Peony

This is my first Peony of the season. Quite a beautiful plant and bloom. As most of you probably know, the Peony is extremely slow to get started; and once she establishes her home, she doesn't like to be moved. Planting depth is quite critical for her as well. She will not bloom if the 'eyes' of her clump are more than two inches under the soil.

Other than that, culltivation is quite easy. She's very disease resistant and a not many bugs bother her. If you see ants climbing up your stems to the flowesr, don't panic. The ants won't hurt them; in fact, some horticulturist say that the ants aid the Peony bloom in openinng.

The biggest complaint of Peony growers is droopy stems. In fact, some industrious entrrepreneur even developed a special stake for her (bet that person made good). The Peony, like a lot of us females, is a heavy feeder and she especially loves Potassium. She's by Potassium as we are by chocolate.

I cut up my banana peels for the Potassium loving plants. Then work them lightly into the soil, being careful not to damage the roots.