It's hard to imagine a front garden without peonies. At the end of spring, huge bouquets with lush inflorescences grow in almost every flower bed. And it is even more difficult to imagine a bush with only one foliage. A reasonable bewilderment arises: why do peonies not bloom? What to do? - ask the unlucky owners. Now let's look at a few of the main culprits.
But first, a retreat. I knew one white peony bush. He was definitely over 40 years old. Every year there were more than 100 flowers on it. The only maintenance is rainwater from the roof and periodic weeding. And everything would have been fine, but the new owner of the dacha decided to seat him. Omitting details, all the delenki safely fell into eternal sleep. Hence the main conclusion: do not touch the peony while it is blooming. Read below why there are no buds.
Watering
It has long been no secret that flower buds are formed after flowering. It is at this time that the bush needs to be watered intensively. For example, a 5-year-old plant will need at least 30 liters of water per week. That is, you need to soak at least the top 50 cm of soil. Otherwise there will be no flowers next year.
Fertilizers
Everyone knows what size peony flowers are. But few people realize how depleted the bush is after flowering. Of course, you can improve his health with mineral supplements. But it would be best to use natural organic matter.
Peony is very responsive to infusion of mullein or bird droppings. And even the most ordinary compost is to his taste. The more magnificent the flowering, the more fertilizers need to be applied afterwards. And if your peony has not bloomed even once in 3-4 years, then it is simply starving. Do you want a chic bouquet? Feed the bush without sparing.
Lighting
No shade. Even semi-openwork or the lightest. Only hardcore! Only the sunshine! Peony simply loves direct sunlight; he is ready to bathe in it from morning to evening. And even +40°C is not scary for him (you water it, right?).Therefore, you need to plant the peony in the most open and sunny place. This is how the biggest flowers are made.
Trimming
The most common mistake of most would-be flower growers. As soon as the foliage turns red, they immediately tear all the stems clean. What about photosynthesis? What about the supply of nutrients for the winter? And then these people wait for flowers! Trumpets to you.
The stems need to be cut off in the deepest autumn, when they completely darken and stop working. By this time, new flower buds have already been formed, and the bush is completely ready for wintering.
By the way, even flowers for bouquets need to be able to be cut correctly. From a bud - 2 leaves, no more. The stem should remain on the bush.
Too early
It happens like this: you bought a cutting, planted it and are waiting for flowers next year. Well wait. Just keep in mind that peonies grow very slowly. A young plant sometimes needs 3-4 years to develop a good root system. Without this there will be no flowering.
It is better to water the plantings with a solution of any root formation stimulator. You will help the bush and reduce your waiting time by a year, or even 2.
Too deep or shallow
I once saw a peony planted. A tiny hole, the buds stick out above the ground, only barely covered. Poor wretch! Just sneak out at night and save the poor fellow. The other extreme: a foundation pit, the plot is buried to a depth of almost a spade bayonet. Well, this is a mockery! What kind of flowers, there will be no shoots there.
How to plant a peony correctly so that it blooms? Need a landing hole. The sizes are quite decent, after all, planting is not for one year, for at least 8-10 years. 60 to 60 to 60 at least. At the bottom of good humus, and with rotted manure or compost. There must be drainage again.
Now - the most important thing. A mound is poured into the middle of the pit. A piece of wood is placed on it. A ruler is placed vertically on top. And they fill it with soil to the 5.5-7 cm mark. This is strictly the only way. This is the most optimal depth. Not everything can be determined by eye. No ruler? One and a half lengths of a matchbox. In general, you are not completely fools, you can figure out how to measure the height of the backfill. But the peony will later thank you for your scrupulousness.
Pests
Yes, not only people like peonies. Insects adore the sweet juice of unopened buds and powerful foliage, and rodents are not averse to eating tubers.
Be sure to periodically inspect the bushes. And at the slightest suspicion, take immediate action. Washing the foliage with a solution of laundry soap will only give results on young plants. It is unlikely that it will be possible to thoroughly wash adult bushes. Therefore, do not disdain insecticides; do not put flowers in your salad. And remove garbage from the site, otherwise hungry mice in the fall will gnaw away the underground part so much that the peony may not survive the winter.
Diseases
The main enemy of peony flowering is gray rot. At the end of July, throughout August, she begins her victorious march. You may not notice it on the remaining foliage. But next year the buds will grow, but they will not be able to open.
