2017 Peonies

The 2017 peony season is wrapping up.

I know. I’m devastated, too.

But I know it’s short-lived. Peonies aren’t known for their lengthy blooming period.

Every year I typically do two posts on the #221peonies, but I decided to just give your scrolling finger a work out and do one, lengthy post. Don’t worry though- it’s heavier on photos than text.

Before I go any further, if you want to know more about growing peonies, please read THIS POST.

Here’s what my beauties looked like in early April. They’re kinda unfortunate looking at this stage– like some newborn babies. (Don’t lie, you know what I’m talking about.)

But as time goes on, they get cuter. Like when babies gain a couple pounds and start to chunk up.

Those aren’t water droplets. It’s nectar that’s produced by the peonies. It’s also what ants are attracted to.

I have 8.5 peony bushes that line the south side of our house. I say .5 because one didn’t do too hot this year (or last year). So I’m going to dig it up and plant it higher to the surface.

We had A LOT of rain this spring. 5.6 inches in April and 6.22 inches so far in May.

This is the first year in the 8 years that I’ve grown peonies here that the rain has affected the peonies. A lot of the blooms have petals tipped in brown. Other blooms rotted before even opening. It was really unfortunate, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.

My white peony bush produced buds for the first time this year.

You can see the speck of brown on the petal– a result from all the rain.

Every year, my first peonies to bloom are on the plant my parents’ divided from one of their mature plants and gave to me back in the fall of 2009. It’s also my largest plant– stretching over 6 feet wide.

It always produces tons of blooms. This year, it had close to 100.

If you follow my Instagram Stories, you’ll know that I deadheaded 70 blooms off of the plant one evening.

You can read more about deadheading here.

The blooms from this plant are the most fragrant and the prettiest shade of pink.

I love looking down the row of peonies when most of them are in bloom.

Back in April, I shared how a few of the plants were getting a little added support in the form of cages.

The peony support cages worked out really well for the most part.

 I may have to look for 3-ring supports next year though.

One of my last plants to bloom is the only one I’ve been able to identify– the Sarah Bernhardt.

The blooms are giant– the largest are 6-7 inches in diameter. They’re also mildly fragrant.

I love the pale pink petals, which are tipped with a darker pink.

My last peony bush to bloom was the white one. It’s from a mature peony at my in-laws’ house.

Here’s a look at the side of our house so you can get a sense of their size.

The straggler plant who refuses to grow and bloom is between the last fuchsia peony bush on the right and our air condenser.

Thanks so much for all your comments on Facebook and Instagram. It means so much to me reading things like, “I look forward to this all year!”

Until next year!

If you have general questions about growing peonies, check out my detailed post HERE!