2018 How to Lift a Sunken Herbaceous Peony

Sunken Herbaceous Peony
So if you live in the South, and you grow peonies (or try to grow peonies), you probably know that a common problem is peonies not blooming. Why are they not blooming you ask? Most likely because they are planted too deep or do not get enough sun. If your problem is the former (planted too deep), we are going to fix that today! Sometimes even when you plant them at the correct level they sink or get buried over time. It could be that layers of mulch have gotten piled on over the years, creating a peony that is much too far below ground. It could be that there's something going on underground underneath where you peony is planted - animal holes, rotting plant material, or even fire ants! - that have caused the ground to sink underneath your peony. So how can you fix it, and get that peony blooming again?

Lift it up!


Rake Away Mulch from Sunken Peony
The first thing you want to do is to remove the mulch from around your sunken peony. If the problem is too much mulch, you may have quite a bit of mulch to remove. Pull the mulch out in a wide circle around the peony crown to give yourself enough room to dig around your peony without severing any roots (if possible). The bigger/more eyes your peony is, the further away you will need to dig/rake the mulch. After you have removed the majority of the mulch with your rake, use you hands to remove the smaller pieces near the crown, taking care not to damage any buds or small growth on your peony. You don't want to mix the mulch into your soil since the wood will remove nitrogen from the soil as it decomposes. Mulch on top is fine (nature's way), but mulch mixed into the soil is not good.
Use Your Hands to Remove
Remaining Mulch from Sunken Peony

Cut Into the Ground in a Wide Circle Around Sunken Peony
After all of the mulch is removed, you'll want to start digging. Remeber, the bigger/more eyes your peony has, the further away you will need to dig. Don't worry if you sever a storage root or two here or there, your peony should still live, but the less roots you sever the better! Make cuts in the soil with your shovel all around the peony in a wide circle. Once you have made enough cuts, you should be able to lift your peony up with your shovel. There is no need to move it or even remove it from the soil totally. You just need to lift it a little, just enough to get a bit of soil under and around it.
Use Shovel to Lift the Rootball of the Peony

Use Top Soil to Fill in Under and Around Lifted Peony
Once you have your peony rootball lifted a little, you'll want to add some soil under and around your peony. Now if you care enough about your peony to go to all the trouble of lifting it up to help it grow and bloom, put some decent soil under and around it. Don't just put some fill dirt from some other spot in your yard. At least go to the local hardware store and get a $1.50 bag of top soil. You can also get some organic compost as well if you want to spring for a little nicer soil, but plain, old top soil works fine too. Keeping the peony's rootball lifted as best you can pour a little top soil all around the crown of the peony. Use your hands to work a little of the soil underneath the peony and under the sides too. Fill it in all the way around. If your peony crown is mounded up slightly that's fine too, as it will likely settle lower again later. Plus peonies grown mounded up slightly will get better chill in the winter (needed for creating flowers).
Keep Peony Lifted with Shovel While You Add Top Soil Around and Underneath Lifted Peony

Tamp Down Top Soil Around Lifted Peony to Remove Air Pockets
Once you have your new soil pushed under and around the lifted peony's root ball as much as possible, tamp the soil down a bit with your hands or even your feet (lightly) to make sure there are no air pockets around your newly lifted peony. While you are working on your peony anyway, now would also be a good time to add a bit of organic fertilizer or slow release fertilizer around your peony rootball. Sprinkle the recommended amount of fertilizer (check your fertilizer bag for details) on top of the new soil and mix it in a little with your hands.
Sprinkle Some Organic/Slow Release Fertilizer Around Peony
After you've finished fertilizing your peony, replace the mulch lightly. If you had too much mulch on your peony in the first place, you will not want to put all of the mulch back on the peony, just put a portion of it back. Find a new home for that remaining mulch. When applying the mulch on your peony take care to not put too much mulch directly on the crown (growing eyes/buds) of the peony. Once your mulch has been replaced, give your peony a good drink of water to help it resettle into its new surroundings. Now just sit back relax and watch that peony grow. You've just treated it to a day a the spa!
Replace Mulch Around Lifted Peony

