Peony Is The Pearl Of The Garden. Planting, Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. Diseases, Pests. Photo

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Peony Is The Pearl Of The Garden. Planting, Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. Diseases, Pests. Photo
Peony Is The Pearl Of The Garden. Planting, Care, Cultivation, Reproduction. Diseases, Pests. Photo
Anonim

Peonies are popular among gardeners. For the beauty of flowers and decorative foliage, they rightfully belong to one of the first places among garden perennials. Large, pastel or brightly colored flowers are good both on the bush and in cut, their aroma is surprisingly pleasant. The lush openwork foliage persists until late autumn, when it turns from dark green to crimson.

Peony bushes and without flowers are attractive in the garden against the backdrop of a lawn or in a flower garden. These plants are durable. They have been growing in one place for decades without replanting. Our article will tell you how to grow peonies in the garden.

Peony milk-flowered
Peony milk-flowered

Short reference:

Peony, Latin - Paeonia, folk - herbal rose. Rhizome herbaceous perennial plant. About 10 thousand cultivars are registered; 45 species are common in Asia and Europe, 2 in North America. Peonies are decorative, durable, unpretentious in culture.

Content:

  • Peony planting rules
  • Peony care: feeding, watering, mulching
  • Reproduction of peonies
  • Diseases and pests of peonies
  • Types of peonies

Peony planting rules

You can plant and transplant peonies only in the fall. So that they grow well and bloom for many years in one place, it is important to choose the right place right away. They prepare it in advance, about a month in advance. Considering that over time the bushes will grow strongly, they are placed no closer than 1 m from each other.

A hole is dug 60x60x60 cm in size. It is filled 2/3 with a mixture of humus or compost, peat, sand and garden soil in equal parts (approximately one bucket of each component is taken for a given volume). Add 250 g of double superphosphate or 500 g of bone meal, 1 tablespoon of ferrous sulfate, 1 teaspoon of potash and a liter can of wood ash to the mixture. The remaining space is filled with garden soil. By the time of planting, the soil in the pit will be compacted and will not sag in the future. If for some reason it was not possible to prepare the pit in advance, then the soil is tamped as it is filled, and then watered.

In the first year after planting and transplanting, peonies, as a rule, do not bloom, look weakened, and the number of stems does not exceed 1-2. In most cases, it is not scary if in the second year the plants have not bloomed or are blooming inadequately. They just haven't reached maturity yet. It is much more important that in the second year the plants look healthy and significantly increase in development compared to the first year: the number of stems should increase to 3 - 6. It is noted that interspecific hybrids are ahead of the development of the milky-flowered peony variety and often bloom in the second year.

Peony hybrid
Peony hybrid
Peony milk-flowered
Peony milk-flowered
Peony milk-flowered
Peony milk-flowered

Peony care: feeding, watering, mulching

Young peonies are best fed foliarly. Starting from the second week of May, once a month, the leaves are watered from a watering can with a sieve with a solution of complete mineral fertilizer, for example, “Ideal” with the concentration recommended in the instructions. For better wetting of the surface of the leaves, add a little soap or washing powder (1 tablespoon per 10 liters of solution). Foliar dressing is carried out in the evening or in cloudy weather.

Adult plants at the beginning of the growing season also need foliar feeding. It is carried out three times with a three-week interval, starting from the 2nd week of May. The first time the peonies are fed with a urea solution (50 g per 10 l of water), the second time micronutrient fertilizers are added to the urea solution (1 tablet per 10 l of solution). The third time it is watered only with a solution of micronutrient fertilizers (2 tablets per 10 liters of water).

In late March - early April, while still in the snow, fertilizers containing nitrogen and potassium are scattered. With melt water, they enter the soil and are absorbed by plants. Under an adult bush, 10-15 g of active ingredient are applied. The second time the peonies are fed during the budding period: in late May - early June, a full mineral (NPK - 10:20:10) or organic fertilizer (mullein - 1:10, bird droppings - 1:25) is applied under the bush. The third feeding is carried out 2 weeks after flowering. Mineral fertilizers during the second and third dressings are evenly scattered into a ring groove around the bush, abundantly moistened and leveled with earth.

Peonies are not often watered, but they consume 2-3 buckets for each adult bush. The water should soak the soil to the depth of the roots. For convenience, you can dig 50 cm long drainage pipes near the bushes and pour water into them. Adequate moisture is especially needed in early spring, during budding and flowering, and in August, when flower buds are laid. After watering, the soil must be loosened, which helps to preserve moisture in the soil and improve aeration, and also inhibits the growth of weeds. They deprive peonies of nutrients, prevent air circulation, and contribute to the spread and development of diseases.

