Peony Myths Debunked – Part 2

If you missed our first post on this, please check it out.

Otherwise, here are some more myths that we’d like to shed some light on.

We hope you find it helpful.

May the myth debunking continue!

Peonies Don’t Have Fragrance

You’ll be pleased to know that this couldn’t be further from the truth! In fact, most varieties of peony are scented although some have a more intense fragrance than others.

Scent is a tricky one to pin down as it is quite subjective. For example, in wine tasting - there are many different aromas and tastes each person finds in any given wine. One person picks up freshly cut lawn and another detects tobacco.

Open to interpretation, to say the least…

And so it goes with peonies. The fragrance can also differ at various times of the day according to the weather conditions.

However, we believe these to be some of the most NOSE-able peonies:

  • ‘Duchesse de Nemours’ (AGM) – Beautiful semi-double creamy white flowers with a strong, intoxicating scent
  • ‘Madame Calot’ – Prolific, double pink flowers and strong fragrance
  • ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ (AGM) – Gorgeous fully double sugar-pink with crimson flecks on the outer petals and with a sensational scent
  • ‘Bartzella’ (AGM) – Luminous yellow Itoh peony with gorgeous lemony scents
  • ‘Monsieur Jules Elie’ – Wonderfully fragrant variety with lavender pink double flowers which tend not to fade in full sun, making it an excellent cut flower
  • ’Festiva Maxima’ (AGM) – A personal favourite, with a good scent and large, fully double white flowers with a crimson fleck on the outer petals. Makes a popular cut flower

 

You will find many more to choose from here according to your taste.

Peony Flowering Season is Short

Although the main time for them to flower is May, it is possible to have flowers from April all the way through to July. This is because peonies can be divided into early/early-mid/mid/mid-late/late flowering varieties. So if you pick one or two from each category you could have a flowering peony for up to 4 months!

Some examples of ones you could pick:

 

Peonies Won’t Flower Without Ants

There is a popular line of thought that if you don’t have ants on your peonies they won’t open, as the ants make little incisions on the buds whilst harvesting the nectar which enables them to open.

This is not true.

We love having the ants around the nursery but your peonies will still bloom without them.

However, they do have a mutually beneficial relationship as the ants thrive on the nutrient rich nectar and their presence is helpful as they ward off other insects such as thrips that are harmful to peonies.

So don’t get rid of them! Ants and peonies are firm friends.

The ants will only “stick” around until the peony blossoms but if you are cutting some peonies you can just gently shake them off before bringing them inside.

 

And that’s all the debunking we’ve got for now!

If you have any questions about this or anything else, please feel free to catch us on social media.