Want to diversify the appearance of your garden, but don’t know which plants to choose? We recommend planting tree peonies in your area. The complexity of care and cultivation, they do not differ from their most common herbal counterparts, but are characterized by higher growth and large, lush, unusually fragrant inflorescences. Today in our article we will talk about how to plant, grow, care for plants and which varieties of tree peonies are the most popular.
Origin and distribution
China is considered the birthplace of the peony, where even now this flower is very loved and revered. In the Middle Kingdom, a peony is majestically called the King of flowers. A special role in the spread of this culture fell to the lot of Buddhist monks. Traveling around the country, they always brought with them to new monasteries seeds of varieties from different regions. In China, more than a dozen thousand varieties of tree-shaped peonies have been bred (pictured), most of which are a recent result.
In Russia, peonies were grown exclusively in greenhouses until the end of the 30-40s of the last century. The reason for this was the low winter hardiness of imported varieties.
Tree Peony Description
Often about tree flowers you can hear the following reviews: do not grow, freeze, do not bloom. Indeed, in too harsh climatic zones, the flower freezes, and if improperly planted and poorly maintained, it may not bloom. However, in similar situations this happens with other garden plants.
Before you want to start growing a tree flower yourself, you need to understand what this plant is and what exactly its specificity is.
The plant belongs to deciduous shrubs. Depending on the variety, its height varies from one to two meters. The stems of the tree-like peony are thick, erect, have a not too bright brown hue, are not subject to dying in the autumn. Peonies have beautiful openwork double-pinnate leaves and large inflorescences, 12-20 cm in diameter. Flowers are:
simple and terry;
one and two-tone.
The number of flower buds depends on the age of the plant and increases as they grow older. Flowering begins in May-June and lasts for two to three weeks. Unlike grassy, these peonies are more frost-resistant. By the way, their flowering also begins earlier, on average two weeks.
Varieties can be divided into three groups:
Sino-European. They have large, double, very heavy flowers, and therefore with drooping inflorescences. Color from pale pink to fuchsia.
Japanese - not too large flowers, light, as if hovering over a bush.
Hybrids of peony Delaway and yellow. They belong to the most popular sorting group with yellow flowers.
We present to your attention a photo of a sapphire tree peony.
Growing Secrets
It is not possible for any amateur grower to grow these plants; many consider the peony to be a capricious flower. But this is not entirely true, in many respects the success of cultivation depends on the proper agricultural technology. Consider some of the subtleties when growing tree peonies:
Vaccinated plants of this species must be immediately planted in a permanent place, they are extremely painful undergoing a transplant.
When choosing a landing site, you should pay attention to the fact that there are no trees and other shrubs nearby, and also that the sun in the morning and evening, and partial shade in the afternoon. In the sunshine, lush flowers burn out very quickly and flowering is less long.
It is necessary to protect plants from drafts.
Areas too moist and flooded in the spring are not suitable for growing plants.
For peonies, an alkaline reaction is preferable to an acidic one.
In the event that the roots of the seedling are too dry, it is necessary to soak them before planting in the water, for approximately 30 minutes.
Vaccinated or root?
Tree peonies can be grafted or root. Both have their drawbacks and features, which must be taken into account when growing. Care requirements for them may also vary slightly.
Own peonies in optimal conditions live very long - more than twenty years (theoretically 200). They are resilient, tolerate winter well, resistant to various diseases. Easily propagated by dividing the bush. The disadvantages include the prolonged time before flowering: it lasts from 4 to 5 years after planting. Plants grow by this time up to 70 centimeters.
The grafted tree-like peonies grow rapidly, and flowering begins, if not in the first year, then the next for sure. The rootstock for these plants are the most hardy and especially resistant varieties of grassy peonies. They grow very quickly, on average, about 50 centimeters per year. Among the shortcomings can be identified as follows:
Such peonies do not differ in durability, because the herbaceous plants on which they are grafted grow rapidly, become hollow inside and eventually rot.
The grafted peonies cannot be propagated by dividing the bush.
When purchasing a peony for planting, pay close attention to its appearance. The roots of the grafted and the root are strikingly different from each other. The first are more like the roots of a herbaceous plant - they are thicker, with a diameter of 4-5 centimeters. In the second species, they are thin, longer and more numerous, of a light brown hue. Experienced gardeners recommend growing both species on the site at the same time: while some will develop and reach the age of flowering, others will flourish.
Tree peony: planting and care in the open ground
Planting this type of peonies is best done after August 15 and until mid-September. The soil is preferable to choose loamy. In the event that you have sandy soil on the site, it is necessary to add humus, sod land, peat and clay to it. Clay soil is improved with sand and organic matter.
The choice of land is perhaps the most important condition for planting this crop. After all, tree plants are long-livers, and with proper care, they can fully grow for more than a dozen years.
Landing
Particular attention must be paid to planting plants. In the area with groundwater, the landing hole is dug in the form of a cone with a diameter at the surface of 70 centimeters and a depth of the same size. A layer of broken brick, sand or gravel is poured at the bottom of the hole with a layer of about 30 centimeters. 300 grams of bone meal or lime are added to the acidic soil, after which the earth is poured with a cone, a peony seedling is placed in it and watered with plenty of water - this procedure is performed in order to properly straighten the roots. When all the water is absorbed into the soil, the hole is covered with earth, carefully making sure that the root neck (necessarily!) Is on the surface. The distance of plants from each other during planting should be at least two meters.
