1. Mow them down in July. Trust me, works fine.

2. Get a tree peony. A good upright japanese tree peony never needs staking.

3. Sprayed? Never. But then I never spray roses either :)

4. See 2. Tree peonies don't attract ants.

You missed number 5. Peony flowers last for two weeks if you're lucky. And the answer to "why" is: ten inch flowers that smell heavenly!

{{gwi:1137182}}

Hi Maryl, I have never had to spray my peonies for either fungis or ants. Mine do get ants before bloom but after they bloom no more ants. And its not hard to buy a peony stake and install in the Spring. Really, they are BEAUTIFUL and worth the minimal effort for flowers.

Not all peonies have yucky looking foilage. If you practice good fall clean-up and give your peonies enough room for air circulation you shouldn't have too many problems with them. Staking and or caging double peonies is a good idea so that they don't flop. There are a lot of newer hybreds that have sturdier stems and resist flopping much better. Peonies are very hardy long lived plants. Some peonies have been in the same spot for over 50 years and more. They are wonderful plants with wonderful scents. I've never had a problem with ants because of peonies. The thing with peonies is that either you love them or you don't. I happen to love them. Don't be pursuaded that they are bad plants by somebody who doesn't appreciate their beauty.

Diann
IA Z5a

Peony need even less maintanance than Knockout rose.
If you grow roses then you know what I meant.

Frankly, the vast majority of my peonies have THRIVED on neglect. So, I have no clue what you are talking about. In the fall, rush off to your nearest high quality nursery and get yourself either a 'Karl Rosenfeld' or 'Sarah Bernhardt' peony and you will be hooked! The smell, the effortless beauty and the fact that you can mow them down as a previous poster said is absolutely true.

Here is a link that might be useful: Basic Peony Knowledge - Or Getting Started!

I like my peonies too, by the time the foliage gets bad-and it doesnt every year-I cut it back & doesn't seem to hurt. I'm kind of confused about attracting ants to the house-do y'all not have ants there? I don't know anyone here that doesn't have ants, its actually a good thing because they help aerate the soil. I don't mind the ants as long as they stay outside, so I think if anything, peonies would help keep them outside. Now if you are talking about fire ants, as far as I know, peonies don't attract them. My only complaint about peonies is they don't bloom all summer, but when they do, WOW!

'Kansas' peony is unfortunately an UNFRAGRANT peony. Despite its watermelon red color it does look attractive in a vase. I really love the scent of the white peony 'Moon Over Barrington'.

Peonies are my favorite plant. I think the foliage is beautiful. If even use the leaves in flower arrangements during the summer as "fill". They need to be staked because the flowers are so large and beautiful. I have never sprayed mine either. I have never had the leaves turn brown. I guess beauty is in the eye of be peony lover. vignewood

You all have given my new peony a reprieve for this year at least. Yes, Ego45, I know what you mean about Knockout, and no matter how disease free it's touted to be it still has thorns, a definite plus for a Peony in this particular spot. Thanks for the information about Kansas. I may just have to stick a rose in with it to make a "fragrant" bouquet.

Peonies are just great plants!!!! Compared to roses - they are almost problem free. I just love them and have replaced some of my rose bushes (that have died for one reason or the other),with peonies because they are so easy to grow and low maintenance. Mine do get ants once the buds come out but I look on the black ants as my assistants (the good guys) as I am sure they keep all the bad insects off the peonies and the rest of my plants surrounding them.

My only lament is that they don't bloom all summer - however I am sure that plant nurseries and serious plant propagaters will come up with one that blooms as I wish, soon or later...I hope :=)

Scamp - if you get early, mid, and late-bloomers, you can have a good long season of spring blooms!

If you want another example of how hardy peonies are - I pulled out an invasive bush last year and this year a small peony bush popped up in the empty spot! It was a wonderful surprise - I guess the peony bulb was hiding under the other bush all this time and was finally able to sprout and grow.

I can't imagine an easier plant than peonies. If planted correctly, they bloom for years without dividing or feritilzing. They definitely are less work than roses, to me. They do get ants sometimes, but the above post mentioned sprinkling inscticide around them to correct that. I just let the ants alone, since I try to avoid any pesticides and other products of that nature as much as possible. The ants don't hurt them. I do shake the flowers out before I bring them inside though. Fungus is occasionally a problem in rainy, humid weather. But its not a big deal, you can spray them if it gets too bad. I've never had to spray mine, they occasionally get a little fungus, but not enough to be a major problem. I find peonies the perfect plant for a lazy gardener like me.

i thought the ants were needed by the peonies. some sort of symbiotic relationship? i just found this on the ol' google search: http://www.peonies.org/faq0.html

we've never had a problem with ants in our house. i suspect your neighbor might have an ant problem with/without peonies.

we inherited our peonies -- they came with the house. and i'm glad they did. they are great cut flowers to be placed around the house. our's are _very_ fragrant. i highly recommend getting peonies that are fragrant. you'll be glad you did.

we also do not use any pesticides in our garden. and we've never had any problems with the peonies.

good luck!
--robbie--

I'm a complete and total newbie to this plant and this zone, and I'm only normally here to read and learn.

