My neighbor’s peonies recently burst into bloom, the impossibly lush petals unfurling in delicate layers to reveal perky stamens tipped in gold.

Few herbaceous perennials can rival a peony for sheer drama. Whether you prefer the simple yet elegant singles or those that are extravagantly multilayered, the exquisite flowers are the epitome of spring.

There are two primary peony forms: herbaceous (Paeonia officinalis), and tree (Paeonia suffruticosa). The herbaceous type grow to a height of 2 to 4 feet, while tree peonies can reach 4 to 6 feet.

Many gardeners are familiar with herbaceous peonies. They appreciate the exceptional peony foliage that lasts all season and adore the gorgeous, often fragrant blossoms that come in every conceivable color but blue.

Peonies are typically grouped into five types based on the shape of their petals: single, semi-double, double, Japanese, and anemone. Most singles (also know as Chinese types) are characterized by one row of broad petals surrounding a cluster of golden yellow pollen-bearing stamens.

Some of the other flower types have central petals in the place of stamens. For instance, semi-double and so-called anemone peonies have broad central petals (often intermingled with pollen-bearing stamens), while double peonies often sport central petals that are as wide as the outer ones.

And then there are the Japanese herbaceous types with their unusually long, thin central petals that bear a striking resemblance to elegant sword blades.

It’s all a bit mind-boggling to the uninitiated. Fortunately, tree peonies are pretty straightforward. Most produce elegant, slightly nodding saucer-sized single or double blooms on statuesque, branching shrubs that develop a definite trunk.

And unlike herbaceous peonies, which die down to the ground after the first frost, the stems of tree peonies remain in place all winter just like any other woody ornamental.

Once any peony blossom opens, it lasts about a week. Since many of the buds tend to open all at once, the show for any one plant doesn’t last terribly long. The key to an extended season? Making sure to include early, mid- and late-season varieties so that the display extends over six weeks or more.

Here in the Willamette valley our winters are just cold enough to provide the dormancy required for peonies to thrive. If sited correctly and given even modest annual care, peonies can live in the same location for decades.

Planting specifics

Peonies tolerate a wide range of soil types, but a bright (6-8 hours of full sun) site with well-drained, loamy soil high in organic matter and with a pH that ranges from 6.5 to 7.5 is especially appreciated.

Remember as you situate your peony to plan for the future. With any luck, you won’t be moving this plant for a long time. Taking a few extra moments at planting time to amend the soil and refine the site (moving any shrubs that are too close; installing drain tile if the site is soggy) will pay big dividends in the coming years.

Peonies need a large planting hole that’s about 15 inches deep and 2 to 3 feet across. Mix plenty of compost, peat moss and/or aged manure into the soil at the bottom. If your peony is bare-root, plant so that the ‘eyes’ (small, red-colored buds) are one to two inches below the soil surface — no deeper, or your peony may not flower in the future. Give them elbow room, to encourage good air circulation.

During the spring, peonies are primarily available already planted in gallon containers. They should be at the proper planting depth already, so simply place them into the hole and make sure to plant level with the existing soil line.

Backfill with more soil and tamp down firmly. Water thoroughly and feed with a diluted solution (50/50) of compost tea. Mulch with two to three inches of shredded bark or coarse compost.

At the beginning of each season, when peony shoots are three to four inches high, apply a complete fertilizer (a synthetic 5-10-5 or an organic 5-5-5) at the rate of three to four pounds per 100 square feet of bed area.

Water the fertilizer into the soil immediately. One application of fertilizer per year is enough to maintain plant growth and assure flowering.

Pests and other problems

Few insect pests bother peonies, but peonies can have disease issues. The worst and perhaps most prevalent is botrytis blight (sometimes called peony blight).

Botrytis seems to be especially troublesome when there are heavy rains during the spring. The disease affects leaves, stems and flowers.

I am, unfortunately, intimately acquainted with peony blight. It has infiltrated a favorite white heirloom of ours called ‘Festiva Maxima,’ blasting semi-developed buds into charcoal black dust and withering stems.

Commercial fungicides can help. If any of your peonies suffer from blight this spring, remove every trace of infected plant material immediately. Rake up the top inch of soil around your plant and toss it into the trash (not the compost pile). Replace contaminated soil with a compost mulch and then spray with a fungicide specific to blight.

You may also want to experiment with drenching the crown (and any healthy leaves/stems that remain) every two weeks with full-strength compost tea for the remainder of the season. Two gardening friends have had excellent results using compost tea to vanquish peony blight, with the added benefit of seeing their plants double in size from one season to the next.

Repeat the process (either fungicide or compost tea) next spring, when shoots emerge.

Another disease, leaf blotch, develops during warm, moist weather more typical along the East coast. Glossy, dark purple spots form on top of the foliage and eventually cause leaves to die. Again, remove infected parts and treat. It also helps to avoid overhead watering.

Other fungal diseases include Phytophthora blight and Verticillium wilt. These soil-borne fungi can be diagnosed by your local extension agent. Unfortunately there is no cure other than destroying the infected plants. Never replant a peony in diseased soil.

Ants, commonly seen on peony buds and blossoms, aren’t harmful. They’re simply attracted to the sugary substance secreted by the flower buds.