2017 First Intersectional Peony Gift from a Friend

USPS Priority Mail Box with Peony Gift
This week I was delighted to receive my first ever division of an intersectional peony as a gift from a Southern peony friend. Sure my Mom has bought me a peony for my birthday before (and of course that was much appreciated), but I had never received a division from a peony friend's own garden. So it was especially nice to receive a box from a fellow Southern peony gardener this week with a division of 'Sonoma YeDo' in it. The box was large, but rather light. However, when I opened the box, the root was huge, and despite its lack of packing material, not even one root appeared to have been broken. Way to go USPS Priority Mail!
Peony Root in Reused (Yay!) Southern States Bag
The root was simply wrapped in a reused retail bag, with a name on it I thought appropriate - Southern States. :-) The root itself easily had more than 10 pink eyes on it and more than 10 stems cut back from the previous season - a very large root. So it seems very likely that I will get a bloom from this one this year! How exciting! I am keeping my fingers crossed. I will definitely be posting some pics if I get a bright, yellow bloom from this Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma YeDo' this year! :-D
Intersectional Peony 'Sonoma YeDo'

2016 Peony Experiment - 2 Year Old Root Grows

Peony 'Silver Dawn Mix' Sprouted
It's alive! Peony 'Silver Dawn Mix' has sprouted!!! Yay! It's not a very large sprout, but it is still alive. Since this peony did at least come up, I think I'll be able to nurture it to maturity. It might take a while to get a bloom on it, but I'm sure that it will get one eventually. This peony seems like a survivor! Even though I left this peony in a box for 2 years before planting it, which turned it into a 2015 Peony Experiment - Planting 2 Year Old Root, and it still came up, I would not recommend doing the same thing. I'm sure this peony degraded over time and lost quite a bit of energy and moisture, which would have helped it send up a much larger sprout and get a much better start in my garden. Also it lost two years of growing time and potential increase. So you'd be much better off planting your peonies right away. However, if you do happen to find one that's been sitting around for a while, it's worth a shot to plant it out and see it if grows! I'll be very curious to see what color blooms this peony has on it when it finally does bloom. Since this peony is from the 'Silver Dawn Mix', it could be a range of pale yellow to peach to pink colors. I guess only time will tell...

Peony 'Silver Dawn Mix'

2016 Peony 'Coral Charm' Goes to Grandma's House

I went to visit my Grandma on Friday and took a look around her garden while I was there. I asked her if she already had a coral peony, and she said she did not. So I just couldn't resist giving her one of my 2016 Peony 'Coral Charm' Has Many Adventitious Roots plants. This time I was really careful digging out the root. Since it had already been severed when I originally divided the plant, it was really easy to dig her up a division. I made sure to get the whole piece of root to hopefully keep the plant from experiencing too much shock, and also to make sure I don't end up with another Peony 'Coral Charm' plant even farther away from the mother. I pretty much got the whole thing. It looks like I only lost a tiny piece of one very small side root.

Peony 'Coral Charm' Division
So this peony went to stay at Grandma's house. Who doesn't love going to Grandma's house? I dug this division up Saturday morning and took it to her house right away. I helped her plant it just 4 hours later. So hopefully the plant will grow well and thrive for her. Inside those red foliage shoots I can see that this Peony 'Coral Charm' plant already has small buds developing on it. I am excited and hopeful that it will bloom for her this spring too!

2016 Peony 'Coral Charm' Has Many Adventitious Roots

In my 2016 It's Starting... Tree Peonies are Waking Up! post, I mentioned that my coral peonies were starting to wake up too. Well, one of them, Peony 'Coral Charm', is waking up in a big way - all over the place! This peony loves to multiply and spread. It apparently also has the feature of developing growth buds on its roots, called adventitious roots. Another peony of mine also has this feature - 2013 Peony 'Grace Root' Adventitious Bud Stem Flower. I hadn't really noticed this feature in Peony 'Coral Charm' until last year when it started to get one side shoot. I think this all started when I divided this peony to donate a large piece of it as a part of the 2013 APS Peony Donation to JC Raulston Arboretum. Apparently all of the severed roots that were left in the ground have now decided to regenerate and grow their own buds and crown to create lots of new plants. So now this year it has lots of side shoots (at least 15)!!! I think I'll be giving one of these to my grandma for sure. I may donate one for the American Peony Society convention or fall auction as well. :-)


