Tree Peony Growing Tips

I thought it would be fun to share some pictures of my tree peony flowers along with some tree peony growing tips.

Tree Peony Growing Tips

Many people think tree peonies are difficult to grow. They’re not. However, tree peonies are slow growers and take a long time to become established.

Once established, for me meaning over 5 years in one spot, I don’t recommend transplanting. I transplanted well-established tree peonies out of necessity years ago with no luck. That loss hurts me to this day.

Tree peony flowers prefer shade or they dry out quickly. There’s really nothing you can do about it, though some use peony umbrellas, but be aware that the sun does damage flowers.

I grow my tree peony in USDA Hardiness Zone 6. The soil is average, not too sandy not too organic. I wouldn’t plant a tree peony where the soil is wet all the time or on a sandy hillside.

Originally I had three tree peonies. However, over time trees have grown in and shaded them. While the tree peonies didn’t die they stopped getting bigger and only had a flower or two a year. Eventually, I removed them.

The tree peony in this picture has been in the same spot for about 15 years. I didn’t do anything fancy when I planted it. I dug a hole, planted the peony and watered it. I usually deadhead the spent flowers. This peony keeps performing with little care.

Unfortunately, I planted a Dawn Redwood 10 feet from the tree peony and I don’t know how long until the Dawn Redwood takes all the nutrients and sunlight from the area.

I hope these tree peony growing tips will give you a head start on planning where to plant your tree peonies.

Tree Peony Flowers

I started taking pictures of this Tree Peony on May 5th and took the last picture on May 9th. The Tree Peony was in bloom for a couple of weeks.

While Tree Peony blooms don’t last long they are show stoppers and well worth planting if you have a forever home for them.

I love the way the water beads off tree peony flowers and foliage.

An opening tree peony flower in the rain.

The tree peony shrub in the rain.

A tree peony flower at the end of the day in the shade of the Dawn Redwood.

The tree peony in afternoon shade and it’s doing great!

More flowers have opened a couple days later.

Need I say more? What amazing flowers!

This tree poeny flower is almost six inches in diameter!

There were a total of 9 flowers, there are two more flowers in tight buds on the lower right of the shrub and one flower about to open in the upper right.

A few weeks after bloom the tree peony is full of seed pods.

The seed pods have a very distinct look.

If you’re not going to collect the seeds of your tree peony they should be deadheaded by cutting off the seed pods where they meet the stem.

This brief video explains deadheading tree peonies.

If unsure whether to plant a tree peony or not use the tree peony growing tips above and go for it. Tree peonies, like all other plants, grow one leaf at a time. There is no magic involved in growing tree peonies.