Flopping, which results when stems aren’t strong enough to hold up heavy blossoms, can be minimized by corralling growing plants within a wire cage. By the time blooms open, maturing foliage has hidden the wire supports and there’s nothing to notice but (upright!) blossoms.

Why won’t my

peony bloom?

If your plant is balking when it’s time to bloom, don’t despair. There could be several reasons why it’s refusing to flower, including:

• Planting too deeply: Set herbaceous peonies so that the buds or “eyes” are between 1 and 2 inches below the soil surface. Plants buried too deeply produce beautiful foliage but no flowers.

On the other hand, tree peony tubers need to be planted 4 to 5 inches deep. You want the soil to cover the graft. (You’ll know where the graft is by the ridging on the stem and the different texture of the bark.) Going deep allows a tree peony to establish its own roots in the soil.

• Immature plants: Herbaceous peonies with three to five ‘eyes’ generally start to flower profusely the second year after planting, while grafted tree peonies typically require at least three years in the ground before they’ll bloom. Some plants need more time, so give all new plants time to prove themselves before you start to worry.

• Excess nitrogen: A balanced fertilizer is key. Too much nitrogen encourages foliage at the expense of flowers. A synthetic 5-10-5 ratio or an organic 5-5-5 ratio works well.

• Inadequate sunlight: Peonies need 6-8 hours of direct sunlight to thrive. Any less and flower production declines.

• Overcrowding/competition from nearby plants: Give your peonies plenty of elbow room. Fewer rivals allows roots to spread easily, and also improves air flow and the penetration of sunlight.

If, after years of bountiful blooms, your peony isn’t flowering well it could benefit from division. Carefully dig up the clump and wash away the soil to reveal the eyes. Divide into sections using a sharp, sterilized knife. Each new start should have three to five eyes and strong roots. Replant immediately, remembering to keep the eyes just an inch or two below the soil surface.

* Phosphorus and/or potassium deficiency: Those are the last two numbers in the three-number fertilizer label sequence. Phosphorus encourages blooms and a strong root system, while potassium is helpful in the overall health and vigor of a plant.

* Insect or disease issues: Scale is a rare insect pest; diseases such as botrytis and leaf blotch are more common. Remove infected foliage (toss in trash or burn — don’t deposit in your compost pile), then treat remaining plant and surrounding soil with a synthetic or organic fungicide.

But remember: many, many peonies grow for decades without any health problems whatsoever. Don’t let the threat of disease keep you from growing these terrific plants.

Fabulous Peonies to Try

Everyone has their favorites, but the following herbaceous hybrids are consistently mentioned in many lists of terrific, easy-care cultivars for the home gardener. E early bloomer; M midseason bloomer and L late bloomer.

Single

• P. ’Bowl of Beauty’ — rose pink — E

• P. ’Krinkled White’ — white — M

• P. ’President Lincoln’ — deep red — LM

• P. ’Seashell’ — pink — M

Semi-Double / Anemone

• P. ’Mildred May’ — white — M

• P. ’Robert W. Auten’ — dark red — M

Japanese

• P. ’Cora Stubbs’ — pink, cream center — M

• P. ’Nippon Beauty’ — red, red/yellow center — L

• P. ’Break O’Day’ — rose, red/gold center — M

• P. ’Carrara’ — white, white center — M

Double

• P. ’Kansas’ — brilliant red — E

• P. ’Festiva Maxima’ — white — E

• P. ’Nick Shaylor’ — blush pink — L

• P. ’Fairy’s Petticoat’ — dainty pink — E

• P. ’Sarah Bernhardt’ — med. rose pink — M

Tree Peonies

Chinese, Japanese and cultivars from North America and other countries abound. Their crepe-paper blooms and regal bearing make any specimen a treasure. Expect interesting names like ‘Shimane Otone Mai (Young Dancing Girl), a midseason Japanese cultivar with semi-doubled ruffled petals of glowing rose, or ‘Prometheus,’ a dramatic semi-double that’s one of the most vibrant red tree peonies in cultivation.

Even basic tree peonies simply listed as ‘Red,’ ‘Pink’ or ‘Yellow’ are magnificent and worth bringing home. But do expect to pay a premium, with prices typically ranging anywhere from $30 to $300, depending on the cultivar.

Roy Klehm, whose great-grandfather started growing, hybridizing and selling peonies back in 1903, owns Klehm’s Song Sparrow Nursery (www.songsparrow.com) in Wisconsin. With an ancestor on the original roster of the American Peony Society, it’s clear that his family knows their peonies. The tradition continues today, with the current list of peonies sold by Song Sparrow numbering close to 800!

Some of Roy’s personal herbaceous favorites include:

* ‘Angel Cheeks,’ a soft pink double-flowered estate peony that is borne on sturdy stems. The plant is mildly fragrant.

* ‘Pillow Talk,’ a gorgeous pink/rose-hued double flower.

* ‘America,” a red single flower with a bright yellow center.

* “Pink Hawaiian Coral,’ a coral semi-double flower with round petals that forms a rose shape around yellow stamens. This plant won Klehm a gold medal from the American Peony Society in 2000.

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