Bodacious Blooms Floral Arrangement and a Bad Week to be a Peony

Find a growing guide and tips for the long-lived and beloved perennial, the Peony. You’ll also find Peony floral and table inspiration.

Happy Monday!

I eagerly await peony season which is usually early to mid-May in our zone 8a garden.

Peony blooms are fleeting, especially as they tend to coincide

with volatile spring weather. . . heavy rain with storms, blustery winds and spiking temperatures

 that fade the blooms and reduce the flowers to petal confetti in matter of days.

Last week was a bad week to be a peony (or a rose) as Mother Nature

delivered a round of storms with over 2 inches of heavy rain just as

the peonies were reaching their peak.

We were fortunate that we didn’t have any property damage,

unlike so many across the country,

including two neighboring counties with EF1 tornados.

Our thoughts and prayers are with those who lost their homes

in the storms and tornados last week.🙏

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Introduced in 1906, ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ is a herbaceous peony and a favorite peony variety

with pink double blooms that resemble old-fashioned roses and known for its fragrance.

The bodacious blooms can range from seven-to-nine inches in size at their peak

and will make your heart skip a beat!

The large heavy blooms require staking or support to prevent weight from snapping the stems.

‘Sarah Bernhardt’ also has a healthy amount of deep green foliage

that adds interest to the garden throughout the growing season.

I use an obelisk for one of my peonies to support the blooms and some

DIY Flower Supports from a Tomato Cage to support the others.

I’m a fan of these clips that come in two sizes to attach a plant to a stake,

ideal for supporting stems, climbing vines or tomatoes.

I cut as many as peonies as I could without removing too much foliage from the plants

as the foliage serves as food stores for next year’s blooms.

I left the stems with multiple buds, as small, tight buds won’t open after they are cut.

Even staked, the double-petaled blooms can’t hold up to heavy rain. . . *sniff*

I was hoping to use the peonies as a centerpiece for an

outdoor table but Mother Nature had other plans.

To give the peonies their due, I made an arrangement using a garden urn.

The urn isn’t watertight, so I placed a plastic container inside the urn

and secured it with waterproof floral tape.

Chicken wire makes for easy flower arranging to support the flower stems

and is an eco-friendly alternative to wet floral foam as it is reusable.

Tip: Use a coated chicken wire that’s rust resistant after repeated uses.

Japanese Privet blooms here in early May. . .

Note: Japanese privet is considered invasive in the southern U.S.

 and springs up from seeds carried by birds that spread the plant.

Privet was already established when we bought our property 20+ years ago.

In the plus column, privet has a sweet fragrance and the bees love it.

Cutting the privet flowers helps eliminate potential reseeding.

Privet has a woody stem. Some folks swear by crushing woody stems to help them ‘drink’

but crushing the stems damages the xylem, causing bacteria to grow.

Instead of crushing woody stems, use a vegetable peeler to remove 2 – 3  inches

of the outer bark of your woody foliage

or flowers to help them ‘drink’ and stay fresh longer.

I cut some privet branches for filler for the peony arrangement.

Two products I swear by for long-lasting flowers are Floralife Flower Food and

Crowning Glory Solution Floral Spray.

Flower food / floral preservative provides nutrients for your flowers and controls

the pH for optimal water uptake, while also reducing bacteria in your vase water.

I like the conveniece of the 10 oz. container of flower food for easy mixing,

especially if you’re using a larger vase. You don’t have to fiddle

with opening little packets to mix up 16 oz. of solution at a time,

and it’s more eco-friendly since you’re not disposing of little plastic wrappers.

One 10 oz. container will make 30 quarts of solution.

Regular readers have heard me sing the praises of Crowning Glory.

If you’re not familiar with Crowning Glory, it’s an antitranspirant spray

that seals in moisture and dries clear.

It’s safe to use on all flower types and is especially beneficial

for flowers that are prone to wilting due to moisture loss, like hydrangeas.

Note: Peonies have a short life in the garden and the vase. You won’t get 2 weeks out of your peony arrangement which is what I typically get from flowers after spraying them with Crowning Glory, but you will get you a few more days to enjoy the blooms.

More peony facts:

For gardeners plagued by deer, here’s some good news:

Peonies are highly deer resistant and typically shunned by deer!

Peonies need the cold winters in USDA zones 3 through 8 to set buds.

There are three general classes of peonies:

🌸 Herbaceous peonies that die back completely during the winter.

🌸 Tree peonies – deciduous shrubs with woody stems.