There are no traditional methods of getting rid of the scourge. But it is full of fungicides that significantly inhibit the spread of the disease. The first treatment should be carried out in the spring, when the stems are about 30 cm high. The repeated procedure is carried out at the stage of bud appearance. The third - immediately after flowering. And the last one in mid-August.
It's troublesome, no doubt about it. But this is the only way to protect your peonies from infection and provide them with the opportunity to bloom magnificently.
- Some sources recommend dividing a peony bush at the age of 10 years. We strongly do not recommend doing this, especially if the plant blooms wildly every year. After all, some varieties grow remarkably well in one place for more than 20 years. Naturally, with proper care.
- Before swinging a shovel and chopping the roots into pieces, analyze whether you are following all the recommendations. It is quite possible that by the absence of flowers, the peony signals its dissatisfaction with your care. And only after that decide on seating.
- By the way, if the tuber has less than 3 buds, then flowering will have to wait several years. It’s the same story if there are more than 7 buds. Torn roots (and they will certainly be present during transplantation) simply will not be able to provide adequate nutrition to all the stems.
- The ideal option would be from 4 to 6 buds on one rhizome. It is easy for the root system and there are enough stems for flowering. But, it is better to remove all buds in the first year after transplantation. And don’t regret it, let the young bush gain strength over the year. Otherwise, flowering too early can greatly deplete the root system, and the plant will certainly die.
- And one more trick. The same bush that was written about at the beginning still received some fertilizer. It was an ordinary... whitewash! The rain washed it off the wall and carried it straight to the roots of the peony. Try adding a little dolomite flour or chalk to the planting hole. As a last resort, sprinkle the soil around with fluff lime or water the bush with an infusion of eggshells. According to reviews, peonies are very grateful for such feeding, because they really do not like acidic soils. Just look, and your pet will recover. And then there will be rapid flowering.
Now you know why peonies don't bloom. What to do? - you will figure it out for yourself after reading our article. We really hope that you will correct your mistakes. And the peony will not rust, it will bloom so that you can only gasp!
Video: what to do if peonies don’t bloom
A luxuriously blooming peony bush, an intoxicating aroma - what could be more beautiful in early summer! Every gardener dreams of such a sight when buying a treasured peony root. Having cared for their pets for many years, many gardeners quite often encounter the problem that their peonies do not bloom or bloom weakly. What's the matter?
Flowers delight us in spring - early summer. They appear in May and stay on the bushes for a long time, about 3-4 weeks. Here, too, everything can depend on the variety. There are very early varieties, and there are also late ones. So the flowering of peonies can delight us at the beginning of the summer season for quite a long time. And even after flowering, their carved foliage creates an excellent background for other flowers all summer.
In order for the peony to bloom well and regularly, it is periodically divided and planted. If the plant is healthy, then the flowering of new divisions will not last long. But sometimes it happens that after planting or replanting, the peony begins to go on strike and stops blooming. It looks like the bush is big, the greenery is excellent, but the most important thing - flowers - is missing.
Reasons for the lack of flowers
Why don't peonies bloom? The reason may be hidden in the following list:
- the age of the bush excludes the possibility of flowering;
- such a variety;
- the place is not suitable;
- agricultural practices are violated;
- there is not enough green mass for photosynthesis;
- the plant is starving or suffers from excess fertilizer;
- incorrect planting depth;
- abundant flowering last season.
Bush age
Most varieties of peonies remain viable for 10 to 20 years. Then the plant ages, becomes decrepit, stops blooming and dies. Therefore, in the tenth year, the bush is transplanted to a new place, making sure to clear the roots from damaged areas and disassemble them into sections of 4–5 buds. If the division turns out to be small, with 1–3 buds, it will take time to build up green mass and a sufficient root system. More than 7 buds crowd each other, the leaf blades are stretched, the buds become smaller.
Properly planted bushes need adaptation for the first year. To improve survival rate, buds are removed from them, even if they appear. Flowering should be expected in the second or third year. For this reason, frequent transplants are not recommended.
If the tree peony has not bloomed for a long time, it also needs to be changed and divided.
