Flower Focus: Peonies
Peonies are a fan favorite flower here at Sweet Earth Co. — and we understand why! They’re big, beautiful blooms with an amazing scent that make the perfect focal flower in many types of arrangements.
Peonies have long been symbols of love, happiness, wealth, and romance and are traditionally given at special events to share best wishes in luck and love.
The Basics
Pronounced: “pee-uh-nee”
Zone: 3-9
Bloom time: Late spring to early summer based on variety
Needs: Full sun; well-draining soil with a 6.5-7.0 pH
Size: 3’ tall and 3’ wide
What Do They Look Like?
There are many different varieties of peonies in a palette of colors ranging from white to various shades of pink, coral, red and yellow. The varieties are sorted into four types: Woodland, Tree, Herbaceous, and Intersectional based on their growth habit.
Herbaceous types are soft-stemmed perennial plants that die down to the ground at the end of the growing season. Instead of dying to the ground, Tree types drop their leaves and the woody stems remain bare and in place all winter. Intersectional peonies, also known as “Itoh” peonies, are a cross between woody and herbaceous species. The name honors Japanese breeder Toichi Itoh, who was the first to make this cross breed.
There are also various peony bloom types. The American Peony Society’s official standard includes six forms – Single, Japanese, Anemone, Semi-double, Bomb and Full double.
How We Grow Them
While all peonies require moist but well-drained soil and full sun, they are very hardy and long-lived plants. (Learn more about how they pulled through a late spring cold snap in this blog post.)
Peonies are grown from tubers which are planted in the fall. Make sure not to plant the tubers too deeply and water them after they begin to sprout. Peony plants take about three years to mature and it is advisable to limit cutting the blooms for bouquets until the plant is mature.
Because peonies are heavier plants, they will also likely need some form of support. We harvest our blooms before they are fully open, in fact we cut them when they are in a soft bud stage, and so we do not need to stake them to support them.
How We Use Them
We grow peonies at Sweet Earth Co. for our flower arrangements. They are beautiful in wedding bouquets, our weekly bouquet subscriptions or even a “just-because” bouquet.
Their large blooms and fragrant aroma give them lots of personality — perfect for a special event or an attention-grabbing tablescape.
We also feature peonies in the flower garden beds that we design for clients. Some of the companion plants we like to plant along with peonies are bearded iris, allium, baptisia, bupleurum, forget-me-nots, nigella and nepeta.
