Growing Peonies for Cut Flowers
Peonies make wonderful cut flowers. The blooms are large, soft, silky, and romantic. They can be found in a range of soft colours, and a few brighter ones, making them ideal for weddings, as well as for placing in the house. I’m not surprised to hear many people buy peony plants to use for flower arrangements year after year.
Why Grow Peonies for Cutting?
In many ways, this summer blooming perennial is better as cut flowers than roses. In water, they will last far longer than a rose. The colour range is much wider than roses, and peonies excel in any vase with their unique variety of petals. Our online plant nursery even grows varieties with multicoloured petals. As the flowers are large, the average vase really only needs a few blooms to look both beautiful and opulent.
When are Peonies Ready for Cutting?
The season when peonies are ready for cutting is rather short. Peonies are a summer blooming perennial, only available from late May and through June. If you’re looking to buy peony plants to grow for cuttings, patience is needed. Generally, it will take up to 3 years for the most cut varieties to produce enough blooms for cutting. Some may take 5 years. For instance, after 3 years ‘Myrtle Gentry’ produced around 12 stems when grown in sandy ground, whereas ‘Coral Charm’ only produced 3 stems.
Peonies can be cut in bud (at the ‘marshmallow’ stage), but because I want to see what the flower is going to be like, I tend to cut flowers when they are just opening. I find ‘conditioning’ them is too much trouble, putting them straight into a vase to enjoy their beauty works perfectly well.
How to Grow Peonies For Cutting
Contrary to what is often written about peonies, they are easy to grow in almost any soil that isn’t water logged, but they do like a sunny position. Richer soils are better than poor soils that do not retain water. At the moment, we are growing our peonies on an exceptionally well-drained sandy soil and the plants are great. You can read more about planting and caring for peonies on its guide page.
It is important to start off with reasonably large plants from a specialist online plant nursery because it will save you significant time compared to growing varieties from seeds. You can buy bare root peony plants online, and plant them as soon as they arrive. We always try to send out plants with at least 3 eyes (the red shoots that represent a potential stem for next year), but for some hybrids such as 'Coral Charm' the way they grow doesn’t guarantee three eyes.
Again, you will need to have some patience to let the plant establish. You will not get many blooms in the first year while the plant develops in your garden or field. Refrain from taking cut flowers the first 1-2 years until there’s a significant increase in flower production.
Which Peonies Are Good In A Vase?
Over the years, I have wandered through our peony field and cut flowers at random to see how they fare as cut flowers. Linked is my collection of recommended peonies for cutting, all available on the online plant nursery for purchase and delivery.
I’ve found red peony varieties are generally short-lived in a vase, although 'Paul M. Wild' is better than most. Their petals desiccate quickly, resulting in a shrivelled look. The petals of some Japanese peony types tend to fall off instead of wilt. Of all varieties I have tested, the soft coloured double peonies, of which the famous and robust grower ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ is typical, survive best as cut flowers.
