Hi again. I wanted to expand on my question, since I did a search in the Peonies forum and found a couple of similar threads that echo the recommended approaches of a) obtaining a more zone-appropriate type of peony [not an option to me at this time as these plants are all I have to work with]; or b) shallow planting if gardening in a mild climate.

More specifically, I'd love to hear from anyone who has had success with growing herbaceous peonies in our particular zone. What are the success stories? Also, what did people try that failed?

Is it possible that peonies could be lifted and chilled each year (like cold-climate bulbs) or planted in containers that get placed in the fridge?

Any advice would be appreciated. I imagine I'm not the first person in my area to attempt to grow them. Perhaps I should keep a photo journal of my little experiment and share the results. Thanks again!

Myles

Check with your county UCCE office for the chilling hours where you live. If you have 400 hours herbaceous peonies should bloom OK if planted with the buds exposed to the air(in plain view)through the winter. Al

Myles:

This question and thought has been going around for many decades among Sol Cal. gardeners.

I, personally, have never seen any successful plantings of peonies in So. Cal. And I've REALLY looked. And asked.
Your thoughts on artificial chilling are, as you say, not new. I've heard them and many more.

But just so I don't come off as the ultimate naysayer, I, too, would really like to know if ANYONE in So. Cal has had any REAL success with peonies. All theories aside (400+ hours), is there anyone who has grown a peony in So. Cal, had it actually increase in size appreciably, had it bloom more than once or twice and had a significant increase in flowers each year?

Please let us all know.

Garden experimenting is fun. It's really fun when you're experimenting with something for the first time.

Joe

The only success I've heard of is with Paeonia californica which requires no chilling. I have had no luck obtaining it so far which is a shame because I have a spot with perfect conditions for it.

Ryan

I never lived in a location with less than 400 hours of chilling, but I did not make up the number. Allan Rogers for many years the owner of Caprice Farm Nurseries of Oregon a major supplier of peonies provided the number. When I lived within four miles of the waters of the Monterey Bay I was told by all the local nurseries peonies would not bloom there. I and others proved that was not true. I too would like to hear from some of those "daring" so-cal gardeners who are successfully growing blooming herbaceous peonies. Al

I have no doubt that Al's 400 hours is valid.

When I researched commercial peony production as cutflowers for the "Cutflower Quarterly" years ago, that 400-hour number was probably a good part of the equation for successful flowering.

But it's not that simple and I'm sure it's much more than just hours of chilling.

The Sunset Western Garden Book (a source that I always reference) indicates that peonies are suitable for our zones here (14-17). Mostly, we do get the 400 hours and then some. Yet I have not seen one good one here. And I personally know dozens of people who have tried and mostly failed (including ice cube experimentors and the like). Yes, I do know a couple of people who are very excited that their 10-year-old peony in a pot has had one or two flowers the last couple of years.

I had even heard of a lady in the Santa Ynez Valley that "had great peonies". When I tracked her down, she told me that "they come up in April, have a couple of blooms in May, and then die down in June". That was her "success".

Much as with so many eastern perennials (including Hosta, Astilbe, Echinacea, Monarda, Phlox), I believe there is a combination of factors that make it difficult to impossible to succeed with these plants. The factors include soil quality, water quality and summer humidity. The Bay Area (also Zones 14-17) mostly has better soil and water conditions than we do in our Zones 14-17 here on the Central Coast and some gardeners, with lots of prep work, do have degrees of success. (There actually used to be a commercial peony cutflower grower in the Fremont area.)

But So. Cal has even less agreeable conditions.

Plus combine all those not-so-happy conditions with our snail populations.

Again, if anyone in So. Cal has truly succeeded with herbaceous peonies, please chime in.

Joe

I'm a "no success" in zone 23. I've tried LOTS (though just planting them--no lifting and chilling) and only ever had lots of happy-looking green foliage. They kept coming back (green only), but last spring I dug them up and tossed them, which was sad because they were big fat things covered in lovely plump pink buds, but the recurring disappointment, was, alas, to great to face;)

I'm curious about the So Cal mountains e.g., Big Bear, Lake Arrowhead?
Surely they get 400+ hrs of chill?

Here in the SF Bay area near San Jose, you can grow some herbaceous peonies and on a good year some of them will bloom. The ones recommended to me were Festiva Maxima, Sarah Bernhardt, Karl Rosenfeld, and Bowl of Beauty, though someone else also suggested Mons Jules Elie. I have tried the first three and am planting the fourth this year. Festiva Maxima definitely did the best; it is thriving. SB comes up every year and outs forth a bloom or two but the foliage is pretty chlorotic. At Filoli in Woodside they have an excellent display of both herbaceous and tree peonies so I keep trying. Of course, I get more chill here than the southern parts of the state does.

An article I read some time ago said that if you were trying to push the range of peonies into a lower chill area, experiment with early ones or singles for best results.

Rosefolly