Peony 'Coral Charm' with Adventitious Shoots

2015 How to Divide an Intersectional Peony

The topic everyone has been dying to find out about... How to Divide an Intersectional Peony. Some have claimed that it's impossible, that the roots are so different than an herbaceous peony, that if you wait too long its too late. The rumors about dividing this plant have swirled, making dividing these beauties at once a mystery and almost no-no among home gardeners. However these plants are just as easy to divide as herbaceous peonies and perhaps adapt a bit easier to it. And who wouldn't want more of these long lived, easy to grow, and floriferous peonies in their garden?
Intersectional Peony to Be Divided
The first step in dividing your intersectional peony is to remove the ground covering or mulch from the soil surrounding the crown of the plant. You'll want to dig 8-12 inches away from the crown, depending on the size of your plant. I never measure this distance. I mostly eyeball it and use my gut feeling. You don't have to dig up all of the peony's roots. You just need to dig up most of them.
Intersectional Peony with Mulch Removed
After the mulch has been removed, start digging around the plant. I usually just start by making cuts into the soil with the shovel in a circle about 8-12 inches out from the plant. Don't worry if you hear a few roots being cut through. This is just part of the dividing process. However if it feels like you are cutting through lots of roots and the cuts are hard to make, you may be digging too close to the crown. Try making your cuts a little further out.
Begin to Dig Intersectional Peony
After I've made a few shovel cuts into the soil around the plant, I'll go around the plant again and do small test lifts of the rootball to see if the plant is starting to loosen out of the soil. By making these small cuts and doing test lifts, I can see how much more digging I need to do, or if the plant has become loose enough to begin to lift. You can also get an idea as to whether you should be digging closer or farther away from the peony crown.
Test Lift the Intersectional Peony
Once the peony is loose enough to begin lifting, I'll begin gently lifting it out of the soil by hand. If there is one side that lifts higher than the others, I will try to lift that side out first. If you find that the peony is still too buried to begin lifting, you may have to go back dig around it a little more, making few more cuts with your shovel.
Lift Out One Side of the Intersectional Peony
Once you have one side of the peony out of the dirt, you should be able to continue lifting it on that side and gently wiggle the rest of the roots out on the other sides. One or two (or several) of the roots may snap off, and that's okay, as long as you are able to get the majority of them intact. You have most certainly already cut through several of the roots when you were digging the peony anyway. Snapping and cutting off some roots is just part of the process when dividing a peony. So don't worry about those roots, your peony will live - as long as you didn't snap them all off! (Even then it may still survive, it would just take much much longer to reestablish itself and bloom again.)
Gently Shake the Intersectional Peony Until You Can Pull It Out
The next step is to select a place to divide the intersectional peony root. Often there will be a gap or space between some of the small clusters of pink buds. A space like this somewhere near the center would be a good place to start. I like to find a place like this and stick my dividing knife there. Also don't fuss too much about finding the "perfect spot" to divide the peony. Even if you make a mistake and cut a small piece off, that small piece will likely grow anyway, providing there's a small piece of the crown (hopefully containing a pink bud) with a small piece of root attached. Then you'll just have an extra "baby" division. This small division may take longer to grow to full blooming size, but it will be one more intersectional peony plant than you had before!
Find a Good Spot to Divide the Intersectional Peony
Often the intersectional peony roots are too hard to split by hand. I think this attribute is what may have caused the rumors that these peonies are hard to divide. However intersectional peonies are no more hard to divide than herbaceous peonies. They may require an extra tool (like a rubber mallet), but that tool may actually make the job a little bit easier. Use your rubber mallet to tap the dividing knife into the peony root in the place where you've decided to make your first cut.
Use a Rubber Mallet to Divide the Intersectional Peony
I usually do not try to put my dividing knife all the way through the peony's crown. Usually the peony's storage roots are intertwined and growing all around and underneath the peony's crown. Once the dividing knife is halfway or 3/4 of the way through, I will try to wiggle and pull the pieces apart to prevent further damage to the storage roots. If you find that you are unable to pull apart the pieces, then you may need to cut a little further or in a slightly different spot in order to separate the two divisions.
Intersectional Peony First Division Made
After you've made your first division, then you can examine the remaining pieces to see if you can find any other gap or spaces between buds that seem like a suitable place to divide the root even further. Repeat the steps above to cut and carefully pull apart any additional divisions you choose to make.
Find Another Spot to Divide the Intersectional Peony
You can divide your peony into as many pieces as you like. Most professional growers recommend leaving at least 3-4 eyes (the eyes are the pink buds) on each division. Also some growers will sell extra large divisions with at least 7-8 eyes on them. These larger divisions will establish themselves more quickly and are more likely to produce a bloom in their first growing season. Intersectional Peony Second Division Made

