the times Saturday June 11 202216
P
eonies are blowsy glamour
queens, a stalwart of classic
cottage gardens — and they
make fine cut flowers too.
Recently designers and gar-
deners have experimented
with them, so we increasingly
see them planted among new acquaintan-
ces such as low ornamental grasses and
zingy euphorbias.
OK, some technical stuff. Let’s keep it
simple. There are three kinds of peony:
herbaceous, tree and intersectional. Her-
baceous peonies grow to between 50cm
and 90cm and die back to the ground, tree
peonies develop a woody framework and
intersectional peonies are a cross between
the two, with the flowers of a tree peony,
but the entire plant dies back to the ground
every year. They have a reputation forThe key is
to plant
them at the
right depth,
not too deep
Outside
Perfect peonies!
Easier to grow
than you think
We’re all buying peonies for our vases
right now — but how about growing
your own? Just follow Joe Swift’s rules
being tricky, but they are in fact tough
plants, and easy to grow. Stick to a few
rules, especially when planting, and they
can live up to 60 years. They do well in gen-
erous containers for a few years before
being planted out into the ground.How and where to grow
peonies
They’re happy in most soils provided that
there’s decent drainage and it’s not water-
logged. Add plenty of well-rotted organic
matter when planting, especially with light
soils because peonies like something to get
their roots into. Their ideal soil is slightly
alkaline, so if growing on acidic soil add
some lime if possible when planting and
use mushroom compost (which is alka-
line) as a soil conditioner.