Peony Seeds
Tips for Growing Peonies With Peony Seeds
Peonies are beautiful flowers that make a great addition to any flower garden, but growing them from scratch from peony seeds is quite difficult. For one thing, it’s important to know that peony seeds can take anywhere from three to five years to grow! This is why you shouldn’t be discouraged when they don’t sprout right after you plant them.
Many peonies do not produce pollen or seeds, especially the large double peonies. The only way to get peony seeds from these types of peonies is to cut off some of the large flower buds. The small single flowers that will then appear in place of the large buds will sometimes produce seeds.
When you’ve decided to tackle the challenge of growing peony seeds from scratch, you should start by deciding whether you want to grow them indoors or outdoors. If you decide to grow your peony seeds outdoors, then plant them as soon as they are ripe. For your peony seeds, use a planting method that’s similar to how you would plant beans. Make sure you mark the area well so you don’t accidentally plant anything over top of your peony seeds. This step is especially important because of how long it takes peony plants to sprout from a seed.
Most of your peony seeds will sprout the following spring or summer, although they won’t have flowers on them. The best time to plant peony seeds outdoors is in early fall. This gives the seeds a warmer environment to go into the ground and a cold season for them to settle in.
If you don’t want to mess with caring for your peonies outside, then it’s easy to germinate your peony seeds inside. Start in early October, and fill several 6-inch pots with potting soil. Make sure you keep the soil moist. Plant the peony seeds about an inch apart and about a half inch deep. After you’ve got the seeds planted in the pots, place the pots inside plastic storage bags. Seal them tightly and place them in a warm place for about three months. This will give the roots a chance to form and get established. You can check the root development periodically to make sure your peonies are coming along just fine.
After the roots are well established, move the pots to an area with temperatures that are just above freezing. Leave the pots there for about three months, or until spring rolls around. When the weather does start to warm up outside, then it’s time to transplant your peonies into your flower garden.
Be careful as you’re pulling the roots out of the pots. They’re quite fragile, and you’ll pull them apart if you’re not careful. Plant the peony roots into the ground, at the same depth as they were inside the pots. Use mulch and water the plants enough to keep the soil moist, but not so much that you drown the roots out. The first leaves will sprout during the summer, although some may not sprout any leaves until the following spring. Flowers won’t come on any of your plants until the third, fourth, or fifth year the peonies are in the ground.