Growing Peony: Tips at a Glance
- Type Deciduous flower or shrub
- Life Span Long-lived perennial
- USDA Zone 3-8
- Light Filtered sun
- Water Moist soil
- When To Plant Divide in autumn
- Location Don't move it
- Pairs Well With Irises, roses
- Peak Bloom Late spring
Peonies: A Field Guide
Peonies can be shrubs or they can be trees, and one of the only sad things about living in a warm climate is it’s difficult to grow either. A peony likes a nice freeze in the winter.
Starting in May, most peonies bloom in showy clumps of fluffy pink or white pompons and are useful middle-of-the-border flowers. If you live in a warm growing zone, plant a peony so the top of its crown is visible above ground (to give it the cold feeling it craves in winter). Tree peonies (Paeonia suffruticosa) hail from China; these woody shrubs or small trees must be babied more than their herbaceous cousins. A tree peony requires a sheltered spot and patience (it may be years before they flower).