The lifespan of hybrid peonies originating from the medicinal peony is limited to 7-10 years. Then they should be divided and planted in a new place. Peony varieties and wild species remain healthy and abundant for much longer, 25-30 years, and some even 100 years, with good care.

In the fall, before frost, the stems of peonies are cut at soil level and burned. The remains of the stems are sprinkled with ash - 2-3 handfuls per bush. Shelter is not required for mature plants.

Peony milk-flowered
Peony milk-flowered

Reproduction of peonies

All peonies can be propagated by seeds, cuttings, layering and dividing the bush. It is most promising to propagate by dividing the bush.

Peonies grown from seeds bloom only in the fourth or fifth year. It is best to plant freshly harvested seeds in the ground, then they can germinate next year in the spring. They are sown in August in loose, moist soil. Dead seeds germinate only in the second or third year.

Peonies can be divided from 3-4 years of age, provided that they have already bloomed normally, the number of their stems has exceeded 7 and they do not grow in a bundle from one point, but occupy a certain area with a diameter of at least 7 cm. The last condition is evidence that the rhizome is quite developed and can be divided into several parts. In the middle lane, the optimal time for this is from mid-August to the third decade of September.

At the dug out bush of peonies, the stems are cut at a height of 10 cm. The roots are washed with water and left in the shade for several hours so that they lose their fragility and do not break when dividing. A standard planting unit is a cut, should be with 2-3 renewal buds and a part of the rhizome 10-15 cm in size. Larger cuttings take root worse, while smaller ones need additional care.

Immediately before planting, the peony cut is disinfected for half an hour in a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate or in an infusion of garlic, and then immersed in a heteroauxin solution (1 tablet per 10 liters of water) for 8-12 hours. When it dries, the sections are rubbed with crushed coal. It is also useful to dip the delenki in a clay mash with the addition of copper sulfate (1 tablespoon per bucket of water).

The prepared peony cut is planted in a hole on a sandy pillow. From above they cover with garden soil so that above the kidneys its layer is no more than 5 cm, and watered abundantly. In the first year for the winter, planting should be mulched with peat (5-7 cm layer). In spring, mulch is not removed until reddish sprouts appear on the surface (they are very fragile and break off easily). When the shoots grow back a little, the mulch is raked to the side and the soil is loosened.

The first 2 years, peonies build up the root system, so you need to be patient and not let them bloom. In the first year, all the buds are necessarily pinched off, in the second you can leave only one. When it bursts, it is cut as short as possible and placed in water to examine the flower. However, the first bloom may not be typical for this variety. The flowers corresponding to the variety appear in peonies only in the third year and even later.

Peony rhizome
Peony rhizome

Diseases and pests of peonies

Most often, peonies are susceptible to gray rot disease - botrytis. The first signs appear in mid-May. Young stems rot, affected tissues are destroyed, and stems fall off. The disease can affect stems, leaves and buds. All plant organs are covered with gray mold. The development of this disease is facilitated by cold rainy springs and summers, excess nitrogen fertilizers, and too dense plantings.

To save the plant, their diseased parts are cut off and burned outside the site. In early spring, peonies are sprayed for prophylaxis (50 g of copper sulfate per 10 liters of water or 5–8 g of potassium permanganate solution per 10 liters of water). You can also use a solution of garlic (8-10 g of minced garlic per 1 liter of water). Both the plant itself and the soil around it are sprayed.

Powdery mildew is another common fungal disease that affects peony leaves. A white powdery bloom appears on the surface of the leaf blade. Spraying with a copper-soap solution (200 g of green or laundry soap and 20 g of copper sulfate per 10 liters of water) helps.

Types of peonies

On the territory of Russia and in the countries of the near abroad, about 30 species of peonies are cultivated. But the most common in our gardens are:

  • Milk-flowered peony (Paeonia lactiflora);
  • Tree peony, or semi-shrub Peony (Paeonia × suffruticosa).
Peony milk-flowered
Peony milk-flowered
Peony milk-flowered
Peony milk-flowered
Peony milk-flowered
Peony milk-flowered

From childhood, I remember these magnificent flowers at my grandmother's in the garden! And how proudly she walked to school, carrying a huge bouquet of multi-colored peonies! Such colorful, beautiful, simply pearls of any garden. Do they grow in your garden?

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