Now Is the Best Time to Plant Peony Bulbs for Better Blooms — How to Grow Them Right

Enticing fragrance, showy flowers, and easy care are just a few reasons to include peonies, Paeonis spp., in your landscape. These herbaceous perennials bloom from late spring to early summer, often with a luscious display around Mother’s Day.

This guide offers everything you need to know about these exquisite flowers including when and how to plant and showcase them to start the spring bloom season.

When to Plant Peony Bulbs

Peonies are hardy in USDA growing zones 3 to 8. Bulbs perform best when planted in late summer into autumn from August through October, extending into November in southern climates.

Set them out six to eight weeks before the first frost in your hardiness zone for good root growth before the ground freezes. Autumn planting allows peonies to establish over winter with a better chance of flowering the first spring.

Peonies also can be planted in spring two to three weeks before the final frost. Plants are slower to establish and require a period of temperatures below 40°F to produce flowers, so don’t expect blooms the first year.

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How to Plant Peony Bulbs

Peonies are sold in pots and as bare root tubers. When transplanting a container-grown peony, set it in the planting hole at the same level as in the pot. If you’re growing from tubers, look for those with four or five buds. Follow these directions.

1. Choose a location that receives six to eight hours of daily sun exposure for the most abundant blooms. Peony tubers are tricky to divide and transplant and can last more than 50 years in the garden, so plant them in a spot where you intend to keep them.
2. Prepare the planting bed. Peonies thrive in fertile, well-draining soil with a pH of 6.5 to 7.0. Amend the soil if necessary.
3. Dig a generous planting hole 2 feet wide and deep.
4. Create a mound in the center to a height of 2 inches below the soil surface.
5. Place the tuber on the mound with the buds facing up.
6. Add bone meal to the backfill and return it to the planting hole carefully, keeping the peony tubers at 2 inches below the soil surface. Avoid tightly packing or tamping down.
7. Water thoroughly.

How to Care for Peonies

With just a little annual care, peonies kick off the gardening season in high style with colorful, fragrant spring flowers. Give them 1 to 2 inches of water per week and fertilize annually with bonemeal or compost after spring bloom.

Remove spent stalks to ground level in autumn. A light winter mulch is okay but remove it in early spring. Keep newly planted tubers well-watered.

5 Companion Plants for Peonies

• Allysum: Their low mounding habit along with abundant small flowers in bright primary colors is perfect for interplanting with taller peonies. Their combined fragrance is enticing.
• Clematis: A trellis covered in large clematis blooms makes a beautiful backdrop for peonies. Peonies protect clematis roots from bright sun vines needed for abundant flowering.
• Daylilies: They bloom slightly later than peonies for continuous flowers along with plenty of choices for attractive color combinations. Slender green leaves contrast nicely with the peony’s palm-shaped, dark green foliage.
• Delphinium: Lacy foliage adds a soft, open look when interplanted with peonies. Tall flower spikes take over as peony flowers start to fade.
• Bearded Iris: Graceful-lipped flowers and lance-shaped foliage add contrast to fluffy, round peony blooms with their broader leaves. Bloom periods overlap for striking displays.

5 Growing Tips You Need to Know

• Use rings to support peonies and protect them from strong winds. Without support heavy flower heads lead to the sad sight of blooms drooping onto the ground.
• Deadhead spent flowers along with their fruits (small, hard buds that appear at the center of the petals), for bountiful blooms next year. Cut stems below the flowerheads and above the foliage.
• Give multiple plants plenty of room, at least 3 feet apart. Good air circulation discourages powdery mildew and botrytis.
• Avoid planting too deeply and root competition from trees and other shallowly rooted plants which can cause failure to bloom.
• Ants and peonies share a symbiotic relationship with flowers providing food and ants protecting blooms from other insects. For cut flowers, hold stems upside down and gently shake or lightly rinse with clear water to remove ants.