Peonies
(Paeonia lactiflora cvs & hybrids)
"Why, asks a sensible, practical gardener, should we grow plants that are in flower just for a week or two? My own answer is that precisely because their season is fleeting that we love peonies so much."
"The excitement begins with the spring thaw, when the first stubby shoots break through the ground. Anticipation gradually builds to a climax when the first flower bud opens, and is more keenly felt because we know that once each plant is in bloom we have only a few weeks in which to enjoy it."
- Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall -
As the saying goes: "first year sleeping, second year creeping, third year leaping". Peonies take some time to reach maturity, but once established they will flower for many years.
The peony annual growth cycle consists of four stages: rapid stem growth to flower in Spring, semi-dormancy in Summer, root growth in Autumn ending finally with full dormancy in Winter.
Picking starts at Labour Weekend here, with the early hybrid reds & corals, finishing at the end of November with 'Old Faithful' & 'Bowl of Cream'. Buy our peonies, in season, at the Nelson Farmers Market.
25th August 2012
Tony Murrell, from the Radio Live Garden Show, called us recently
to have a chat about trouble-shooting peonies... read more
