When Is the Best Time to Plant Peonies? An Analysis of the Best Planting Time

Confucianism points out that in doing anything, one needs favorable timing, geographical advantage and harmony among people. Philosophy teaches everyone to follow the laws of how things develop. Planting peonies also requires giving them appropriate sunlight, air, heat and water according to their growth habits, especially choosing the right time.

When to Plant Peonies

Peonies are planted in mid-autumn, with the specific planting period preferably from mid-September to late October.

Peonies sprout very early in spring, budding in February, unfurling leaves in March, and forming buds and blooming between Qingming and Guyu. From May to September is the period of flower bud differentiation in peonies. After mid-September, although growth tends to stop and the plant gradually enters dormancy, its roots do not completely stop growing. Planting peonies at this time easily produces new roots, which can promote normal growth and flowering the following year. In the Yellow River basin, the best time to plant peonies is between the Autumn Equinox and Cold Dew.

Growth Characteristics of Peonies

The peony is a plant that very much likes a warm, dry environment with fairly abundant sunlight, but as a national flower, the peony is also very strong in cold resistance and drought resistance. However, what I mean here is only drought resistance; strong direct sunlight is very bad for peonies. Another point is that during its growth the soil around a peony must not hold too much water. For it, loose, deep and fertile soil is the best environment for growth. Relatively speaking, the high temperatures and highly humid weather of the south are not very good for peony growth, and beautiful peonies can only be enjoyed under specific conditions.

Peony Planting Techniques

The peony's characteristics are “four likes and four fears”, namely it likes coolness and fears freezing, likes warmth and fears heat, likes light and fears shade, likes dryness and fears dampness. Therefore, to plant peonies, choose a spacious, well-ventilated place with morning sunlight and fertile, loose soil; do not plant them in waterlogged ground, damp shady ground or rubble-filled ground. When building a raised bed for planting, the size of the bed should be determined by the number and size of the plants, and the height should be determined by the original terrain and the height of the water table at that location.

The general height is 50-100 cm, with the base built from stone blocks or bricks and covered with some broken tiles or broken bricks. If the soil is heavy clay, it should be replaced with culture soil. The culture soil is mixed using 6 parts garden soil, 3 parts leaf mold and 1 part chaff ash. Peony planting differs from that of other flowers: after planting, peonies do not need watering, and certainly should not be watered with manure. Earthing up the soil at the start of winter is enough to protect against the cold; after spring warms up, open up the earthed soil to favor growth.

Pest and Disease Control for Peonies

1. Pest control for peonies

Underground pests include mole crickets, white grubs and cutworms, which mainly damage the root bark and tender buds. To control mole crickets, use poison bait and nighttime light traps. To control white grubs and cutworms, fermented organic fertilizer can be mixed with phoxim and turned into the ground 20 cm deep, with good results.

Above-ground pests include scale insects and longhorn beetles, which mainly damage the stems and cause the death of the whole plant. To control scale insects, use 1000-1500 times diluted dichlorvos sprayed during the larval hatching period; spraying fluoroacetamide is even more effective. During dormancy or before sprouting in early spring, brushing the branches and trunk with 3 degrees Baume sulfur mixture also has a good effect. To control longhorn beetles, use sulfur powder or Stemona to block the holes, or use cotton dipped in 50% dichlorvos at 20 times dilution to block the holes. For seedlings, sealed fumigation with aluminum phosphide is also a good method.

2. Disease control for peonies

① Leaf spot disease. Leaf spot disease is also called "black spot". This disease is caused by a fungus of the genus Pestalotiopsis, and the fungus mainly infects leaves, stems and flowers. It generally occurs 15 days after flowering, and from mid-July it becomes increasingly severe as humidity rises. In the early stage, the disease appears as brown spots the size of grain kernels on the underside of leaves, with slightly darker edges, forming irregular concentric ring-shaped blighted spots; in July the spots enlarge and merge with one another, and the leaves wither and scorch. On affected petioles a dark green fuzzy layer appears, and on stems raised lesions form. Small pink spots appear on flower stalks and corollas. The control method for leaf spot disease should combine cleaning the garden with chemical control. Around "Start of Winter", clean up the dry leaves in the peony field thoroughly to reduce the source of pathogenic fungi. In May, spray Bordeaux mixture at 1:1:160, once every 10-15 days, until the end of July. In the early stage of the disease, spray zineb at 500-800 times dilution, once every 7-10 days.

② Violet root rot. Violet root rot is a fungal disease spread through soil and roots. The affected areas have purple or white cottony mycelium, commonly known as "black lump head". In mild cases, no new roots grow, branches become withered and thin, and leaves turn yellow; in severe cases, the entire root crown and roots rot and the plant dies. It mostly occurs in hot, rainy seasons. The most effective way to control this disease is to choose a well-drained, high, dry plot for planting; cultivate the soil promptly during the rainy season to reduce humidity; crop rotation and breeding disease-resistant varieties can all reduce the harm. Before planting, applying 500 times diluted quintozene solution to the roots, or soaking the roots in 1000 times diluted 5% amobam solution, both have good results.

Common ones also include sclerotinia disease, anthracnose, rust disease and so on. In old peony-growing areas, there is also damage from nematode disease, and appropriate chemicals should be selected for control.

Autumn is a good time for peony root development, so planting peonies should be chosen in mid-autumn. Although peonies give people an impression of grandeur, in fact the peony plant is very delicate, fearing cold, heat, shade and dampness. So if you want to cultivate noble and magnificent peonies, you need to give them more refined care.