Question: We’ve just moved from the city to a place with 2 acres of land. Several kinds of flowers have come up but I don’t even know their names. I’ve been told they are iris, tulips, daffodils and peonies all scattered through weeds and grass. I’d like to get them together in a neat flower bed. What book would tell me how to start a flower garden? Is it true that peonies will not bloom for five years after being moved? RL, Ohio.
Answer: A visit you the local book store or Amazon should yield a wide selection of books to inspire and help you. If the plants you mention make good, healthy growth, they’re worth moving. As soon as leaves die off, move tulips and daffodils, replanting the first in October and the second in September. Iris and peonies may be lifted and divided in September. Of these only the strong pieces should be replanted. It is true that poor pieces of peonies may stand five years before flowering. Good divisions, however, may flower the following year. It is well to restrict them the first year to one or two flowers. This will build them up so that in future years they will bloom lavishly.
