Perennial
How to grow peonies
Paeonia lactiflora
Herbaceous peonies are planted in October or November, in full sun and deep, fertile soil that does not sit wet in winter. Depth is what decides whether they flower: the buds on the crown must be no more than 2.5 cm below the surface. Give each plant a metre of space, expect flowers from the second or third year, and then leave it alone. An undisturbed peony can flower for 50 years. Because it stays put for decades, the right fertiliser for peonies is one that keeps that deep, rich soil fertile year after year.
- Hardiness
- Fully hardy
- Position
- Full sun, sheltered
- Soil
- Deep, rich, free-draining
- Ideal pH
- 6.5 to 7.0
- Water
- Moderate, only in a dry spring
- Feeding
- Moderate feeder
Sowing and planting peonies
WhenPlant Oct to Nov (crown 2.5 cm deep); flowers May to Jun
Starting off
Plant bare-root crowns Oct to Nov or pot-grown plants Sep to Mar, with the pink buds 2.5 cm below the surface; expect flowers in the second or third year. Divide an established clump in Sep to Oct only for propagation, cutting pieces with 3 to 5 buds. Seed takes 2 years to germinate and 5 to flower.
Spacing and planting
Plant 90 to 100 cm apart, as a mature clump spreads 1 m; set the crown buds no deeper than 2.5 cm in a hole 45 cm wide enriched with compost. Not a container plant beyond a 50 cm tub.
Varieties worth growing
- 'Sarah Bernhardt'
- Large, scented, double pale pink flowers in June. The classic cutting peony; it needs a support, as the heads are heavy.
- 'Bowl of Beauty'
- Deep pink outer petals around a cream centre. The open, Japanese form sheds rain, so it stands up far better than the full doubles.
- 'Duchesse de Nemours'
- Double white with a lemon flush at the centre and a strong scent. Reliable and free-flowering once settled.
- Paeonia officinalis 'Rubra Plena'
- The old cottage-garden double red, flowering in May, two or three weeks ahead of the lactiflora varieties. Tough and very long-lived.
- 'Bartzella'
- An intersectional (Itoh) peony: large yellow flowers on sturdy stems that need no staking, over a longer season. Costs more, but the best for a small garden.
Peonies month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Nothing to do.
- February
Nothing to do. Mark where the crowns are so the red shoots are not trodden on.
- March
Feed in a ring around the emerging shoots. Hand weed; do not hoe near the crown.
- April
Put grow-through hoops in place before the stems are 30 cm tall. Water if the spring is dry.
- May
'Rubra Plena' flowers. Cut stems for the vase when buds are coloured and soft to a squeeze.
- June
Main flowering. Deadhead to the first strong leaf.
- July
Potash feed after flowering. Water in drought: next year's buds are forming.
- August
Nothing to do. Leave the foliage on.
- September
Order bare-root plants. Lift and divide from late in the month, only if you must.
- October
Plant bare-root crowns with the buds 2.5 cm deep. Cut dying foliage to the ground and bin it.
- November
Plant. Mulch around, not over, the crown.
- December
Nothing to do.
Feeding peonies
A moderate feeder that stays in one place for decades, so the aim is steady fertility: a balanced feed as the shoots emerge, potash after flowering while next year's buds form, and an autumn mulch kept off the crown.
A potassium-leaning feed in spring and after flowering; they resent disturbance, so feed and mulch rather than move.
Feeding plan
At planting
5 g per litre of root ball, dusted onto the roots: 15 g for a 3 litre pot-grown plant, 5 to 10 g for a bare-root crown. Once.
March, as the shoots emerge
100 g/m². An established clump covers about 0.8 m², so 80 g scattered in a ring starting 15 cm out from the shoots and lightly raked in. Once a year.
July, after flowering
Potassium Rich Fertiliser 11% K
1 g per litre of water as a drench: 9 g in a 9 litre can, one can per clump. Repeat once after 2 to 4 weeks, then stop.
November
Garden compost
A 5 cm mulch in a ring around the plant, never over the crown. Burying the buds deeper stops flowering.
Signs to watch
Plant healthy but never flowers
Crown planted too deep or shaded
Lift in Oct and replant at 2.5 cm in full sun
Leaves yellow between the veins on thin chalk
Magnesium short
Epsom salts
Weak stems and few buds on an old clump
Potash short
Sulphate of potash in Mar and bone meal in Oct
Pests, diseases and problems
Shoots wilt and collapse in spring, brown at the base; buds turn brown and are covered in grey mould
Peony wilt, a botrytis disease that overwinters on old stems and in the soil surface
Cut affected stems out below soil level and bin them. In autumn cut all foliage to the ground and remove it, do not mulch over the crown, and thin overcrowded clumps so air moves through.
Buds form, stay small and hard, then dry up without opening
Drought in April and May, a late frost, or a plant that is still young or was recently moved
Water deeply once a week in a dry spring and mulch around the plant. Give a new or moved plant two to three years before judging it.
Ants crawling over the flower buds
Ants feeding on the sugary sap the buds exude
Nothing. They do no harm and do not need to be there for the buds to open. Shake them off stems cut for the house.
Purple-brown blotches on the leaves from midsummer
Peony leaf blotch, a fungal disease
Mostly cosmetic. Cut all top growth to the ground in autumn and bin it so the fungus does not carry over.
White powder on leaves in late summer
Powdery mildew, in dry soil and still air
Water in drought and remove the foliage in autumn. It does not affect next year's flowers.
Pruning
Pruning and care
Support double-flowered types with a grow-through hoop by Apr, as the heavy blooms fall in rain. Deadhead to the first leaf after flowering. Leave undisturbed for decades; division is only for propagation.
Good to knowPlant the crown shallow, deep planting stops it flowering; slow to establish but very long-lived.
Growing peonies in pots
Peonies are not natural pot plants: the roots are thick, deep and long-lived, and a clump wants a metre of ground. If a pot is the only option, use a tub at least 50 cm wide and deep with loam-based compost, plant with the buds 2.5 cm below the surface exactly as in the ground, and choose a sturdy intersectional such as 'Bartzella'. Feed in March with the 4-4-4 at 2 g per litre of compost on the surface, keep the pot evenly moist through spring and summer, and stand it out of winter wet. Plan to move the plant into the ground within four or five years.
Peonies: common questions
Why is my peony not flowering?
The usual cause is a crown planted too deep: the buds should be no more than 2.5 cm below the surface. Shade, a plant under three years old, a recent move, and a dry spring are the other causes. Lift a deep-planted peony in October and reset it at the right depth in full sun.
Can I move a peony?
Yes, in late September or October, though it may sulk for a year or two. Cut the foliage down, lift with as much root as you can, replant at once with the buds 2.5 cm deep, and water in. The belief that moved peonies never flower again comes from replanting them too deep.
When should I cut back peonies?
Cut herbaceous peonies to ground level in October or November, once the leaves have died back. Remove the old foliage from the garden, because peony wilt overwinters on it. Do not cut back in summer after flowering, since the leaves feed next year's buds.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.