Peonies ( Paeonia spp . ) are a long - livedflowering plantspecies that include both herbaceous perennial and woody shrubs . They bloom from outflow and into early summer .
paeony can survive winters in USDA hardiness zones 3 to 8 ; however , they execute best in zones 5 through 7 . Peonies benefit from protection in the wintertime , specially when young .
Types of Peony Plants
There are two main types of peony plants : herbaceous perennials , which pass away back to the undercoat in the winter ; and the tree paeony ( Paeonia suffruticosa ; zones 4 to 8) , which is a shrub that grows to heights of 4 to 5 foot .
Pruning is part of caring for peonies . However , while herbaceous peonies can becut down to the dirt surfaceafter the first frost of the dip to remove dead stems and leafage and prevent fungous disease like Botrytis blight and other pathogens from spread , this is not the case with tree peonies . * * If you abridge down a tree paeony , it will not grow back the next class . * *
Tip
Herbaceous peony can be cut down to the priming each year after the first frost of the surrender . However , tree peonies will not grow back if abridge down .
Herbaceous Peonies in Winter
Because they are fairly wintertime audacious , establish peony do not need much care to survive winters or a later spring frost . However , a fresh transplant peony plant benefits from a layer of mulch in the winter after its first growing season to harbor the peony roots from freeze out temperatures .
Mulch prevents the roots of the unexampled plants from moving around too much and potentially being heave out of the grease as the ground freezes and thaws during the winter . Pine acerate leaf , wheat and bark all make good mulch for peonies . If you want to use manure , make trusted it is totally decomposed .
fresh planted garden peony should be protected during their first wintertime with mulch in the chassis of pine needle , pale yellow or bark .
The bed of mulch on top of the crown of a peony plant should be 1 to 2 inch thickheaded , but no deeper . Peonies call for a catamenia of pic to cold temperature to enter dormancy and blossom again in the spring , which is why they do n’t always perform well in warm clime . Therefore , too much mulch in the wintertime can keep the peony buds too fond and interfere with flowering the undermentioned class .
The mulch can be carefully removed when the plant life commence to produce again in early leaping .
Tree Peony Winter Care
Because they are woody plants , Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree peony do not give way back down to the ground in the wintertime .
immature tree peonies should be protected during winter by surrounding the shrub with chicken wire or computer hardware cloth and filling the space in between with an airy material such as pale yellow . As an added perk , this winter protective cover also keep forage critters like rabbits away from the tree diagram paeony in your garden .
Surround vernal tree diagram peonies with chaff or another airy material to protect them from wintertime temperatures .
For increase shelter , it ’s also a good thought to add additional soil to the base of a newly planted peony bush in winter .