This kind
Peonies are the longest-living flowers. And, like any long-livers, they do not bloom immediately. There are varieties that can bloom in the second year after planting, but, as a rule, they need two to three years to gain strength and produce a real volley of flowers in the fourth year. Usually, this is a feature of the milky-flowered peony species, and it is red in color. Other colors of this variety and hybrids bloom in the second or third year.
Landing place
The planting site was chosen poorly: too shady, too dry or, conversely, too wet. Stagnation of water is dangerous; peonies cannot tolerate waterlogging and rot. Perhaps the plantings are located too close to the trees or the wall of the house. It is necessary to transplant the bushes to a more suitable place, because peony is a light-loving plant. They overheat near the wall of the house and suffer from dripping from the roof or snow debris. The tree trunk lacks moisture and nutrition.
Time
The plant was planted recently or the division is very small, just a couple of buds. In this case, you just need to wait patiently, since peonies develop slowly 1–2 years after planting. In too small divisions in the first year, food reserves from thick old roots will be absorbed, and young roots will not form.
Insufficient watering
A large number of large leaves causes abundant evaporation of moisture and an increased need for watering. It is important to ensure that the soil is regularly saturated with water to a depth of 50 cm. Otherwise, the renewal buds will be weakened, which will affect flowering in the next season.
Excess or lack of fertilizers
Experienced gardeners know that too much fertilizer harms plants more than too little. When the soil is oversaturated with nitrogen, they grow fat, grow abundant foliage, but do not lay buds. Golden rule: it is better to underfeed than to overfeed!
If the peony has stopped blooming, it probably does not have enough fertilizer. With a lack of nutrients in the soil, the flowers on the peony bushes become smaller, the buds begin to dry out without ever opening. The addition of potassium will help the plant.
Incorrect planting depth
The bush is planted too deep or, conversely, too shallow. Will have to replant. From the topmost bud to the surface there should be 3–5 cm on heavy loams and 5–7 cm on light sandy soils. If the buds rise above the soil surface, they will suffer not only from frost in the spring, but also from dry air and heat in the summer.
Intense flowering last season
When peonies bloom, the plant becomes depleted. If the number of buds is moderate, up to 20 per standard division, the developing buds have enough renewed nutrition. But if garden flowers are wild now, next year they will need rest to restore weakened roots.
In this case, we can give advice: pick off the excess color in the axils while the bud is the size of a pea. A flower left on the shoot will grow brighter and larger, and the plant will retain its vitality.
Proper care of peonies
What to do if peonies don't bloom? First of all, we need to transplant it to a new place and correct any flaws in its care.
Transplant rules. The transplant is done in the fall, when the heat has subsided, but there are still enough warm days before frost for the peony to take root and grow new roots.
First, shoots are cut off at a level of 10 cm from the ground. Peony roots are fragile and go down to a depth of 1 meter. Therefore, excavation must be done carefully. The plant is dug up and a pitchfork is inserted under the bush to a depth of 30 cm. The extracted root system is washed with water, cleaned of dead areas or areas with signs of rot, then left in the shade for 5-6 hours. During this time, some of the moisture will evaporate and the roots will become more flexible. When dividing, they will receive less damage.
It happens that peonies look healthy on the outside, but for some reason they don’t bloom. The reasons for the lack of flowering can be very different.
1. The planting site was chosen poorly: too shady, too dry or, conversely, too wet. Stagnation of water is dangerous; peonies cannot tolerate waterlogging and rot. Perhaps the plantings are located too close to the trees or the wall of the house. It is necessary to transplant the bushes to a more suitable place, because peony is a light-loving plant. They overheat near the wall of the house and suffer from dripping from the roof or snow debris. The tree trunk lacks moisture and nutrition.
2. The plant was planted recently or the division is very small, just a couple of buds. In this case, you just need to wait patiently, since peonies develop slowly 1-2 years after planting. In too small divisions in the first year, food reserves from thick old roots will be absorbed, and young roots will not form.
3. If the cuttings are too large, there is a discrepancy between the size of the root system and the number of buds. If there are many buds and few roots in the division, then the growing shoots starve. We'll have to dig up and divide again.
4. Excessively frequent replanting and division leads to depletion of plants. My friend, despite admonitions, in an effort to propagate a particularly valuable variety, brought him to complete exhaustion. It is necessary to leave the plant alone for at least 4-5 years.
