How to Grow Four-Season Peonies? A Detailed Guide to the Latest Cultivation Methods

The peony is a perennial deciduous plant of the genus Paeonia in the family Paeoniaceae. Its flowers are brilliant in color, jade-like in beauty and pearl-fragrant, elegant and unrestrained, magnificent and stately, and it has long enjoyed the reputation of “king of flowers.” In May 1985 it was rated second among China's top ten famous flowers. It is not only a flower beloved by the Chinese people, but also cherished by people all over the world. Let's take a look together below at how to grow four-season peonies!

Growth Habits of Four-Season Peonies

Four-season peonies like a warm, cool, dry, sunny environment. They enjoy sunlight but also tolerate partial shade, tolerate cold, tolerate drought, and tolerate mild alkalinity. They dislike waterlogging, fear heat, and fear direct blazing sun. They are suitable for growing in loose, deep, fertile, well-drained neutral sandy loam on high, dry ground; they grow poorly in acidic or heavy clay soil. Ample sunlight is fairly beneficial to their growth, but they cannot withstand the blazing summer sun. When the temperature rises above 25°C, the plant enters a dormant state. The optimum temperature for flowering is 17-20°C, but before flowering it must undergo low-temperature treatment at 1-10°C for 2-3 months. It can withstand lows down to -30°C, but in cold northern regions appropriate cold-protection measures must be taken in winter to avoid frost damage. The hot, humid weather of the south is extremely unfavorable to peony growth, so cultivating peonies in the south requires providing them with specific environmental conditions before one can enjoy their wonderfully beautiful flowers.

Propagation Methods for Four-Season Peonies

1. Division: The mother plant used for dividing peonies is generally a robust clump. On the mother plant used for division propagation, root suckers should be retained as much as possible, and all roots on the new seedlings should be kept, so that after 5 years of growth more new seedlings can be produced. Seedlings obtained this way are easy to establish after planting and grow more vigorously; the more roots retained, the more vigorous the growth.

2. Grafting: Peony grafting propagation is divided into two types according to the rootstock used, one being wild peony and the other being peony (herbaceous peony) roots. The commonly used peony grafting methods mainly include three: cleft grafting, side grafting, and bud grafting.

3. Cuttings: Cut the cuttings from the branch first, detach them from the mother plant, and then insert them into soil or another medium to make them root and become new plants. For the cuttings, choose current-year soil shoots emerging from the peony's root crown, or, when pruning and shaping the peony, choose branches with solid stems and plump terminal buds and free of pests and diseases as cuttings, 10-18 cm long.

4. Sowing: Before sowing, the soil must be carefully prepared and disinfected. The land should be deeply plowed and finely worked, with sufficient base fertilizer applied. Then build small beds 70-80 cm wide; either hole sowing or drill sowing is fine. Do not sow too deep, with 3-4 cm as the limit. After sowing, cover with soil level with the bed surface. Then gently firm the soil and water thoroughly immediately.

5. Layering: The peony layering method is a propagation method that makes use of the principle that branches can produce adventitious roots. Bend the branch down or bury it with soil while still on the plant, without detaching it from the mother plant, and keep the soil moist. The buried part of the branch roots, and then it is cut off and planted to become a new plant. This likewise belongs to the asexual propagation methods of peonies.

Cultivation Methods for Four-Season Peonies

1. Planting: The soil for planting four-season peonies should be loose in texture, fertile, and neutral to slightly alkaline. Cut off broken and diseased roots from the peony seedling to be planted, soak it in insecticide and fungicide, and place it into a previously prepared pot or hole. The roots should be spread out. Fill with soil to more than half the depth of the pot or hole, gently lift and shake the seedling, then firm the soil and seal it. The depth should be such that the root crown is slightly below the pot surface or ground level.

2. Watering: After planting four-season peonies, water once thoroughly. Avoid waterlogging. Water as appropriate during the growing season. In arid northern regions, generally water before flowering, after flowering, and before the ground freezes. For pot cultivation, to make management easier, after flowering you may cut off the spent flowers and bury the whole pot in the ground.

3. Fertilizing: One year after planting four-season peonies, fertilizing can be done in autumn, mainly with decomposed organic fertilizer, applied together with loosening the soil, either by broadcasting or by hole application. In spring and summer, chemical fertilizers are mostly used, applied together with watering as pre-flowering and post-flowering fertilizer. For pot cultivation, liquid fertilizer may be applied together with watering.

4. Pruning: In the year of planting, four-season peonies are mostly cut back to the ground. After spring sprouting, keep about 5 branches and remove the rest to concentrate nutrients, so that the flowers in the second year are large and vividly colored. In autumn and winter, along with clearing the garden, cut off dried flower stalks and thin, weak, flowerless branches. For pot cultivation, trim into whatever shape you like as needed.

5. Cultivating: During the growing season of four-season peonies, cultivate the soil promptly, pull out weeds, and watch for the occurrence of pests and diseases. In autumn and winter, carry out plowing of the soil around peonies more than two years old.

6. Repotting: After potted four-season peonies have grown for three or four years, they need to be moved in autumn into a larger pot with added fresh fertile soil, or divided and replanted separately.

7. Spraying: Spray four-season peonies with lime sulfur mixture before they sprout in early spring, and in summer use a mixed solution of insecticide and fungicide, once every 2 weeks depending on the condition. Along with fertilizing, chemical fertilizers and growth regulators, etc., may also be added.

8. Forcing blooms: To add to festivals or celebratory events, you may heat the peonies about 50 days in advance, controlling the temperature at an ordinary 10-25°C, with a daily average of about 15°C. In the early stage, keep the plant moist; after buds appear, pay attention to ventilation and light; after the buds are formed, control the temperature according to the required flowering period. Normally, apply foliar fertilizer and ensure an adequate water supply. In this way, flowers can be seen at any time in both winter and spring.