on top is lightly compacted with your hand or foot.

So, peonies, when to replant, how to propagate, care for them is the topic of our conversation. When peonies bloom, the garden is transformed beyond recognition. Very beautiful and festive! It turns out that this flower can grow and bloom magnificently in one place for 100 years or more! This means that it is worth paying more attention and time to the issues of choosing a location and preparing the soil. Look at the photo of the peony at the end of the article - isn’t your garden still decorated with such gorgeous flowers?

Purchased peony roots - what they should be

Beautiful, abundant flowering bush peony cannot grow from poor planting material. Sign good quality peony root - divisions (this is the name given to part of the root tuber separated from mother plant) - large or very large, bright, shiny buds of renewal, as well as the absence of areas affected by rot. The best peony root for planting is a division with a bunch of young thin roots and several large buds.

It is very easy to distinguish young roots from old ones. Old peony roots are usually darker, while young ones are lighter. The length of the roots should be 15-25 cm, thickness - 10 mm or more.

The root collar is the weakest point of the peony, the gateway for infection. The more old tissue there is on the root collar, the more likely it is to have an infection. At the same time, old tissue is a field “sown” with dormant buds. According to my observations, divisions from 2-3-year-old bushes with 1-2 buds develop much better than very large ones with 3-5 buds from old bushes. The young ones are somewhat behind in growth compared to the “old ones” only for the first 2-3 years, and as the roots grow they overtake them.

In cuttings from old bushes there are often hollows formed as a result of an infection. But if the rhizomes do not rot, and the hollow is surrounded by healthy tissue, then this is a minor defect. True, such roots can become a haven for garden ants.

Note! The place of the cut or break should be matte. If it shines when wetted, this indicates the presence of putrefactive processes. In this case, very carefully strip all sections down to healthy tissue.

Peonies - planting in open ground

A planting hole measuring 60x60x60 cm should be prepared in advance. On dense soil (clay, heavy chernozem), it must be filled with loose nutritious soil mixture rich in humus. After all, peony is a big gourmet; in the spring it always lacks nitrogen. If the soil is light, you don’t need to prepare the hole in advance. If you dug a hole immediately before planting, be sure to fill it with water so that the soil quickly settles.

Before planting, the cuttings are soaked in water. Severely dried cuttings can be left in a container with water for up to three days. Peony drinks water no less than cabbage. But from excess moisture, the roots can burst, forming cracks. Therefore, it is important to monitor this process and prevent them from cracking.

Young divisions are planted in rows taking into account their size: small ones - vertically, and large ones - at an angle. Immediately before planting, inspect all suspicious places on the rhizomes, if necessary, clean them to healthy tissue. Places of cuts, breaks and the root collar are generously sprinkled with wood ash.

Before planting, the purchased division is soaked for 30 minutes in a suspension of foundationazole or topsin-M (according to the instructions), and then dipped in a clay mash of the consistency of sour cream with the addition of up to 100 g of copper sulfate.

Peony planting depth

In floriculture literature it is usually written that when planting a peony, the buds should be at a depth of 2-3 cm from the soil surface, since peonies do not bloom when planted deep. However, this is not always true. For example, interspecific hybrids are able to germinate even if the root is at a depth of 60 cm. I had such a case. True, we had to wait 7 long years for flowering.

But here is a shallow landing, in which root collar turns out to be too close to the surface of the soil, it is very dangerous: it suffers not only from heat and frost, but also from excess melt water in the spring (this may be the reason for the loss of peony bushes).

Peony - when to replant

From my point of view, in Kuban no earlier than October 15-20. Why? Because peonies are laying flower buds in the first ten days of October, when the leaves are still green, that is, there is an outflow of nutrients into the rhizome. This process continues until the leaves turn yellow. This is what you need to focus on when determining the timing of digging and dividing bushes.

Usually in the literature it is recommended to plant peonies in August. However, these deadlines are for Middle zone Russia and Belarus. It’s much warmer here in Kuban, so the planting times are different. If they ask me for peony shoots, then I divide and plant for propagation in early October. But planting material can be planted until frost.

How to divide peonies when transplanting

The bush chosen for division is dug up with a lump of earth and washed from the ground with a strong stream of water. If there are several divisions, from bushes different varieties, then you need to hang up labels with the name of the variety and move them to a dark place for 1-2 days. During this time, the roots wither somewhat. This makes division easier and prevents breaking and cracking of roots in the wrong place.

Peony rhizomes of 4-5 years of age can be divided into sections with an ax, placing its blade in the center of the root collar so that there are the same number of buds on the right and left. Tapping the ax butt with a heavy hammer, cut the bush in half. Next comes a sharp knife and pruning shears.

To divide old bushes, a pruning shear is enough, and a 2-3-year-old bush can easily be broken into sections even by hand.

Place for planting peony - which one to choose

Peonies tolerate light or partial shading well. At my dacha there are peonies that are in an area open to the sun all day and night, and there are those that are illuminated by the sun in the morning and evening, and during the day, when the sun is hot, they find themselves in deep shade. They feel great everywhere, but, it seems to me, in the area where the peony bushes are in the shade for some time of the day, they bloom more beautifully and longer than others.

As you can see, peonies have a lot of secrets. But a person who is in love with these flowers will always find an approach to his favorites and reveal their secrets.

It is important to know about peonies little secret. They have two clearly defined periods of active root formation (growth of suction feeding roots) - at the end of August-September and in early spring from awakening and strictly until mid-May. As luck would have it, they start tempting us with seedlings in February-March. What to do? I buy them, store them as much as I can in the state of sleeping beauties, whoever wakes up, I plant them on the loggia in suitable containers, and cherish them until spring. Optimal temperature should be somewhere +5°C, maximum permissible +15°C, minimum permissible up to -5ºC (at lower temperatures I cover it well, put it in a large cardboard box). I plant my winter peonies at the very beginning of May, and there are no problems. But I (unknowingly) had experiences of planting from containers in June... The plants, to put it mildly, did not feel well. Several tree-like trees were destroyed, although they looked great before planting. This is how I became convinced that the recommendation was correct: if you weren’t able to plant it before mid-May, then it’s better to keep the peonies in containers until August, it will be more comfortable there. You can dig it in the shade.

http://myproplants.com/100029/a126633/p554059/

From my own experience, I was convinced that peonies (herbaceous) planted in spring or early summer then slow down their development and do not bloom... I did this out of necessity (I saved peonies that were subject to “liquidation” from friends), I hope they will still be pleased with the flowering this year !

http://www.asienda.ru/post/29767/

My grandmother planted it like this: she dug a hole, put broken bricks on the bottom and on top of it an old fabric, like a quilted jacket, so that the fabric was thick. I covered it all with soil and only then stuck the seedling in. It turned out that the root grew in breadth, and not in depth, and this gave a lot of flowers.

https://otvet.mail.ru/question/24292928

Peony photo