Growing peonies from seeds
The most difficult way to grow these plants. With the best of circumstances, the flowering of peonies grown from seeds can begin six years after planting. In addition, due to the underdevelopment of the seed germ of tree pions, they must be subjected to mandatory stratification. It is carried out in two ways: first warm, then cold. But even the performance of these complex manipulations does not give any guarantees that all efforts will succeed.
Care
Only a small part of the huge variety of these plants is presented in the photo. Treelike peonies are undemanding in care, but love an attentive attitude. In the event that you do not know how to care, treat them in exactly the same way as with grassy counterparts. Watering should be with the same frequency and intensity. Regularly, soil loosening should be carried out after irrigation (within a radius of 50 cm and not deeper than 5 cm), remove weeds, and mulch the soil. We remind you of the watering regime: twice a month we pour seven liters of water under each bush, on hot days we water more often. Since August, we are reducing it and soon stop completely.
Top dressing
Caring for tree peonies, do not forget about timely top dressing. It must be remembered that peonies of this species are considered champions in the consumption of nitrogen and potassium. At the very beginning of the growing season, plants need to be fed with nitrogen. Care for tree-like peonies (pictured are bright representatives of this type of plant) at the time of planting their buds and until the end of the growing season has its own characteristics. It should be remembered that plants are in dire need of phosphorus and potassium, and directly in the flowering period we add the same nitrogen to them. By the way, overfeeding the plant with this microelement can develop a predisposition to gray rot in it. Just before the fertilizer is applied, it is imperative to water the soil well in order to subsequently protect the plants from burns.
First flowering
It often happens that the first flowers do not reflect the beauty of their variety. Most often, this occurs in representatives of terry and varieties with "fantasy" petals. They begin to match their variety from the second or third year of flowering. The very first flower on a plant in the first year must be removed so that it builds up strength so that new inflorescences fully develop.
If there are two flowers in the first bloom on a peony, the upper one is removed even before it opens, but only when it has fully gained color. In the event that this happens earlier, the probability of the death of the shoot growth point is high. The second flower is removed after full opening.
Pruning
Tree peonies tolerate pruning quite well, and new shoots quickly form on them. At the very beginning of spring, peonies are made anti-aging pruning, while shortening the shoots to a growth point. If there are sprouts frozen in the winter, then they are removed in late spring.
When pruning, you must remember that the flowers bloom on last year's shoots. Plants that are more than 10 years old are pruned under the stump. To obtain larger flowers, gardeners are advised to remove a third of the formed buds. In grafted tree-like peonies, root growth from the rootstock begins to form, which must be removed so that it does not interfere with the full development of the plant.
Winter preparations
This type of plant belongs to a fairly winter-hardy, frosts are not afraid of him. But wet and too warm autumn is unfavorable: the peony continues to grow and does not have time to "fall asleep" and prepare for the cold. Therefore, the plant must be prepared for winter as follows:
At the end of summer, it is recommended to stop watering.
If the last month of summer and the beginning of autumn are rainy, it is recommended to make awnings to protect the bushes from excess moisture.
Around trunks circles to deeply loosen and abundantly mulch the earth.
In early October, it is necessary to trim the leaves to 2/3 of the length.
Warm peonies with any of the covering materials, and it is better to roll it in several layers. We do not wrap the bottom of the plant so that there is air access.
Varieties. Souvenir de Maxim Cornu
We offer an overview of the most popular varieties of tree peony with photos of a wide variety of shades, with terry and non-double petals.
This variety belongs to the yellow peony hybrid . It grows in height to 150 centimeters. The flower is nodding, heavy, its diameter is 16 centimeters, thick, wide, very wide. Coloring is yellow, on the edges of the petals is a carmine-pink border. Abundantly leafy plant with leaves of a juicy green color. It has an incredibly light, pleasant aroma. It is one of the very first hybrids of yellow peony, unsurpassed in beauty, and therefore is very popular. Perfectly preserved in cut.
Vesuvius
The variety of tree peony Vesuvius grows to 75 centimeters. Numerous crimson red petals. The flowers have pale yellow anthers and short red stamen filaments. Pestles are pale green in color with purple stigmas.
Gauguin
The height of the bush reaches 120 centimeters. The flowers are very large, saturated raspberry red. Petals have dark raspberry streaks, along the edge with a fuchsin shade. Staminodial disk saturated dark pink. The stamens are large enough, the stamens are dark red.
Marianne
Treelike variety of peonies, very compact. It grows to 140 centimeters. Petals are arranged in three rows, the edges are corrugated. The color of the petals is pale salmon, with a dark raspberry spot. Staminodial disk juicy beetroot color. Leaves of bright green color.
Kuindzhi
Hybrid plant. The flowers are non-double, with wide petals of bright yellow color, at the base there is a red spot. The flower has stamens and stigmas of a yellow hue, staminodial disk has an open shape, bright red color. With a very delicate, exciting aroma. A flower grows up to one and a half meters, sprawling. Blooms not too long, but plentiful. Peony variety has late flowering.
Coral
Another variety of tree peonies, hybrid. The plant has non-double flowers, with a red spot at the base and red-purple petals. Staminodial disk, as well as the stigma of a very delicate pink color. Filaments are purple. Leaves of a juicy green color. Among all the common tree-like peonies, this variety is considered one of the best. The plant is not tall, grows up to one meter. It has an unusually delicate aroma.