General Summary in caring for your Herbaceous & Itoh Peonies.
Thank you for purchasing your peony “baby” from the Red Hill Peony Estate.
Below is quite a lot of information which will help you grow your peony in Australian conditions…….
In the middle of May each year, cut all the DEAD LOOKING (but NOT dead) stems and leaves off your Red Hill Peony Estate Peony (leave a couple of cms of stem so you know where your crown is, (throw leaves in the bin, not compost as the fungus, Botrytis may be a friend to our wine industry but is certainly not a friend to our Peonies).
1. Plant your potted peony into the ground (or large pot) in the middle of May.
2. Choose a site in your garden that allows the peony to get the full morning sun and the north sun up until about 2pm in our hot Australian summers. Peonies need at least 5 hours of sunlight to maximise the number of flowers that the plant produces. (Most mature, seven years+ herbaceous peony plants should produce 18-25 flower stems each season (Corals produce a few less, while Itohs apparently can produce up to 50!).
3. ***Make sure that the top of your plant (the top red eye) is sitting no more than an inch under the ground, (it must be close to the surface to get the benefit of the frost and/or the ice that you are going to put on your plant).
4. Put a good cup of ice on top of your peony to help the flower buds develop. Do this 3-4 times during late May, June and July. Choose a very cold night, below 5 degrees, so your ice does not melt too quickly. Remember to pop the ice in a zip-lock bag if you are going to make the soil too wet and thus encourage root rot.
5. ****You only need to ice if your temperatures do not get down to zero or below at least 8 times per winter.
6. No icing is required until your peony is at least 2 years old as you should not let your Peony plant actually flower until it has had two full years in the ground; thus allowing the plant to concentrate on producing a good root system first. Remember, if you have chosen a perfect site in your garden for your peony, your herbaceous peony could live up to 120 years; (but who is counting).
7. Never put autumn leaves or compost on top of your peony crown unless temporarily protecting it from very hot weather or a very late frost, (afterwards make sure you take the mulch off the crown).
8. If your peony is only one or two years old then, in Autumn and Spring each year, add a handful of garden Lime and a fist full of “Rooster Booster” around the dripline of the leaves. (Rooster Booster is only available from Bunnings).
9. ****When your peony is three years old or over, either buy the specially prepared peony fertiliser from the Red Hill Peony Estate or find a fertiliser that is roughly 5:10:10 meaning; 5 parts Nitrogen, 10 parts Phosphorus & 10 parts Potassium
10. All the best in growing a healthy and long living peony.
Site Selection:
All peonies are best suited to locations that are well drained, never become
waterlogged, and are not watered by a daily sprinkler system. They are tolerant of a wide range of pH but prefer neutral to slightly alkaline soils, a pH to 6.5 – 7.5. If you are unsure of your soil condition or pH, you can purchase a pH Test kit from a garden centre (e.g. Bunnings).
When choosing a site first, consider the amount of sun. As a minimum, they need 5-6 hours of sun a day. The more sun an herbaceous peony has, the better it will grow and the more flowers it will have. Planted in less than full sun, it will take longer to mature and flower. I have found that the Australian hot 40+ degree days do burn their leaves, you could always shade them for those hot days.
Soil conditions:
Peonies tolerate a wide range of soil conditions. For Peonies planted in clay soil, you need to amend to ensure good drainage, they take longer to become established but produce beautiful flowers for generations as clay soil retains nutrition. (The Peonies at Red Hill Estate are planted in the heavy red clay soils of the area.)
Peonies planted in sandy soil take less time to become established but can produce less striking plants as nutrients easily leech out of the soil. If planting in sandy soil, amend with clay and compost and top dress several times a year with compost to renew the soil. Be cautious when top dressing as this can increase the depth of your plants and plants that are too deep will not flower.
As your peony prefers to be planted and left in one location for generations, it is worth taking the time to dig a proper hole and amend the soil.
Once you have dug a hole you will need to create a friable loam – a soft, dark, rich, loose, soil that is composed of clay, compost (try and source a compost with no or few sticks, as sticks can introduce fungus to the roots), and sand. These soil conditions will allow for free water flow while retaining proper moisture and nutrition.
If you have clay soils you will need to amend for drainage. A good solution is to mix compost and rock dust, (Lilydale topping type fine grit or even some chicken shell grit), crushed stone often used as a base when laying out new paving stones, into your soil. Rock dust can be obtained from a neighbourhood quarry (Hillside in Dromana). Gypsum, a type of rock dust, can be obtained commercially from garden or hardware centres or from Diggers in Dromana. In addition to drainage, rock dust has the benefit of adding micro-nutrients to the soil.
If you have sandy soil amend with clay and compost to increase the retention of nutrients.
Soil consistency:
This consists of three parts compost, two parts stone dust, and one part dirt from the hole. For the top of the hole, surrounding the peony root itself, we create a mixture of equal parts compost, stone dust, and dirt from the hole.
Potting your Peony:
Peonies are long-term perennials that will live for generations. They do best when planted in the ground. That said, you can plant peonies in pots if you don't have any ground space and you are experienced growing perennials in pots.
Containers should be over 5 gallons in size, the bigger the pot the better. Tree peony pots need to accommodate a deep planting, with extra room at the bottom for drainage. Commercial potting mixes are available, look for those with extra porosity. In mixing your own consider using rice hulls, crushed granite (at feed stores, used for raising chickens), or crushed rock (available at stone centres) to increase drainage.
Remember that your peony may need to be staked and that it will take several years to reach full size. Containers will need to remain outside in the winter as peonies need the cold season to flower. Be sure that your pots do not fill with water as this will cause peonies to rot; (cover during constant wet periods).
I do not recommend having peonies in pots for a few seasons and then moving them to the ground. Peonies should be planted originally in their permanent location.
Moving them will cause undue stress to the plant.
The alternative is to grow peonies in raised beds:
The exception is that if you are moving, take your peonies with you. The ideal time to dig peonies is in the autumn. It is acceptable to dig your peonies in autumn, put them in pots, and replant them in their new location the following autumn.
All the best everybody, we are all still learning how to best grow them, so feel free to share your stories.
Cheers, Jill
Jill Holmes-Smith, Director
Red Hill Peony Estate
jill@redhillpeonyestate.com.au
www.redhillpeonyestate.com.au