Once you have separated your peony root into as many pieces as you'd like, you're done! Congratulations, you have now successfully divided your intersectional peony! The next thing to do is to figure out How to Plant an Intersectional Peony. May your garden grow and multiply. Good luck! :-)
Intersectional Peony Three Division

2015 Peony Experiments - Planting Adventitious Roots

Adventitious Roots of Peony 'Grace Root'
This experiment practically created itself. While I was digging a piece of my Peony 'Grace Root' as a donation for the 2015 APS Fall Auction Dig & Ship Peony 'Grace Root', I accidentally severed a few pieces of the roots. Since Peony 'Grace Root' is supposed to have adventitious roots, meaning foliage can develop from blind root pieces, I decided to plant these severed roots to see if any of them would sprout next spring.
Peony 'Grace Root' Roots in the Planting Hole
So I dug a hole for them and planted them a few inches apart. I'm not sure if any of these root pieces are large enough, have enough stored energy, or have the correct piece of root needed to sprout. Actually I'm not sure what the requirements are to get them to sprout, or if there are any requirements. I guess we'll find out next spring.
Peony 'Grace Root' Roots Being Covered with Soil
I covered them with a few inches of soil, watered them in, and put a label in the soil. That way I can find where I planted them - whether they sprout next spring or not. I'm guessing some or all of them could take more than one year to sprout, but I'm not sure. I guess we'll find that out too! Let's hope some of these Peony 'Grace Root' roots sprout! :-)
Peony 'Grace Root' Roots Garden Label

2015 APS Fall Auction Dig & Ship Peony 'Grace Root'

It was so easy for me to dig and ship the peony I donated to the 2015 American Peony Society Fall Auction - 'Grace Root'. All members of the APS can donate to the Fall Auction or even the Spring Convention Auction, if you so choose. However Peony 'Grace Root' made my job especially easy this year since it had grown a whole new plant right beside my original planting of this peony - all on its own! This very early blooming, super bright colored stunner is known to have adventitious roots. Apparently you don't even have to dig and separate these adventitious roots before they decide to create a whole new plant. :-) This baby plant had been growing beside its mother for at least 2-3 springs now. It had already bloomed two years in a row, and it was just the right size to be separated and start out on its own. It was even easy to mail, and it only cost me $8 and change to mail it! It makes me happy to think peonies from my garden will be grown in new places, new states!
Peony 'Grace Root' Child Plant

2015 Intersectional Peony 'Joanna Marlene' Arrived

I did get the Peony 'Joanna Marlene from eBay quite quickly. I ordered it on Sunday, October 11th, and it arrived on Thursday, October 15th. I got it planted last Saturday. It was actually a nice size root with several (at least 8 or more) eyes. The root actually looks like it may be an intersectional peony, unlike the Fake Itohs on Ebay - 4 (Not) Intersectional Peonies I purchased last year. I am excited to see how this peony grows in the spring. I will definitely let you all know how it turns out. I may even make a list of reliable and unreliable eBay peony sellers if I can collect enough data. That would definitely be a valuable resource for my fellow peony buyers out there. The more information we all have the better. Hopefully this seller will be on the good sellers list. :-)
Intersectional Peony 'Joanna Marlene' Arrived

2015 Peonies for Fall Carolina Plant Swap

Peonies for the Fall Carolina Plant Swap
I was busy in the garden this past Saturday digging up plants for the Carolina Fall Plant Swap. I managed to dig up 5 peonies for the swap. I hope these babies will grow in thrive in their new owners' gardens. Fall is the perfect time to plant peonies. So if you're thinking about adding these gorgeous spring beauties to your garden for a spring show, fall is the time to get them settled into your garden. I cut the foliage off of the three largest plants that bloomed this year, and kept the foliage on the two smaller ones. The gardeners at the swap actually picked up the smaller plants with the foliage first, perhaps mistakenly thinking that these were the largest or most established peonies. When it comes to peonies, the root size is actually what matters most. To get a peony that will have the best chance of establishing itself in your garden, you'll want to select a peony with lots of eyes on it, and a good root system.

