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Stupid newbie question

18 years ago

My friend gave me a bunch of beautiful cut peonies from her garden yesterday. I am very new to this so please bear with my stupid questions. When the flower dies off can I save the seeds and sow them. Will anything happen or will i be wasting time. I appreciate any feedback. maria

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Comments (5)

jayco
18 years ago
Nope, unfortunately you can't. With peonies a seed pod has to form after the bloom fades, and then I believe it's very difficult to propagate the seeds. However, you can purchase roots pretty inexpensively for planting in the fall. And it's worth it--peonies are very easy to grow!
gardenlove
18 years ago
Hi Maria...no questions are stupid!...I thought it was an excellent question and learned more myself by your asking it....Maybe your friend can give you a piece of the root from her Peony if its large enough?...I have been wondering if a peony must be completely dug up and the entire root "divided", or if a piece of the root can simply be cut off from the mother plant, and the rest left in place undisturbed?...I am still learning how the main root/rhizome of peonies grow and spread and how deep they go, etc...I am assuming they tend to crawl along just under the surface of the soil(is this correct?..or do they dive deep?)....Take care all!...GardenLove
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User
18 years ago
You could ask your friend if you could harvest some seeds after the pods open. This would mean that all the spent flowers could not be removed right away.

Look for carpels, the center part, that are swelling. This is the seed pod. The seed won't be ripe until July or August. Watch for the pods to split open. Then sow the seeds right away. Several other posters have given good instructions so I won't bore you with details. It does take several years from seed to flower but it teaches us patience.
jazzmom516 (Zone 6b, MA)
18 years ago
You can ask your friend to give you a part of the root, but it has to have at least 3 eye buds on the roots for it to make more stems and blooms for the following year. The eye buds look like potato eyes only pinkish red in color. Make sure that the eyes are planted about 2 inches below the soil with the remaining root at least 8-10 inches below the eyes.Here is a link about peonies and their care below.Go to the letter P and click on Peonies.

Here is a link that might be useful: Peonies
tkhooper
17 years ago
Does anyone have a picture of a ripe seed pod. I am brand new to peonies. I bought an assortment of the rhyzomes last year and planted them in the garden. One bloomed this year. I think it was a powder puff peonies but I'm not sure. Shortly after it bloomed we had a thunderstorm and all the petals were knocked off. But underneath the red stamen there were 5 green bulges that have since turned brown are these the seed pods?

I have included a link to a picture of the peony when it was in full bloom. If you can help me identify it I would appreciate it.

Here is a link that might be useful:

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