Depending on how deep the mulch is they might have died. It is fine to put a light layer of mulch the first winter to prevent the ground from heaving but after that keep the mulch away from where the crown is. Most mulch keeps moisture under it which is fine to cover the roots about 8 inches from the crown but the moisture on the stems can cause various rots and fungi. Move the mulch now and hope.

Mine are up now but we’re warmer here.

Oh no I hope the mulch didn’t kill them!

ah live and learn I suppose. I might give up and just buy full grown plants because I don’t have great luck with root/tubers. Are all roots and tubers like this (such as daylilies, bleeding heart and astilbe) or just peonies?

@kali_c - I doubt the mulch has killed them. Very carefully move the mulch and be patient a little longer.

Mine are planted a little shallower than ideal, so I've always given a good mulching right before the first hard freeze, and remove all of the mulch around mid April after everything sprouts. and never had a problem with rot. And my oldest one is almost 20 y.o

I think mulch would cause more of a problem in the summer if its hot, wet, and humid. Than it would when it's still chilly and thawing from the winter.

It would not make any difference if you did purchase potted plants since peonies foliage dies in the fall. The same roots that go in the pots that are sold bare root. One thing about peonies in pots is that you should wash the dirt off the roots when you plant them because depending on the nursery some just toss the root on a layer of soil then fill the rest of the pot up with more. Planting the root ball may or may not be planting the root at the best depth.

The real reason besides to keep the roots cooler and prevent soil moisture from evaporating has apparently been lost in recent garden books. Mulch was to prevent the soil from heaving with the freeze-thaw that happens during the winter. In the older books mulch was never applied until after the ground was frozen. For tender vegetation a structure was normally built around the plant and either wrapped with cloth or filled with light material such as leaves. Most peonies because they are underground are not considered to be tender vegetation. Some tree peonies can benefit with the wrapped structures but not all.

My peony is coming up but I am much farther south than you. I had never heard about removing the mulch, so I never did - but my peony always comes back. I'd be patient - I think you will be surprised.

Another thing to think about with mulch. If you apply to the crown every year even with the mulch composting you are burying the roots deeper and deeper depending on how much you add each year. Composting is normally a slow process.

Wow thanks everyone for all the info! This is really helpful, while I’ve learned a lot in my short 2 years of gardening there’s still mountains I need to learn and I’m very grateful for this forum.

I’ll gently move away some of the mulch and just be patient (not a virtue I’m known for lol), hopefully in a couple weeks I’ll be pleasantly surprised!

Hi Kali -

Another ~gentle~ way of removing the mulch is to just direct a ~blower ~ on it. The mulch should shift without any nicking on the spring sprouts.

Alan

Thats a great idea! 2 birds with 1 stone since I also need to do some spring clean up haha

I have a follow up question for everyone. I realize the bed I planted the peonies/astilbe/daylilies/bleeding hearts in was never amended (mulch only). I have rather dense clay soil. Is there an easy way for me to amend the soil without ripping everything up? My front and side gardens are full of organic matter and are nice and “crumbly”, but I used a roto tiller/shovel in those and turned over every inch of dirt. I’m afraid of the roots not being able to penetrate the clay soil and becoming bound in their respective holes.

one idea I have currently is to wait for things to start sprouting, so I know where they are, then carefully use a shovel to make incisions in the dirt radiating away from the hole (kind of like a drawing of a sun), so the roots can travel that way?

IME, where there is a will, the roots will make their way.

Last year, I was doing some deep digging to remove a rose root. I kept on digging, following it. There was a rock in it's vertical path - so the the root did a U - hugged the rock - and then kept on going vertical, just fwiw

Making the incisions for any plant in heavy soil is a good idea especially for long lived plants. The roots will continue to circle where they were planted until they either run out of nutrients and die or break free.

Kali, nice to see you from the rose forum.

I am a newbie gardener too.I Inotice that all peonies sprout and grow at different rates. This Lenora peony sprouted three weeks later but within a week is taller than almost all the other and has buds already.

Similar to Lenora, another very vigorous shade tolerant very florifous with side buds fragrant white (without pink flecks like Lenora) peony is Florence Nichols. I bought two more this year.

Wow they’re looking great!

still no signs from any of mine, but things are still super cold here, not even all the crocuses are up and blooming yet. Still patiently waiting haha

If the crocuses aren't up yet, the peonies are still sleeping. This has been a bizarre winter/spring all over, so just wait. I'm in NJ and the peonies just cleared the mulch earlier this week.

If you want to improve your soil with little work, just keep mulching it with organic material.

Thanks! I figured if only half my crocuses are up/blooming then everything else will probably be late too.

i have a feeling we’re not going to get much of a spring and it’s just going to transition to summer lol

Mine are all just starting to grow, with the weird weather we’ve been having this year I expect them all to be coming up a little later. Are you seeing any tiny red buds yet at the base?