🌸 Itoh hybrids (hybrids between tree and herbaceous peonies) are deciduous

and have short woody stems that bear new leaves in spring.

Itoh peonies don’t require a winter chill, which makes them ideal for warmer climates.

Peonies will bloom for about 7–10 days in the late spring to early summer so planting

a variety of peonies with staggered bloom time will help extend the season

Peonies can thrive and bloom for 100 years if planted properly.

 Most newly planted peonies take at least 3 years to produce a good show of flowers.

Peonies don’t like to be moved, so choose a location with care;

avoiding planting them under large trees or shrubs, which compete for nutrients and water.

Peonies do best with full sun and well-drained soil. There’s no need to fertilize much other than

a low-nitrogen formula such as 10-15-10, every spring,

or an annual application of compost.

Plant peonies where they can get at least six hours of full sun a day.

They’ll also appreciate some afternoon shade in the hot and sunny southern U.S.

When growing peonies, give them some kind of support, like a ring or grid to grow through,

or stake them so the big heavy blooms don’t lay on the ground,

especially after a rain shower.

Cut the spent blooms and seed pods on the peonies to just above a leaf to help the

 plant put more energy into root development for next year’s flowers.

When cutting peonies in the garden, resist the urge to cut them all.

You want to leave as much foliage as possible on the plant and limit your bouquet

to one-fourth to one-third of the stems in bloom,

as peonies rely on their foliage to replenish food stores for their blooms the following year.

Cut peonies first thing in the morning while plants are still hydrated and choose buds

that look full and feel spongy or like a marshmallow – too tight and they won’t open.

That way you can watch your flowers open and enjoy the lush blooms for about a week.

The warmer it is, the faster the flowers open and fade,

so keeping them cool will help them last longer.

Peonies are pest-and disease-resistant but there a couple of common fungal diseases –

botrytis and phytopthora – that can crop up in rainy weather.

Signs of botrytis include blackened buds that fail to open,

black spots on the leaves, and young shoots that rot off at ground level.

Over time, these blackened areas soften and become covered with gray mold.

Botrytis or phytopthora don’t usually kill plants but they’ll return the following year

without some intervention.

Here’s what you can do to help peonies avoid or fight off fungal infections:

🌸 Don’t water overhead. Watering at soil level prevents spores from being splashed onto the stems.

🌸 Allow space between plants for good air circulation.

🌸 Keep an eye on your peonies, especially in spring;

If you notice signs of infection, remove blighted buds or leaves,

discarding them with the trash or burning them.

🌸 Clean up in the fall, removing spent foliage. Burn or throw away any debris,

as this fungus can survive in compost piles.

🌸 If things get really bad, try using a fungicide such as Garden Safe Fungicide 3.

It can be used as a preventative and also after the infection has started.

Unless you find damaged or diseased stems and leaves, don’t prune peony foliage

until after the season’s first hard frost or until the foliage turns yellow.

Cut the stems back at or near ground level, being careful not to damage the crown.

Ants on peony buds are common and harmless and are attracted to the nectar on the buds.

To avoid bringing ants inside with your peonies,

cut your peonies when they’re in the ‘marshmallow’ bud stage

or give your newly open flowers a gentle dunk and ‘swish’ upside down in a bucket of water

to get rid of any hitchhikers that may be hiding in your petals.

For warm areas, plant low-chill varieties of peonies and plant the crowns no more than one inch deep.

Peony cultivars recommended for Zone 8:

White flowers: ‘Baroness Schroeder’, ‘Miss America’, ‘Duchesse de Nemours’, ‘Festiva Maxima’, and ‘Shirley Temple’

Pink flowers: ‘Felix Crousse’, ‘Sarah Bernhardt’, ‘Karl Rosenfield’, ‘Kansas’ and ‘Monsieur Jules Elie’

Red flowers: ‘Buckeye Belle’, ‘Red Charm’ and ‘Ole Faithful’

Coral Pink flowers: ‘Flame’, ‘Soft Salmon Saucer’, ‘Pink Hawaiian Coral’, ‘Coral Charm’ and ‘Coral Sunset’

Find tips from Garden Gate on holding over your peony blooms in the refrigerator, HERE.

I don’t usually do this as you sacrifice any smaller, tight buds on the same stem.

Find more peony love below:

Pretty in Pink Peonies and Blooming Dishes in the Potting Shed

Peonies and Ball Jar Bouquets in the Potting Shed

Lakeside Tea with Peonies and Easy Technique + Recipe to Make Rosette Cookies

Do you have peonies blooming in your garden?

Thank you for your visit, sharing with:

 Between Naps on the Porch