Here in the Northwest the first peonies probably came out in a covered wagon. Nobody knows for sure, but most likely a little piece of root was smuggled on board by Mom or Grandma with hopes it wouldn't be discovered as a non-essential, because, after all, it was one of the most precious possessions the family had, even if the head of the family considered it just another weed to pull or, a hundred and fifty years later, to whack.

Throughout the centuries people have thought of peonies as the most beautiful flowers in the world. In ancient China, for example, peonies were a symbol of prosperity, coveted by wealthy mandarins, and far more costly than they are now. To buy one prized peony at that time cost as much as taxes on three houses. Nowadays you can get a good peony for considerably less.

There are, however, three basic things you need to invest in your peony before you can expect anything in return. A sunny spot in the garden. A little care in spring and fall. And a little patience, perhaps for a year or two, before your peony becomes a full-size bush laden with awesome blossoms that burst open in spring with reckless joy and heady fragrance. Just this spring, one of our customers, so elated with her multitude of blooms and so overwhelmed by their beauty, said, "I just want to roll in 'em".

The great full doubles, or lactifloras, similar to those that grandma used to grow, are these days in more variety and abundance than ever before. The flowers, as big as cabbage roses (up to ten inches in diameter), can become heavy when wet. While these are some of the most treasured flowers one can grow, some of the older varieties on tall, thin stems can be floppy. Very floppy. Floppy yes, but not a garden flop by any means. All they need is a little help. And you don't have to spend a small fortune on glorified, gilded cages to hold them upright, either. An easy and efficient solution is to buy a roll of green, plasticized fence about 18" or more in height at your local hardware store. Cut a piece long enough to make a hoop around the plant and, if need be, fasten to the soil with a stake or two. Put this hoop over your plant in early spring. By late May or June when your peony plant has fully leafed, you'll hardly notice the fence around it. What you will notice is how nicely your bush stands up, even after a rain. You can do 10 or 12 peonies for around $12.00, which is about the cost of a roll of this fencing material.

DOUBLE 'W. E. Blandhette'	SEMI-DOUBLE 'Raspberry Charm'
IMPERIAL 'Goldfinch'	SINGLE 'Little Dorrit'

Peony Forms

The peony has four basic forms. Most familiar are the doubles and double bombs. These are full multi-petaled flowers with stamens sometimes showing. The bombs pile petals higher than the doubles. There are semi-doubles, which have fewer petals than a double and show a center of golden stamens. The simplest and some of the most beautiful peonies are singles. One row of petals surrounds the center. Some of the single hybrids have bright, unusual colors or delicate tints and patterns around glowing centers of lacy stamens and contrasting carpels. Then there are the Japanese or Imperial types, often as big and showy as the doubles, but in a different way. The Imperial flowers have a wide, single row of petals that surround a center of petal-like staminodes. The staminode center of many Japanese varieties often explodes with petaloids (smaller petals than the ones that surround the flower) and can pile as high as any double bomb.

In height, most peonies are about 3 to 3-1/2 ft. tall. Some of the older doubles and many of the Imperial varieties can be up to a foot taller. White Innocence, a single peony, is even taller than that-5 ft. or more. Very few peonies are short or dwarf and although choices at this height are limited, some very good short or dwarf varieties do exist.

Culture

Peonies thrive in all but the warmest areas of the U.S. and certainly in the Northwest. Peony roots themselves absolutely flourish in Western Washington, where the winters are usually very mild and the growing season enviably long. But, on the downside, persistent cool and rainy weather in spring can bring on some of that pesky botrytis. With our reputation for rain, some people back East don't believe we can even grow peonies here. The truth is, the Seattle area gets less rainfall annually than most areas in the Midwest and East, and in fact is usually very dry through summer and fall. Here the rain comes concentrated in a few months and often in the form of a pervasive gray mist you can cut with a knife. Not only that, we've got a great PR firm that constantly puts out bad stuff about our weather so people think twice before they move here.

A peony garden, like any other kind of garden, must start with good, well-draining soil. Amend your soil deeply (about 1-1/2 feet) so that you'll have loose, rich, friable soil. If you live on the West side of the Cascade Mountains, you should add dolomite lime to your soil before you plant. Dolomite lime is garden lime. It is not the kind of lime the Mafia uses, understand? Pick a sunny location for your peonies, at least five feet away from any established trees or shrubs. Don't crowd your peonies with other plants. Practice patience. Learn to appreciate foliage for a little while, knowing that blooms are in your near future. We know someone who was so impatient, she dug her peony up every few weeks to see if it was growing.

