Summary: Peonies are pretty in and out of bloom, good mixers, hardy, love-lived, easy to care for and peonies are the perfect perennial for your outdoor living room garden
Like the indoor living room, the outdoor living room – the garden – is most successful if it is pretty, comfortable, and no great chore to keep in order. The perennial of perennials for a scheme like this is, I think, the peony. It is pretty, in and out of bloom, a comfortable team-mate for other plants and no great chore to keep in fine condition: disease-resistant, hardy even in cold climates, so long lived you will not need to replace it. Unlike most perennials, it need not be divided more than once in 15 years (provided it is properly planted in the first place).
The doubles are magnificent, But today’s yards and gardens are cozy and their space is limited. So I am inclined to feel that the less monumental types are a great improvement for today’s gardens. Beside producing charming blossoms when they are supposed to, they stand up to wind and rain, and never become pollen spotted. The semi-doubles, which I like almost as well, are equally good for the suburban garden. Although the flowers of some semi-doubles are flamboyant, they are never heavy and will not overwhelm a small planting or an arrangement indoors. Cut in bud, conditioned in deep water, and allowed to open in a fairly cool room, they seem to last forever.
Peonies are effective in many ways because their nicely cut, dark green foliage remains crisp and attractive long after blossoms are gone – until fall. They look splendid grouped in front of evergreen and deciduous shrubs, massed in a bed alone, as accents in the herbaceous border, as low hedges. They are especially pretty with daffodils in spring when they thrust up soft red shoots which contrast nicely with daffodil colors. And, later, they are good with plants like the gladiolus which, when set out in spring, flower soon after the peonies have finished. For maximum display in the garden, do not disbud plants but let all side buds develop to form an enormous bouquet.
In the New York City area peonies are planted in September and October, or late March and early April. Prepare, in a sunny spot, holes 2 feet in diameter and at least 10 inches deep. Do this two weeks or so before planting so soil has a chance to settle. Make sure soil is well-drained. Discard the subsoil. To the topsoil, add bonemeal, superphosphate or a 5-10-5 commercial fertilizer. Cut all damaged parts off divisions. In most areas, place eyes not more than 2 inches below soil level. Use pure topsoil to surround division.
Although nothing can replace plenty of sun, cultivation and lots of water, some food (a cupful of a complete fertilizer early in April, and again in late June and in late August) helps established plants maintain top production. The results? Flowers just a little bit bigger, fuller, more colorful.
by D Hyde
