such a short time of joy for the garden. I grow many, and I can’t tell you what any of them are. I wish I could say that they were gifts from my great aunt, or divisions from my favorite neighbor, but to be truthful I planted them all and never took the time to save the tags or write down what they are. Lazy, lazy, lazy.

And now for some risky advice, follow my train of thought all the way through before you shout “idiot!” and click the x at the top of the screen. ….If your peony plants did not bloom again this year, or are blooming poorly, move them now…………

I had to stop typing there for a second to shield my head in case you threw something at me.

Peony is a full sun plant. In the sun it will bloom prolifically and happily for you many many years. As gardens grow, shade encroaches via aging trees and shrubs and that shade may now be affecting your peonies. Tough pill to swallow I know. Peony also only bloom if their eyes (the skyward protrusions on the roots) are buried less than 2 inches deep in the soil. Mulching or spreading compost over the years may have resulted in them now being lower than that. There IS an optimal time to transplant peony , and it is the fall, and this is springtime I know. But in the fall will you honestly look at what is now a bunch of foliage surrounded by rudbeckia, asters and anemone and think, “hey, I needed to move that peony”, then go get your shovel and do so? I think probably not.

So while it is on your mind, go get the shovel , dig it out and divide it if it is big enough (two eyes per division) and replant it in a NEW hole (important direction there folks..see the caps?) Add compost or manure or whatever you use to the hole, double check the planting depth before backfilling. Go write on your calendar or PDA “water peonies” in July sometime to jog your memory . Then next spring  when you see those gorgeous beautiful blooms remember to come back and thank me. And yes, newly planted divisions and transplants will almost always bloom the first year. No garauntees here, but every one of the 20 or so I put in this past fall is loaded with buds, the only time I see them off to a slow start   is with bare root divisions from the mail or store.

An added benefit.. peony in the shade is much more suseptible to botrytis, the icky gray mold like fungus that covers and disfigures the foliage.

More on peony next posting..including pics!…

Check out what is blooming here in the Burrow gardens on the page What is blooming now last week of May

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