How does a Healthy bare root peony look like? and fall care.

The other day, during my driftwood sculpting class, one of the ladies asked what do I do for a living. Of course, I simply had to tell her about my Peony Farm. She eagerly pursued the conversation and related the fact that she purchased a bare root peony a couple of years ago and is wondering why it didn't bloom.

Having ruled out all the other reasons why it didn't bloom, (planted too deep, competing with other roots, bad location, not getting enough sun, etc) - we narrowed it down to "the roots we received were not healthy". So, I described it to her and also suggested she log in to: www.ilovepeonies.com in the About Peonies page so she could have a good picture of how it should look like.

And, just like other plants in our garden when we do what is commonly referred to as "putting to bed your plants for the fall season", there is one thing we have to do for peonies as well. When the foliage starts yellowing, cut the foliage down to about 1-2" from the ground. This eliminates the possibility of any disease overwintering and affecting your next year's bloom. By the way, if you are thinking of transplanting any peony plant, this is the time to do it. Remember, peonies must be planted to within an 1" or 2" from the ground. See picture.