Mapping the Best Spot With Markers for Peonies
They look a bit like the Truffula trees in the Dr. Suess book, The Lorax. Big balls of petals on slender stems, peonies, make their
annual appearance in spring. Petals come in a variety of shades of pink, yellow and white. In order to keep your varieties straight and your plants safe until they emerge, you can plant markers for peonies right alongside your future blooms.
Getting a Strong Start
The Old Farmer’s Almanac suggests planting peonies in late September or in October. The chill of winter helps them become established and strengthens them for their spring blooms. They’ll do best in moist, well-drained soil and partial shade. Be sure not to plant them more than a few inches under the soil or they will struggle to rise up out of the soil.
Mark the Spot
Peony plants start as bare root tubers tucked just a few inches under the soil. Markers for peonies will help keep them safe during the late fall and before they poke through the ground in early spring. If your markers for peonies are in place before they emerge, you can plan ahead. Peony blooms are so large and their stems are so slender that their design seems a mystery. As the blooms grow, the stems bend until the blossoms pull toward the earth. One way to keep your blooms upright is to use support rings specifically designed for shrubs like peonies.
Not Very Neighborly
Peonies do not like competition for soil nutrients or water. They do best when they’re given space around them. Being bushy and full, with huge blooms and large waxy leaves, they are a pretty dense plant. Giving them a lot of space will help air flow through them a little more easily. They don’t like trees or other shrubs as their neighbors. They’d prefer a nice airy cluster of flowers or perhaps a leggy rose bush.
A Lovely Arrangement
Peonies make stunning cut flowers, but beware the little creatures that may come inside with them. Ants love licking up the nectar on the peony buds and so become tucked deep inside the blooms or under the green leaves at the base of the blooms. Before bringing your peonies inside, gently sift through the petals and under the leaves with your fingers to evict any little ant friends. Don’t spray the peonies, though. The ants help keep other pests off your peonies.
It’s tempting to wait until the peony flowers are bursting before cutting them for your vases, but you’ll get more bloom for your buck if you cut the flowers when the buds are still pretty tight and small. A little lukewarm water in a vase will coax the flower open more quickly.
Kincaid Plant Markers can give your peonies a little lift by helping mark where to put that support ring, and our markers for peonies can help distinguish between all the varieties that you may enjoy in your garden. Some peonies have lived to over 100 years old. We have faith that our markers specialize in longevity, too, and can offer your garden a lifetime of identification and protection.
