Peony flowers are classified as “doubles”
huge round balls with many petals, however semi-doubles with fewer petals and “single”
with one sparser row of overlapping petals surrounding a handsome cluster of
gold stamens in the center and “Japanese’s” single with a nest of showy, petal like
stamens in the center. Moreover colors range from dark maroon, to bright red,
to pink, to white and occasionally yellow. Many especially the pale ones, are
fragrant.
They grow on long, arching stems
in a mound of dark green foliage about three feet high and three feet wide. The
plants do not bloom for long, although you can choose varieties that bloom for
several overlapping periods, and the foliage is attractive all summer and into
fall, when it turns a pleasing gold color. Paeonia tenuifolia (fern-leaved
peony) is low growing and admired for both its handsome foliage and its dark
red flowers. “Tree peonies” are really shrubs that grow into a mound about five
feet high and five feet wide; there is a wider range of flower colors among the
tree peonies than with the herbaceous kind, including yellows, golds and some
with spectacular streaked markings.
By choosing a selection of early,
midseason and late varieties you can keep a peony bed in bloom for as long as
six weeks, this is a good idea because they make a good cut flower as well as a
grand show in the garden. Some of the many hybrid peony varieties are Kansas a
bright red double Festiva Maxima a beautiful variety over hundred years old,
which is a white-flecked double with traces of red; and Mrs. Franklin D.
Roosevelt a pale pink double.
If you want to grow “Peonies”
then you should plant in fall in deep, well-drained soil enriched with organic
matter. Thus, making sure the eyes is no more than two inches below the soil
surface, because planting too deep may result in failure to bloom. Peonies
usually do very well when planted right, even though they may take a few years
to get established and bloom well. They are not suitable for climates with very
warm winters.
Staking with peony rings will
keep the blooms more attractive, particularly when it rains. If you have
planted your peonies correctly and they still do not bloom after several years,
other conditions may be at fault, such as excessive moisture or drought, too
much heat or too much shade, as well as various pests and diseases. To keep
plants healthy, always clean up dead foliage at the season’s end. Heavy feeding
may also encourage the plants to bloom. Dig a trowelful of a balanced
fertilizer into the soil around each one in early spring and again after
flowering. Source: Charismatic Planet