But after a year in this place, my roses that I adore are a complete and utter constant PITA and the peonies planted here by the owner take no work at all. ZERO.

I'm so new that I didn't even know for sure that they were peonies at first! LOL Wish that I had, would have staked the puppies before they got bushy.

The blooms are gorgeous. I flung some alfalfa under them, becuase that is what I do for everything. They get watered by the lawn sprinkler. I cut them and put some in my home after they bloomed.Fabulous! (First time in my life because you can't do peonies where I came from. Peonies there are pictures in magazines.)

No bugs, no disease. The Japanese Beetles left the foilage alone.

If this is work, I've got some roses to introduce you to! Roses in this burg are enough to make you want to rip your hair out. Blackspot, JBs, canker, powdery mildew, stunted/shattered/washed out blooms. Blahblahblah.

I want to plant some this fall, but haven't figured out what and where yet. I'm sure that I could still screw this up, but I figure that any work beyond merely admiring them is not that tough.

Where in Missouri are you at.

Later on in the early summer I asked a man who had a beautiful stand of established Peonies if they were as ugly in August as reported. No he replied, but they must be sprayed because they get some sort of foliar disease. I then asked another person about the foliage in late summer, and he said he never sprayed, but that people forget to water them enough. So here it is in my garden in mid-August. What has my peony done? Well the leaves are starting to deteriorate somewhat. However this has been a terribly droughty year with triple digit heat and, although I try to keep up with the watering, it's almost impossible with no help from mother nature. As for spraying, I have roses around the peony so I'm sure it's been hit with fungicide drift when I do my regular spray routine. My conclusion is that it's not really fair for me to judge them during a year such as this, so the jury is still out for me.

West County of Saint Louis...

Btw, just to be clear (after rereading my post), that this fall I want to plant more peonies, not roses.

(Saving more roses for the spring...)

I have around 50 peonies. They are one of my favorites plants. Yes, sometimes the leaves get ugly, but not on all varieties, but some. I cut down the leaves in the Fall - just remember to clean the pruner so you don't spread any diseases from one plant to the next. I have a no spray garden for the most part, and I have never sprayed my peonies. They are low maintenance and are so rewarding, I can never have enough of them!

I love peonies. That is a must for me.
I came from Russia... Lilac and peonies- that what all our grandma have had. It's remind me my childhood.

Oksanakazan, what were the peonies from Russia like? Is there any place that you know of that they could be ordered from.

I murdered a 60 year old yew two years ago- and found a peony buried inside it. it couldn't have been touched for at least a decade, the owner's kid hadn't seen it in closer to 25 years...

she's stunning looking, and I take three or five flowers to my mom every spring (her property gets no sun at all, so I import flowers for her)

there was also a dead rose crown hidden in there-

that pretty much tells me which is the tougher plant.

Hi...just my thoughts as being relatively new to the peony world (and here). All the BAD features are minor, as stated above. And the ant bit is just wrong. If you have ants already, they'll visit the buds. They will NOT come to your yard just because you have peonies.

Ants visit other plants with alot of nectar but they don't show up as much as they do on giant smooth peony buds.

I would never call peonies bad plants - their good points FAR outweigh their small maintenance needs. It's all a matter of perspective - and there is no such thing as a "no-maintenance garden." To garden is to maintain, to cherish, to nurture, to tweak, to groom, to obsess, to agonize, to exult, to celebrate. Good things are worth good effort.

I have roses and peonies, and the peonies require much less maintenance IMO. That said, I do NOT pamper my roses; if they can't fend for themselves with minimal help, I don't want them, so I've not invested that much labor in them. I've had some roses thrive on neglect ('Betty Prior,' 'Roseraie de l'Hay,' and 'Othello'), and others which turned up their toes within a year. ALL of my peonies have thrived so far (except for the new 'Paula Fay' I accidentally chopped last fall while planting something else - AAAARRRGHHHH! WAAAAAAAH!). I've planted many more peonies in the past year - I can hardly wait for them to mature and bloom in a year or two. There is NOTHING like a vase full of peonies. (I also love heirloom irises and daylilies, and my loves are starting to seriously compete for space. . . . So many flowers, so little yard.)

Laurel

My peonies always have ants. It's the way it should be. Seems to me, if they're on the buds... they're NOT in my house ;)

Peonies require ants to open, I have heard.

That is an old wives tale. They are just attracted to the nectar they exude before opening.

Peonies are wonderful plants. The ants are attracted to the sweet nectar secreted by the peony buds. They are harmless. I just cut the peony before it it blooms, dunk it in a bucket of water and the ants float in the water, which I then just spill onto the grass.

Best to pick peonies when the buds feel like marshmallows. If they feel hard like golf balls, they won’t open.

Yes, I agree.