Despite being one-trick ponies, peonies are worth growing

You’re about to kick yourself for not growing more peonies. I know because it happens to me every year.

Herbaceious peonies (Paeonia), those big, flouncy, floral harbingers of late spring, are one-trick ponies. They only look good for the two weeks—or less—when they are flowering.

It’s why I have very few of them in my garden. It’s a lot of space – 3 or 4 feet — to dedicate to a plant with such a short period of interest.

But how much space is worth a plant that is an absolute showstopper in the garden, if only for a short time?

Whatever the answer, you’ll toss it out the window the moment you see peonies in full bloom. You’ll want them not only to admire in the garden, but also to fill huge vases in the house.

Peonies are fairly easy to grow. They are best planted in early fall as bare roots from which they will establish strong plants for about two years before putting on a proper flower show in year three.

The only way to fail with a peony is to plant them too deep. Bare roots should be planted no deeper than 2 inches. Plant them any deeper and you’ll have lots of foliage and no flowers.

Give them full sun, or even part sun if you’re OK with a reduction in flowers, and rich, well-drained soil and then stand back and watch them grow.

And then watch them flop, because if you’ve seen peonies flower, you’ve seen peonies flop. Those huge flowers get heavy, especially when they get wet. Rain when peonies are blooming is such a sure thing that even online prediction markets wouldn’t take a bet on it.

The only way to prevent the flop, and the stem breakage that often follows, is to stake the tall stems early. Various methods can be employed, including rings, cages and semi-decorative grow-through grids, but the key to all of them is to install them while the stems are still small.

Or, don’t install them at all. It could be considered a lazy gardener’s solution, but if you are growing peonies mostly for those glorious bouquets, then it doesn’t really matter if they flop or not, because you’ll be cutting the flowers before they fully open.

The best time to cut flowers is when the buds have loosened and just started opening. Experts call this the “marshmallow stage,” when the bud has about the same feel as a marshmallow has when given a gentle pinch, but you can cut them at any stage after that as well.

Not all peonies have a great scent, but two classics, ‘Festiva Maxima,’ a white flower with shocks of magenta, and pink ‘Sandra Bernhardt,’ will perfume the air of any room they grace.

I only have one peony in my garden, which may be one of the only remaining plants from when we bought the property nearly a quarter century ago. Peonies are exceptionally long-lived perennials, lasting as long as 100 years, so I like to think of it as part of the history of the house. I enjoy the flowers each year, and then promptly regret not having more.