Glacier View Landscape and Design, Inc.

Peony

Erie, Colorado area landscapes {Monthly Series}

So much has been written about Peonies or Paeonia lactiflora, the common peony, that it almost seems disingenuous to write about them in such a short blog post. Here’s a try anyway. A flowering perennial, xeric, and a prolific bloomer for about 1 month of the year in mid to late spring. It comes in a multitude of colors, red, pink, white, salmon, cream and even white with yellow centers. There are several hundred cultivars that originated in East Asia. They like full sun to part shade, can handle the heat in our Erie Colorado landscapes, and it was a popular still life subject for impressionist artists in the late 19th century. The flowers can be large, up to 6” in diameter and often weigh down the plant and can droop over in rain due to their heavy weight. Surrounding with tomato cages when the first emerge is a great way to keep them upright as they grow through and hide the cage. They are so hardy, that often they remain only one of a few species of plants still growing on abandoned farms. They are about 1-3’ tall, have larger dark green to burgundy leaves, and will grow rather quickly right through the late spring snow cover. Be sure to not plant them too deeply or they will not flower. They can be divided in late summer or early fall, but make sure to have three “buds” per plant or they will not flower for several years. Plant in any xeriscape garden for a great splash of spring color.

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Flowing Peony photo by David W. Dalrymple

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