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soapdragon

Peony Help Required, Please!

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I've just taken delivery of some plants that I'd forgotten I'd ordered! Amongst the horticultural delights on offer there is a bag of soil and roots labelled 'peony'. No planting instructions at all! There looks to be three tuber/root things in the bag but I have no idea what to do with them! Our soil is shaded, heavy clay but now too dry to dig anyway so I am thinking pots...but assuming that I put only one in each pot? Will they be happy in pots? Do I cover them completely? Will they need full sun or would they put up with some shade? Hopefully they will be OK outside on the somewhat sheltered patio?

Any advice from green fingered Omlet peeps would be very welcome!

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Peonies prefer sun, and a moist but rich soil.  They need to be planted quite shallowly, if they are too deep they won't flower, or at least it will take ages for them to flower.  They don't like to be moved and I wouldn't think they'd do that well in pots as they do really like moisture and rich soil.  Until the garden is ready I'd try and keep them moist and cool (which might be loosely buried in a pot in shade) until you could have a go at getting them into the garden.  Ideally I'd find somewhere where they will get plenty of sun, some shade is fine, but you don't want it too wet or too dry (under normal circs!) so I'd avoid under a tree. I dig over a patch of decent soil, adding grit for drainage if necessary, a good dollop of compost/manure, pop them in and wait.   They may just acclimatise this year and do something next year, although it does often take them a few years to establish and flower.  I'd mark where you plant them as they disappear in the winter, but are relatively early to emerge in the spring, with stems and then leaves and then those absolutely glorious flowers - it will be exciting to see what colour you've got!

With the roses, you don't need to remove the wax as it will degrade and break off on its own.  Its how we buy grape vines over here.  However, I think its the sun which speeds this degradation up, and if you have a poor summer, or if it is bothering you, then you could probably help the wax off by scoring it with a knife or secateurs or similar, but you should be careful not to dig into the live rose wood.

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Thank you Daphne, that's really helpful, sound advice. I know where the rose will go as it is, apparently, quite hardy and adaptable (it's Queen Elizabeth according to the package) but am a little concerned about the peony as our garden is shaded clay with two huge silver birches and a large bay blocking a lot of sun so I may just bite the bullet and pop it into a pot, with good drainage holes, so that it can get some sun on the patio. I can do some research on what sort of feed would be best for it, once it starts to come through. The label says that it is coral.......we shall see!

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I have two peonies ( well three actually, but one is a useless tree peony with stupid ugly flowers) one in the garden and one in a pot. The one in the pot is doing okayish. The one in the garden is gigantic! There is really no point in planting one in shade. It won’t do very well. But they don’t take up to much space in width, so maybe a sunny spot by the front door if the backdoor is not an option?

A bare root won’t flower this year but a peony doesn’t need much care and will give amazing flowers!

C18143DE-8F77-4B96-9F46-DABE100CBBED.jpeg

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When we moved I dug up my peonies and popped them in pots - that was just over 18 months ago - they are doing well in the pots and I'll keep them there until I've got the garden better organised after the extension is built.  They do like full sun, but an old friend had the most gorgeous red peony in the shade!  Crazy and against all the normal rules!  :lol:

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   I bought two of them at the same time, and planted one in our heavy Thames clay, and the other in a pot with a mixture of soil and compost.   This was about 3 years ago.  The one in the ground is now looking quite sturdy and flowers well.  The one in the pot is not doing as well.  Probably because I forget to water it! 

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