Help - look what i found!!!!

WELL!!!

I planted up me new bed this morning, the one in this thread.. http://www.gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/showthread.php/new-bed-help-21703.html?p=334259#post334259

I walked down the side of the house to the back door afterwards and noticed a leaf poking through from underneath two old apple trees we have growing there. I looked through and saw loads of really sizeable leaves. I grabbed my fork and decided whatever it was it would need rescuing. To my total shock and joy my husband and I have dug up a huge peony, budding and with one beautiful deep red flower flopping about.

I have cleared its massive tuber system of weeds and dead bits, watered it and moved it to the bed at the back I have just planted up.

It seemed to have some black bits on it, and a rose in that bed has black spot, so I'm wondering if peonies can get it? I've sprayed it with black spot and fungicide treatment, just incase. The description of the bad is on the link above.

Have I done the right thing, and should I do anything else?

 

Peonies can contract fungal disease, but I have never come across a case of it "catching" it off roses-ie blackspot.


If you have any antifungal stuff then give it a dose of whatever you have (bordeaux mix, copper sulphate, sulpher etc), if you don't, don't worry too much, because taking it out of a congested area will pretty much remove the cause.


The only real issue with peonies is peony wilt, and it is too early to be getting that.



You have done fine, did you make sure to replant it at the same depth it was at originally?


Make sure it gets a good watering now and throughout the year and you will be rewarded with ( what I believe to be........) the most beautiful flowers ever.


I am very pleased for you.

 

I wouldn`t worry too much about the "black bits" if it was buried by foilage from the apples it could be it was overcrowding, you have done the right thing spraying it ,it can`t hurt anyway,
As Claire says the most important thing is the depth,and keep it moist so it settles quickly

 

I'm pretty sure it is not far off its depth from the other bed, but the problem is that the bed was SO hard and chalky it was a job getting it out at all.

I think it was in pretty shallow before, but because I have cleaned it up a bit it is probaby a little deeper than before, talking fractions. The thing is if I put it in as shallow as before it would be literaly laying on the top of the bed, as it is soft newly dug soil rather than hard, chalky, unwaterd soil.

Does that make sense.

What is the issue with depth of planting? I'm in love with peonies but know nothing! :flag:

 

I don`t know that much but i did see a programme once about peonies and it was a speciallist grower , and she said the main cause of failure with peonies is the crowns being planted too deep and rotting

If you dont want to spend a lot and i personally prefer to grow from small plants ,i like the satisfaction of all my own work, Try Wilkos ,Focus etc at the moment they have the dried "crowns" 1/2 price and check to see if its any good before buying and you can pick up some nice bargains

I have looked up a peony specialist try www.kelways.co.uk

 

Because you will knock back flowering by anything up to 5 yrs, and sometimes, if it is too deep-longer than that.


I have divided peony tubers in late September without issues, I haven't ever moved them at this time of year though-for precisely the reason you have given-the foliage just flops.


However it is a mistake to plant it deeper just to have enough soil to prop up one years worth of foliage. It is better to lose a yrs flowers.


I would love to say that it is okay being slightly deeper-but it isn't.

It is a myth that peonies don't like being moved-they don't mind it at all as long as it is at the right time and they are planted to the right depth.


But-don't be overly concerned they are not fragile little things, they are quite robust plants, and they aren't at all mysterious or difficult to manage as long as just a couple of basic rules are followed. One of them is depth of planting. And another one is to develop the fine art of patience......oh and don't book holidays to take in MAy or June-there's nothing more disheartening than missing their flowers.

 

Thank you lollipop and pamdish!

It is difficult for me to tell exactly how deep it was planted because when we dug it up only the crown really came up, it was surrounded by ground elder, hardy geraniums, dying off bluebells and directly under the branches of the twisty apple tree.

I have been out and I have scraped off some of the soil that I had put around the stems. I have put in four two foot sticks and have wrapped string around them to hold the stems up. I have also joined 'string to string' to form a kind of grid effect (loose terms, I can't pretend it resembles a grid in literal terms!) which seems to be doing a good job of holding everything up without it all just bunching around the edges.

As a rough idea, so I can check, how much soil should I be able to move before I see the crown. That is how deep down should I go to find the crown from the centre of the plant?

 

the crown is the centre where all the branches come up from ,leave it now but keep an eye on it ,dont worry so much

 

It sounds like you have done the absolute right thing.


As far as the depth??? If you can stick your forefinger into the soil and feel the tuber at the tip of your finger it isn't too deep-again this is "roughly".


Listen-you have had a boon of a plant just turn up almost by magic the very day you decide they are the flowers you want Vicky, so by moving it you have lost nothing. You have done exactly what I did the very first yr I had peonies and they have flowered like mad since then.



I am extremely pleased to meet another peony lover, right at the point when they first fall in love with them.



They are a beautiful, magnificent flower. And you will be well rewarded for your care-I also love roses for the same reason-they love you back.

 

I thought, maybe to cheer you on-that they are worth it, I would show you my new baby Godaisyu Moutan Peony~only one flower this year, but it is worth it. I only wish that there was some magical internet function that could allow you to smell the fragrance of these most stunning of all blooms.









My herbaceous paeonia are at least three weeks from flowering, but when they do I will certainly make sure to show you.

 

We need a scratch and sniff section!

 

That is really beautiful, I really can see the pull with these flowers.

There is something special about flowers which have an old fashioned appeal. They are totally unique, very impressive and amazingly delicate. Instead of roses on valentines day my husband bought me red and ivory tulips and I loved them so much more than roses, because they were a little bit different and yet really classic too.

I will take a photo of it and post up!

 

Be quick with that pic, I have I think a red one too-Ivory-a member here sent me a huge chunk of tuber from hers, so when it does ( eventually ) flower I will post a pic of that one too.

They are unique flowers in that, when they are in full bloom, you always look at them first and last.


And PS-that man's a keeper Vicki.

 

It was too dark to take the pic tonight but will do it tomorrow morning.

I'm gonna be hunting down peonies everywhere now!

 

Oh god no!!

I can foresee this section being horribly abused! :hehe: