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Peonies too deep, forever????

11 years ago

I have two peonies that are quite old - planted in about 1980. They have never bloomed prolifically like the old farmhouse varieties of my childhood, but since the foliage stays nice and green and healthy and they demand no maintenance beyond occasional compost and fall pruning, they have always managed to keep their spots in my garden. I suspect they might be planted too deep, but after that many years can't they figure it out and work their way up to where they want to be. DON'T THEY EVEN TRY???? (They get lots of sun, and the reasonable soil supports lots of other plants)

Jan

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Comments (10)

calistoga_al ca 15 usda 9
11 years ago
Jan if you are expecting your peonies to crawl up to the surface, give it up. Peonies can be dug and replanted, or just raised in place. If you think they are too deep they probably are, and this fall would be the time to raise them up. Al
pembroke
11 years ago
Jan: I also planted some too deep and after a couple of freezes and thaws (2 years) they came back and started blooming again. 1980 is a long time. I'd probably dig and divide and plant shallower (1 1/2 inch below top of soil). Pembroke
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Are their leaf fans showing and looking healthy? If they are, then straight below them will be the new roots and they will have settled in, thought they might not flower this coming season. As the weather warms and the leaves get more growth on them you could brush back the soil covering the rhizome so it gets the summer sun. If there is no obvious sign of new growth (and you can see there is in local gardens) - fossick with a cautious finger or small hand tool to see if you have a growing tip below the surface. Generally they 'make their way to the top' as the new growth becomes older so you may not need to lift the plants at all.
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The top of all my peonies roots are exposed to the air. All the buds are in plain veiw. I have about 25 peonies planted like this in the mild winter temperatures of the Napa valley and they all bloom regularly. If you plant too deep they will grow OK but will not bloom. Al
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i don't think it's because they're too deep. it would seem to me that if they were too deep they wouldn't send up flower stalks at all, only leaves. the buds turning brown and dying could be a disease but i'm not sure what. i've never had that problem, but some plants that my ex had did the same thing, only there were other buds that opened so we didn't care. i divided the plant figuring that that would take care of itself. i left the biggest ones there and took the smaller ones and so far they haven't bloomed yet(this is going to be their second summer)though i'm hoping they will this year. i would add a bit of fertilizer (preferably one that has a lower nitrogen content, the middle number) or amend the soil with some bone meal right around the plant. if you think that they're getting too big maybe dig and cut at the end of this year and see if that changes anything. good luck!
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dublinbay z6 (KS)
11 years ago
When I bought my house decades ago, I inherited a peony that almost never bloomed. It probably was in sunshine long ago--before the oak trees became BIG trees, and it probably had been slowly sinking in that same old spot that was actually becoming too wet when it rained since water could collect there.

Last year, I finally got around to digging it up with a big rootball and moving it (laboriously) to a new hole about 10 feet away--where it got much more sunshine and was placed higher up.

Anyway, short version of this tale is that that decades-old almost non-blooming peony in one year--in its new site and properly planted--turned completely around. This is what it looked like this year:
{{gwi:296470}}

I think it was worth all the work--don't you?

By the way, I'm guessing it is Bowl of Beauty, but some other forumers think it might be Cora Stubbs. That's possible too.

Kate
hala2012
11 years ago
Good job Kate :)...it looks lovely.
Here is a site I came across of peony names:

http://www.theplantexpert.com/peonies/PeonyList.html
I checked online on images of peonies, it seems more closer to "Cora Stubbs".
Hala, Toronto, Canada
jan_on zone 5b
Original Author
11 years ago
Ok Al, this fall I will get out there with fork and shovel and raise those beasts, see if I can scare them! Pembroke - you suggested dividing. Would that really give them a boost? - I don't have space for more plants, and these aren't the great hulking specimens I remember from my childhood in old farm gardens.
Kate - mine will never be as pretty as yours, no matter what I do to them!
Thanks for the info.
Jan
pembroke
11 years ago
I suggested dividing which would cause you to put your new roots into a shallower (one to one and half inch depth) and sunny location. Pembroke
jayco
11 years ago
Dublinbay, those are lovely but they sure don't look like my Bowl of Beauty!

BoB has a spikier center, not so much of a ball of petals, and is yellower.
dublinbay z6 (KS)
11 years ago
Thank you jayco for that additional information. I guess I'll settle for now that that peony is (maybe) Cora Stubbs. Too bad--I really liked the name "Bowl of Beauty." Oh well, the blooms are lovely, regardless of what we call them.

Kate
freki
11 years ago
It might be Gay Paree, also.
stevelau1911
11 years ago
I really doubt peonies can stay too deep year after year. I am currently observing tuber formation and buds forming on one of my test plants. The stem itself seems to have the ability to become the root system if it is deep enough.

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