Deco mag Spring '17 issue

gardens
Deco mag 28
Paeans of praise for peonies
Nurseryman Alec White of Befordshire’s Primrose Hall Nursery urges us
to fill our gardens with peonies, that most lushly petalled beauty
Above: peonies are very easy to grow, just follow a few simple rules
when planting and they will bloom spring after spring Right: if pink’s
your colour, then Peony Sarah Bernhardt is an excellent choice
Peonies are possibly the
most indulgent of all flowers.
Impervious to the harshest of
winters they emerge spring
after spring and light up the
garden with masses of
beautifully decadent blooms.
Then, before we’ve really
had time to appreciate
them, they’re gone...petals
scattered on the spring
breeze leaving nothing but
their perfume in the air.
Many of us are put off
growing peonies because of
the relatively short flowering
season. And there’s an
assumption they’re a difficult
flower to grow, one best left
for the professional gardener,
the truly green-fingered.
But that’s not the case at
all, because peonies are an
excellent low-maintenance
plant, perfect for beginners
and experienced gardeners
alike. Don’t be afraid of them,
they’re very obliging!
The sheer size of the flower
is impressive, with many of
the intersectional peonies
producing flowers the size of
dinner plates and with colours
ranging from white to yellow,
pink to purple and everything
in between. There are single,
semi-double and double
flowers, all of which are
exceptionally beautiful and
that’s before you get to the
deliciously fragrant varieties.
In fact most peonies are
fragrant, but some more so
than others. For example,
Peony lactiflora ‘Duchesse
de Nemours’ AGM is an
exquisite double white flower
with a cream centre and the
most delightful perfume.
And a personal favourite
are the delicate blush flowers
of Peony lactiflora ‘Catharina
Fontijn’ which produce quite
an intense perfume. Few
other plants can boast such
attributes as the peony.
How to grow peonies
* Don’t plant too deeply.
The tuberous roots shouldn’t
be more than about 2.5cm
below the surface. Any
deeper and they may give
wonderful foliage but they
simply won’t flower. So if
you have a peony that isn’t
flowering, it’s probably
because it was been planted
too deeply or perhaps
inadvertently got buried.
In whch case just wait until
autumn and taking care not
to damage the buds on the
roots, lift the peony and
re-plant it at the right depth.
* Plant in a sunny
position.
Though many varieties
will tolerate some shade (for
eg Peony lactiflora ‘White
Wings’) if your peony is in
heavy shade it will be
reluctant to flower well.
* Plant in fertile, free
draining soil.
Peonies are not
generally too fussy about
the soil and are quite
happy in chalky or clay
soil provided it’s free
draining. One thing they
don’t like is sittting in water
in winter.
As you can see, the rules
Deco mag 28