Perennials that in late spring delight gardeners with lush foliage and beautiful fragrant flowers are peonies. Caring for unpretentious beauties is not difficult. The most important thing is the proper planting of the plant. If you do everything right, then you will be pleased for many years with brightly shaped peonies of various shapes, taking care of which will also bring you a lot of pleasure.
Meet Peonies
This plant is a native of Southeast Asia and belongs to the family Paeoniaceae (peony). This is the only representative of the genus Paeonia L, including more than forty species. The most common are grassy peonies. There are also tree species.
Peony is known not only as an ornamental plant. It has long been used and its medicinal properties. It is especially widely used in Chinese medicine. The plant has antipyretic, soothing and analgesic properties. It is used for pulmonary tuberculosis, as well as for diseases that are accompanied by the appearance of a rash and fever.
Currently, about five thousand varieties of peonies are known . Such a variety provides an unusually wide selection of colors, sizes and shapes of flowers, as well as the timing of flowering, height and appearance of the bush. Among the colors - various shades of red, yellow, orange, white and other colors. By the structure of the flower there are pink, crown, terry hemispherical, terry, Japanese, semi-terry, anemic peonies. Care and selection ensure the constant emergence of new varieties of this popular plant.
Peonies: Reproduction
The most common method of reproduction is the division of rhizomes. With this method, the plant must be carefully dug up, taking care not to damage the roots in the process. Then cut the leaves and remove the rotten roots. You need to trim them from the inside at an angle of forty-five to sixty degrees. It is advisable to divide the part of the bush, which has three to five eyes and roots.
Peonies: planting and care
The plant prefers open sunny areas. Peonies growing in deep shade do not bloom fully. The close passage of groundwater (as well as wet, wetlands, stagnant waters) and the lack of air circulation for the peony are unacceptable. They lead to rotting of the roots and the development of diseases. Loamy soils with good drainage are suitable for peonies .
In order for the plant to grow well for many years, it is important to immediately choose the right place. Landing and transplantation is carried out only in the fall. Bushes are placed at a distance of one meter, since over time they grow greatly. The landing pit should have sixty centimeters in length, width and depth.
The substrate for planting consists of equal parts of humus, peat, garden soil and sand (one bucket each). It is advisable to add to the mixture double superphosphate (250 grams) iron sulfate (one tablespoon), wood ash (one liter can) and potash (one teaspoon). Two-thirds of the pit is filled with the mixture described above, the rest of the space is filled with earth. Usually, in the second or third year, full peonies appear on the bushes.
Care for them in the future consists in watering, fertilizing and mulching. Fertilizing both young and adult plants at the beginning of the growing season is carried out by the foliar method. Watering is rare, with the exception of the period of budding, flowering and flower buds. In the autumn, the stems are cut, and the bush is sprinkled with ash.
The peony, the care of which is easy to learn, looks great both in mass plantings, and in small groups, and in a single planting. These flowers are good in combination with crocuses, scylls and other spring flowers with early flowering. Often lilies and gladioli are adjacent to peonies.