5. The bush is planted too deep or, conversely, too shallow. Will have to replant. From the topmost bud to the surface there should be 3-5 cm on heavy loams and 5-7 cm on light sandy soils. If the buds rise above the soil surface, they will suffer not only from frost in the spring, but also from dry air and heat in the summer.
6. The bushes have grown old. They should be separated and transplanted to a new location.
7. Plants suffer from excess fertilizers, especially nitrogen. Golden rule: it is better to underfeed than to overfeed!
8. Excessive soil acidity. It is useful to conduct a soil analysis and, if necessary, apply lime. Peonies do best at a pH of 6.5. In order to increase the pH by one, you need to add 350 g of lime per 1 sq. m.
9. The plant starves, and the buds appear, but do not open completely. Peonies are fed not only before, but also after flowering; this is when renewal buds are formed, which are laid two years before flowering. Dry weather following flowering will also steal future years' flowers. Therefore, care in previous seasons determines the intensity of flowering.
10. Lack of potassium in the soil. Podzolic soils are poor in potassium, so it is necessary to fertilize them 1-2 times with potassium sulfate (10-15 g per 1 sq. m) or potassium magnesium (15-20 g per 1 sq. m).
11. Prolonged rains during the budding period lead to the fact that the buds become saturated with water, turn brown, and do not bloom. This usually happens to plants already affected by gray mold. This does not happen with healthy plants. Therefore, it is important to carry out preventive treatments against pests and diseases.
12. The soil is too dry during budding. Watering is necessary, and it is better to do it less often, but to shed the soil to the entire depth of the roots. I pour 30 liters of water under each adult bush.
Advice. Buy only high-quality cuttings for planting from trusted sellers.
13. The leaves are cut off very early. I’m fighting with my neighbors: everyone removes leaves at the beginning of September, or even at the end of August. So cleaner and more beautiful! Gray rot affects plants in July-August, and amateurs cut off the entire above-ground part of the peony, naively believing that since the plant has bloomed, it no longer needs leaves. This is the most serious mistake, since the time after flowering is the most crucial time in the life of a peony (flower buds are being laid). Leaves can only be cut in late autumn.
14. The owners are too zealous in cutting flowers. It is better to cut off no more than a third of the stems, leaving the lower leaves. Renewal buds form at the base of the stems; cutting the shoots weakens them.
15. Roots damaged by nematodes. The plant must be dug up and destroyed.
16. The roots are damaged by rats, moles and mice. We need to actively fight
Rodents, get a cat, don’t pile up trash - rodents love to live in them. Cleanliness is the key to health. This also applies to plants.
17. Viral diseases: stretching of shoots, leaf curl. In the first case, many thin branched stems are formed, in the second - the leaves are curly, wrinkled, arranged very often, the plant turns into a dwarf. Such bushes must be dug up immediately and destroyed.
Many summer residents who grow these ornamental plants on their plots often wonder: why don’t peonies bloom? Sometimes they do not please with their buds, despite careful care and good weather. To answer the question why peonies don’t bloom, we need to figure out what mistakes we make when growing them. By eliminating the flaws, you can quickly achieve abundant flowering of even relatively young bushes. In its natural environment, peony grows in subtropical and temperate climates. This explains its requirement for high humidity conditions. When wondering why a young bush does not bloom, one should remember that after transplantation the plant is still weak and is not able to produce buds.
Why don't transplanted peonies bloom?
Reasons for lack of flowering
When care is correct and fertilizers are applied on time, a young peony is able to produce several full buds already in the second year after planting. Often the lack of lush flowering a couple or three years after planting is explained by improper replanting of the bush(do it properly!). And here other reasons why peonies do not bloom:
1. Inappropriate landing site. This plant loves sunny areas and space. In the shade and with very thick plantings, the number of buds will be insufficient. You should not plant it near the walls of a country house, supports for climbing plants or near tree trunks.
2. Unsuitable soil. This plant is demanding of soil moisture, so when planted in heavily moist areas, it can rot, which leads not only to poor flowering, but also to its death. The soil for growing should be loose, moisture- and breathable. Peony prefers loamy, slightly acidic or neutral, nutritious soil. On acidic soils the bush grows poorly and practically does not bloom. To improve the land, we lim it by adding 350 grams of lime/1 sq. m.
