Tree Peony - The King Of The Flower Garden

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Many gardeners grow peonies, but not everyone is familiar with the famous relative - the tree peony, which has been popular in China since the 6th century and is highly valued for its decorative effect. Let's talk about the characteristics, the intricacies of growing and the most affordable breeding methods

What is a tree peony

The main difference between tree peonies and common garden peonies is their size. This shrub can grow up to two meters. Its leaves are large, bright green, with interesting cuts. Up to 70 flowers can appear on one plant at the same time, each of which is impressive in size, up to 25 cm in diameter. The petals can have different colors, most often: white, yellow, lilac with dark purple blotches, pink and crimson.

The petal shape has an unusual configuration and dense corrugation. Different varieties can have double and semi-double inflorescences. The bush blooms for 12-14 days; in cool weather, the flowering period increases by a week. But not only at this time the peony is beautiful, thanks to the peculiarities of the foliage and fruits, this shrub does not lose its decorative effect all summer long.

Tree peony - the plant is unpretentious, frost-resistant and not susceptible to diseases. It is also convenient because it can "live" in one place for more than 25 years.

Agrotechnology for growing tree peony

Peony bushes love an open, well-lit area. Different soils are suitable for tree peonies, but they prefer permeable, drained loams. If the place is low, then it is better to make a high bed with drainage. The transplant is recommended in August-September.

It should be remembered that the pits are prepared in advance, it is better to do this a month before the planting event. The depth is 70 cm, and the width is 80. The distance between the bushes is one and a half meters. At the bottom of the pit, it is necessary to pour a drainage of 20 cm (broken brick, sand, gravel), put a layer of rotted manure on top and prepare a soil mixture: peat, humus, the top layer of earth, 300 g of dolomite flour and 200 g of superphosphate. If the soil is acidic, add 300 g of lime. One and a half buckets of clay should be added to sandy soil, and a bucket of river sand should be added to clayey soil.

The bush chosen for transplantation is carefully dug out and its roots are washed to remove the diseased. Long roots can be shortened, treated with manganese and powdered with a mixture of colloidal sulfur and crushed coal. You can divide the bush into 2 or 3 parts and submerge them for half an hour in a clay chatterbox.

In the pit, the shrub is positioned so that all the roots are adjacent to the soil. The root collar is covered with soil. It should be remembered that contact with humus can lead to fungal diseases. Renewal buds remain at surface level. This is followed by the plant shed abundantly. For better wintering in the middle of autumn, it is recommended to sprinkle with a layer of peat up to 15 cm, and straw, manure or leaves are not desirable. These peonies can also be grafted. The grafting site is deepened by 15 cm, and when after 2 years this scion forms roots by itself, you will have another independent plant.

Treelike peonies are looked after during the growing season as well as herbaceous ones. You can fertilize with mineral fertilizers, wood ash and bone meal. In the autumn, it is advisable to feed with organic fertilizers. For better flowering, a phosphorus-potassium mixture 1: 2 is used twice - with a set of buds and two weeks later in the flowering process. Watering is carried out rare, but plentiful, since August it is completely excluded.

Reproduction

Tree peonies reproduce both by seeds and vegetatively. Freshly harvested seeds are best sown in the ground in autumn until mid-October. They germinate up to 85 percent. Such plants bloom for 4 years. If the seeds had an underdeveloped embryo, then flowering should be expected only for 6 years.

Bushes at the age of 7 years are suitable for vegetative propagation. They are dug up and divided into parts. Reproduction can be carried out by layering. The best period for this is May, when the flowers have not yet blossomed. To do this, a shallow cut is made in the lowest shoot and treated with a growth accelerator, then with the help of a metal bracket it is bent to the surface of the ground and sprinkled with a layer of soil 15 cm, constantly watering. In September, the rooted shoot can be cut off and planted in a prepared place. Such peonies can be propagated by cuttings. To do this, take young semi-lignified shoots. The best period for this is mid-June.

Another effective breeding method is vaccinations. They are held in early August. The roots of both woody and herbaceous peonies can be used as a stock. And as a scion, shoots are taken only of the same year.

In the conditions of our gardens, the varieties Delyaveya, Gloria Belgarum, Sisters Kiao, Green Beans and lemon-yellow Hai-Nun peony have proven themselves best of all. They tolerate frosty winters well and delight their owners with abundant flowering.