Some people have magical recipes for growing peonies. One lady, who reputedly grows excellent peonies, adds a tablespoon of sugar at the bottom of the hole before planting. For fragrance? For sweetening the soil? Who knows. For her it works, but best for most of us to practice sensible gardening-prepare your soil with care, plant the peony root in the right place at the right depth and keep your garden clean of old foliage.

The right planting depth is critical. In our climate plant the peony tuber so that the uppermost eyes on the tuber are no deeper that 1-1/2" to 2" below the surface of the soil. (In areas with warmer winters, like central to southern California, plant the eyes at ground level.) And of course the eyes must point upwards, towards the sky. You would be surprised how many people think the peony eyes are roots and plant the tubers upside down. Mulching is usually not necessary in Western Washington, but sometimes it's a good idea if planting late in the fall or in winter and one of those Alaskan freezes heads south. If the weather becomes dry and severe freezes come along without any snow cover, your newly planted peony root could be vulnerable to freeze drying and possibly dying. So if you want to be on the safe side, mulch with fresh straw or pine or fir branches-never use leaves! Then in early spring, be sure to clear away all mulch.

The time to plant bare root peonies is in the fall. The root grows underground throughout the winter and by springtime has a root system capable of sustaining the plant. Most peony authorities agree that bare root peonies should not be planted in the spring. However you will see bare root peonies for sale even in late spring. As long as someone is out there to buy 'em, someone'll be out there to sell 'em.

If you want to plant peonies in the spring, buy peonies that have been potted up in the fall. Peonies in pots are easy to plant and, if the root divisions were planted into the pots in fall, by spring the potted plants will already have a system of small white roots. Take care when transplanting not to damage the new roots. While peonies have traditionally been planted bare-root in the fall, good potting practices at some nurseries have made it possible to choose your peonies in the spring, as many people prefer, when the potted roots have become nice looking plants!

Selecting A Beauty

There are so many beautiful peonies to choose from. But you do need to be careful that you are choosing peonies and not merely pictures. It's ideal to select from peonies in a real garden. You get to see the whole plant and get to study its habit. Choosing from pictures alone is sometimes difficult, because, more often that not, the color is not a true likeness. It's relatively easy to take a good and accurate photograph of a peony, but when it's printed in a catalog or book, the color is difficult to control. It's not that catalogs or books intentionally misrepresent, it's that color separations for the printing process, the printing of fine color and fine tuning the color is a costly process requiring more money and more expertise than most nurseries can afford or most book publishers are willing to spend. So enjoy your color pictures for what they are: a reasonable but not totally accurate representation of the flower's color. Tip: If you're taking color slides of flowers, the film that most hybridizers agree gives the most authentic color is either Fuji Astia or Kodachrome 64. However, if you like more enhanced, glowing colors in your pictures, there are many other films to choose from. But if your peony pictures start looking like your garden is on Mars, consider Astia or Kodachrome.

With just a little care and a lot of sun, peonies should thrive in your garden. Ants may come to suck the nectar from the voluptuous buds, but ants do not harm the plant or eat the flower. No need to set out poisons or ant traps. If you cut a blossom to take inside the house, simply shake off the ants outside first. Folklore has it that peonies won't bloom unless ants are on the plant, that ants cause the buds to open. This is not true, but it's a good story that hopefully protects a few ants from the ravages of chemical warfare in our gardens, so let's keep the story going. Actually, all the ants do is get a lot of footprints all over your peony leaves.

Controlling Disease

A blight called botrytis can occur on your peonies, so watch for signs of it. Botrytis is an airborne mold that grows in cool, damp weather and can damage buds, parts of leaves and sometimes entire stems. You can treat the infection, however, with certain fungicides that are widely available, such as copper sulfate, Daconil, Maneb or fungicides such as Chipco 26019 or Decree which are available in commercial quantities. Before spraying, cut off all infected parts of the plant and dispose of them. If only part of a leaf is infected, just cut off that part. Best, however, to start a, preventive spray program early in spring when the peonies are up about 8-10 inches, then spray every ten days or so until bloom time. Other things you can do to prevent or minimize botrytis: 1) Plant your peonies in full sun. 2.) Leave room for good air circulation-don't crowd your plants. 3) In fall always cut your peony stems at the ground and keep your garden clean of any plant debris. 4) Don't use fresh manure as a top dressing for your peony plants, especially in Western Washington where the combination of wet, saturated soil and manure that may not really be well composted can rot your plants 5) Feed your peonies in early spring with a good time release fertilizer with nutrient ratios from 10-10-10 to 14-14-14. Or, use frequent applications of a balanced organic fertilizer.

Experienced gardeners know it's most sensible to take things in stride. There are times Mother Nature will blow you away with glimpses of beauty and perfection and at times like these your peonies will be the envy of the neighborhood. But imposing your will on Mother Nature and demanding perfection at all times is simply no way to cut a deal.