I have read that flowers picked while still in bud last longest in bouquets. Different varieties have different lengths of bloom time too. I treat mine the same as other flowers...pick into warm flower food and let cool. THey seem to do well.

I pick them into ambient-tempurature water with preservative in it, a home-made formula, but Floralife works just as well. Let them sit in that mixture for several hours in a cool place before you arrange them or put them in a warm room.

The trick with peonies is what stage you cut them in. If you cut when they are fully open, it's too late. They won't last long. You can cut anytime from when the buds are big and soft but not open yet, to when they are just starting to open, for the best vase life.

Jeanne

before they open makes ant-removal much easier too.

Can someone reccomend a early mid and late peony thet are good for cuts? I'm looking to build on my perenials for spring cuts. Thanks.
Patty

I just planted mine 2 years ago so have had only one produce last year and it was incredible! I beleive it was Coral Charm....a large coral single that made a beautiful cup shape....Used it in a mid May wedding. For A very early flower I like the old fashioned deep red one that smells so good....don't know if it even has a name! It is the one that is a pass down plant from parents (And probably their parents before them! Blooms around Memorial Day or earlier depending on climate. I would look for ones that have sturdy stems, and a nice fragrance. In some catalogs it will mention if they are good for cutting.

It is getting a bit late to put them in this year...if you want to then better hurry and see if you can find someplace still selling them!

Found a place that is having a fall special. The New Peony Farm. I read about it on the peony forum. 100 for $35+shipping. (If shipping is too much, its a 2 hour drive, and I'll pick them up) I talked to the owner and he is sending doubles in red, white and pink. Since he just dug them on Sat he is going to include the cultivor names. I am sooo excited.

Hi Patti,

Wow, I am excited for you too! 100 peonies, wow again!

35$ seems like a fantastic deal. I can't imagine buying anything that cheaply in the UK.

Good luck with your new delivery,

Pollie.

If you cut the buds when they are at the 'marshmallow' stage you should have better luck with them lasting.

Festiva Maxima is a very popular early white, but I love my Miss America whites--perhaps because Miss America was in the garden when I moved here and the Festivas were added as a business decision. Both do well for me as a cutting flower. I, however, have absolutely no experience with your climate, so I can't give you good advice there. The earlies do bloom early though so you'll need to take that into consideration.

Liza Lily is correct: Coral Charm is a lovely early pink and you would be well pleased with it I think.

Sea Shell is a lovely, lovely mid-season pink, but it's a single and you're looking for doubles. If you have space, though, you might consider this one for a later purchase.

I have a late red, with large, impressive, double flowers and great stems that I inherited. I believe it's Old Faithful, although its original owner only called it 'my faithful old red' in her garden jounal and her children called it the Yankee Red because it was from a family friend who lived in the North. It's better as a specimen plant than for cutting, IF you're cutting market bouquets. If you're making an arrangement where you can really, really spotlight the blooms, then oh, my!

An added bonus in peonies is the foliage and some have very nice fall foliage. My Mrs. Olson, which I believe to be the Amalia Olson, is very nice.

One thing I would ordinarily recommend is to check out gardening neighbors who have peonies and tell them if they decide to divide their peonies that you would appreciate a start. My peonies seem to have acclimatized to the locale and the older peonies, the ones that were here when we took the house, and their offspring do better than the stock from nurseries. That may simply be my imagination. Maybe I pay more attention to them, I don't know.

Besides, you already have 100 peonies on your plate. This advice is late for you, but I'm betting you'll get some of the Festivas in your purchase and, who knows, you might later on look for some others.

Thanks for the advice Grass Is evil and Liza. Coral charm and the red one sound wonderful. but at the price I got (oops the price was $100+$35shipping..still a deal) I couldn't be choosey.

Patty

That's the thing about peonies. Just because they are what they are, most will succeed. In many cases the differences between names are minute to non-existent. There are variances within the parameters of scent, stem support, dimensions, but like the lady said, it's all good.

For most of my older peonies, they were taken from established gardens so they're removed from what stock might come from nurseries. At least one of them is from a garden planted during World War II and others were from gardens established before the turn of the last century.

And, quite frankly, peonies seem to delight in confounding accepted dogma on their care, feeding, and results. My Yankee is deep red; one of his off-spring that lives across town is a rosy-red. Both are smashing, but they aren't the same.

Good luck.