iSpy Gardens

This posting is about one of the easiest and beautiful flowers for your
garden, Peonies. Please share your thoughts at the end and leave a comment.

Peony Characteristics
Peonies are one of the most beautiful, resilient,
low-maintenance and fragrant perennials in the world. From Asia to Europe to
North America, gardeners, photographers and even
kings have treasured these ornamental flowers.
In China, the peony is known
as the “flower of riches and honor” denoting the beauty and value of its
blossoms. The Qing Dynasty even fancied the peony so much, that they declared it
China’s national flower in 1903.
The shade of its petals can be pink, rose,
maroon, red, yellow or white and the blossoms can be several inches in diameter.
In addition to their lovely appearance, many peonies are also quite fragrant
making them a wonderful addition to home-made bouquets. Even the thick, green
foliage that grows around its flowers is a beautiful.
Whether you have a
green thumb or a touch that withers flowers, peonies are the plant for you
because they are easy to cultivate with a hearty constitution that helps them do
well even in cold weather climates. Most peonies grow to be 0.5 - 1.5 meters
tall, but some can grow as high as 3 meters tall. They make wonderful backdrops
for smaller perennial flowers, beautiful borders and attractive privacy
screens.
How to Cultivate your Peonies
Although peonies require little
attention after they get going to thrive in your garden, there are a few tips every
gardener should know if they choose to cultivate these royal blossoms.
When
planting peonies, be careful not to put the eyes of the root too deep in the
soil. Two inches down should be sufficient. Any deeper and your peony may not be
able to bloom. Peonies can grow to a very mature size so it is wise to plant
them two or three feet apart from one another. Find a plot that receives at
least 4-6 hours of direct sunlight a day because peonies need this much sunlight
in order to develop the strong stems that support their giant blossoms.

Peonies don’t handle transplantation very well so the spot you chose should
be a permanent home for these flowers. They may fail to blossom for a few years
if you try to move them around the garden.
Until the first flowers appear,
take care to water your peonies well. From then on, the plant will be able to
take care of itself and you can enjoy years of beautiful blossoms with very
little additional effort on your part.

About the Author:

Art Gib writes for the Perennial Place (http://www.perennialplace.com), a premier perennial supplier
with a large selection of the most popular peonies.

Technorati Tags: Peonies, Peonies Care, Peony Flower, Peony Flowers