Paeonia

Peony, (tree type)

This is a Genus of more that 30 species of clump forming herbaceous perennials and deciduous (tree type) sub shrubs. Peonies are found from Europe to E. Asia and in western North America. Peonies are sought after for their large, colorful, sometimes fragrant flowers. Their foliage is mid-to dark green, sometimes silvery to gray-green, dissected and almost strappingly fern like.

The tree variety of Peony is a must for the formal border or the prefect specimen plant.

These sub shrubs are well suited to Washington gardens. Their desert plate sized, single to double, richly colored flowers adorn the 2-3 foot woody based plants in early spring.

Peonies are very long lived and usually resent being disturbed. Therefore when placing in your garden choose a spot that gets at least 5 hours of sun during the growing season. Grown in deep, fertile, humus-rich, moist but well drained soil. When planting a tree Peony, or any Peony for that matter, you will get the best results by digging a hole three times the size of the current pot and working in as much rich garden loam and compost as possible. Make certain that you do not plant your plant too deeply. Most of the trouble experienced with non-blooming Peonies can be related to lack of humus in the soil usually combined with their being planted too deeply. In fact if you have a Peony that is in the right location, and are fertilizing regularly yet still not getting blooms you may want to dig up rework the soil and re-plant several inches higher than currently planted. By doing this you may convince a non-blooming plant to bloom.

Propagate by taking semi ripe stem cuttings in summer or grafting in winter.

Although basically disease free, they may suffer from ringspot virus, tip blight, stem rot, leaf blotch, and Japanese beetle. Usually a preventive systemic chrysanthemum based treatment will work as a preventive if applied monthly from May through September. Apply a sulfur-based treatment once or twice in the growing season to prevent most viral based infections.

Master Gardener, Derek Thomas is principal landscape designer at Thomas Landscapes and Maintenance can be reached at 301.642.5182 or at www.thomaslandscapes.com