Peony season is here

It’s finally arrived, the peony season Australia. Every year from late October to early December our Peony Patch comes awash with colour as our peonies flower. The season is not long and differs each year depending on the weather. This year the season started around the 6 November and was over before December began so it was very short due to a very cold start to November followed by 2 weeks of intense heat.

With over 400 blooms flowering we decided to open up our house to friends and family to share in the love.

We are still learning how to get the best yield but weed management is important. We trialled black plastic directly around the peonies on one ro and definitely notices a big difference in the size of the plants and number of flowers. For 2018 we will do this for all 6 rows.

In Autumn we dug up and divided quite a few of our peonies and moved them into the patch where there were holes. About 20% of them flowered which is fantastic as peonies don’t like to be moved and we didn’t think any would flower in the first year. In 2018 we will continue moving more peonies to fill the remaining holes in the patch.

It is such a pleasure to grow peonies. They are the most beautiful flower.

Of course, they are not the only flowers we grow. My mum was a florist and passed her love of flowers to me. We have an enchanted garden full of roses, salvias and spring bulbs.