2014 Peony Thank You Card

This month I received a card in the mail. It was a thank you card for a peony root I'd given someone. My friend Michele has told me several times about how her neighbor, Glory, was always drooling over another of their neighbor's peonies and how she'd love to have one. I'd wanted to give my friend Michele a peony for a while too. So this fall I took two peony roots over to her house. I let Michele pick which one she'd like from the two peonies I'd brought and told her she could give the other one to her neighbor, Glory. I brought Michele a piece of my favorite white single peony (which had well over a hundred blooms on it at once this year) and a nice big fat double white peony. Michele opted to keep the white single peony. So I helped her plant it near her mailbox (since that is the sunniest part of her yard). She later gave the double white peony to her neighbor. A week or so later, I received this lovely thank you card in the mail. What a nice surprise! It really brings joy to my heart to share my love of peonies with others. I hope the peonies will bloom for many years to come and that they both enjoy the peony plants as much as I have!

Thank You Card for a Peony

2014 How to Divide an Herbaceous Peony

Since it's that time of year, and I needed to divide a few peonies of my own I wanted to create this illustrated how to divide an herbaceous peony guide. Let talk about reasons why to divide a peony and what would qualify as a peony that needs division or would be okay to divide. The reasons to divide a peony are to create more of the same peony to plant in your garden, to give a peony to someone you know, or maybe even to sell a piece of your peony. As far as what peony would qualify as a peony to divide, I've heard a rule of thumb is a peony with at least seven stems. However as you can see, the peony in this guide has many more than seven stems. This particular peony has more than 25 stems!
Cut Back the Peony Stems
First you should cut back all of the stems on your peony. When cutting back peony stems for the winter, I usually cut them back to the ground. However when dividing a peony it will probably help you see where and how to divide the peony if you keep the stems a little longer (about 2-3 inches). A longer stem left on the peony division will also help its new owner figure out the correct way to plant it!
Dig the Peony Out of the Soil
Next, after your peony has been cut back, carefully dig in a circle around the peony. I usually try to dig a circle that is about 1 foot away from the peony stems to try to preserve as many of the roots as possible. After you have dug a circle around the peony, next try digging a little underneath the peony all the way around it, until you are able to lift it above the soil.
Wash Off Your Peony Roots
After you have removed your peony from the soil, you should take it to a place where you can give it a thorough rinse. As you can see I had a little helper to help me with this part! A garden hose with a stream nozzle that has a little bit of power behind it will help get the soil out of all of the nooks and crannies in your peony root.
Let the Peony Rest for at Least One Day
As you can tell from the picture, my peony root is now dry. That's because it's been sitting in the same spot for a couple days. It took me a little while to get back to it. Your peony root should be given time to sit and rest before you divide it. Otherwise you will accidentally snap of lots of your peony's storage roots. When you first dig a peony from the soil, the roots are very firm and easy to break. After the peony sits for a day, the roots will be softer and a little more limber. You should still be careful with the roots because they can still break, but they will be much easier to work with than if you had tried to divide your peony right after digging it.
Find a Nice Spot to Divide Your Peony
After your peony has had a chance to rest and soften up, find a nice spot to divide the peony. Look for a spot that your garden knife will go into nicely and it seems it would be easy to cut. You don't have to divide off one piece at a time. In fact I just divide mine in half and then half again and so on until I get the size divisions I want.
Separate the Peony into Two Pieces
Next after you have separated your peony into two separate pieces, look at each piece to see how many stems and or eyes are on each division. If the roots are large enough you may be able to divide them again, just as I could with this peony. The rule of thumb is that peonies should have at least 3 to 4 eyes on them to grow nicely. If you want a larger plant that will bloom even sooner, you may want to leave 6 to 8 eyes on your divisions.
Examine the Divisions to See if They Can Be Divided Further
If one of your peony roots is large enough that you can divide it into smaller pieces, find a spot on the peony root that the garden knife will fit nicely and allow you to separate it into two pieces with at least 3 to 4 eyes on each piece. Try to make the smallest cut possible so that you don't snap off any storage roots.
Cut the Divisions into Smaller Pieces (If Needed)
After you've divided your division, separate it into separate pieces. Remember not to make the divisions too small. If you have less than 3 to 4 eyes, it could take extra YEARS to get your peony to a good blooming size. So when it comes to dividing peonies, bigger divisions are much better than more divisions.
Separate the Divided Division
Then examine the other half of your original peony to see if it can be divided further as well. If so, repeat the steps above to divide that half into smaller divisions as well.
Divide the Other Half of Your Peony (If Needed)

Find a Spot Where the Garden Knife Fits Easily

Separate the Divisions

Cut the Divisions into Smaller Pieces (If Needed)

Results of the Peony Divisions - 5 Pieces