3. Old age. Bushes about 20 years old have a powerful root system. At the same time, the stems and leaves are very elongated, and the buds are very small. Very old specimens hardly bear flowers. To obtain abundant flowering, it is necessary to replant and divide the bushes after approximately 8 - 9 years.
4. Planting depth. When replanting, the rhizomes of this plant cannot be buried to a depth of more than 7 cm. Optimal planting depth: 3 - 5 cm - on loam, 5 - 7 cm - on sandy loam soil. Every year the bushes increase their mass upward. With frequent mulching or hilling, they gradually become deeply buried in the soil, which leads to a decrease in the level of flowering of peonies. At the same time, excessive cleaning of bushes from mulch and soil can lead to bare buds, which also adversely affects flowering due to the fact that in winter the plants will freeze (in the fall, be sure to rake them with a mound of earth, see photo), and in spring and summer - suffer from dry air and heat.
5. Planting small pieces. Young plants obtained from cuttings with less than 3 healthy buds and a small number of roots will bloom only after a couple of years. They need to be fed regularly. It is best to use cuttings with 3 or more healthy buds for planting on the site.
6. Early and strong cutting of stems. These actions significantly weaken the peony, which affects the development and flowering of the bush in the next summer season.
7. Frequent division and replanting. Excessive enthusiasm for these manipulations greatly reduces flowering.
8. Excess fertilizer. An excess of fertilizing, especially nitrogen, leads to an increase in green mass, and the number of buds is reduced.
9. General fasting. This deficiency can be easily identified. This is evidenced by the appearance of buds in peonies, which do not bloom, but simply dry out over time. Most often this occurs when there is a lack of potassium in the soil.
What should be the proper care for peonies so that they bloom?
Since we have found out why peonies do not bloom, you need to know how to care for them correctly and prevent a reduction in the quantity and quality of buds. Caring for them involves proper watering, tillage, fertilizing, and pruning. Fighting diseases and preparing for winter is mandatory.
We water peonies not often, but abundantly. An adult bush requires up to 3 buckets of water. It must penetrate to great depth. It is especially important to provide the plant with moisture in the spring, when the budding process is underway. It is also important to water it properly in August, when the process of flower bud formation is underway. Only with proper watering can you get abundant flowering.
It is necessary to regularly loosen the soil around the bush. In this case, you need to carefully weed and cultivate the soil so as not to damage the stems. Such manipulations improve soil aeration and slow down the growth of weeds, which take away nutrients and contribute to the development of diseases.
When answering the question why peonies do not bloom, it should be noted that a lack of nutrients in the soil reduces the number of buds. In the spring (after the snow melts), we spill the soil around the bushes with a slightly pink solution of potassium permanganate. It is enough to pour 5 liters of this solution under one bush. Plus, the soil is disinfected.
To increase green mass and obtain large buds, we feed peonies with ammonium nitrate (15 g/10 l of water). We perform this procedure when the shoots are actively growing. During budding and the beginning of flowering, we fertilize the soil. To do this, we use a solution of 10 grams of superphosphate, 5 grams of potassium salt, 7 grams of ammonium nitrate, diluted in a bucket of water.
From about May 10, we fertilize with complete mineral fertilizer. We perform this procedure once a month on a cloudy day or in the evening. To feed the bushes, water them with a fertilizer solution from a watering can with small holes. After the bulk of the buds have faded, we feed the bushes with a solution of 10 grams of superphosphate and 5 grams of potassium salt, diluted in 10 liters of water.
After flowering stops, we carry out regular watering, fertilizing and tillage. We cut off the remaining buds. In this case, several leaves should remain on the peduncle. We carry out complete pruning of the stems when the leaves begin to wither (change). We cut them not too low (10 - 12 cm). Part of the stem with 3 to 4 leaves should remain above the soil surface. When the leaves turn yellow, reduce watering. Cover the planted old and new peonies with peat mulch.
Why don't peonies bloom in the area? Sometimes this happens when affected by diseases. In fact, this plant is quite disease resistant. But it can be affected by botrytis (gray mold), which manifests itself as a covering of green parts with gray mold. Around mid-May, bushes affected by this disease show signs of stem rotting. The appearance of this disease is promoted by high humidity in rainy weather, dense peony plantings and excess nitrogen in the soil.
To prevent the disease, spray the bushes with garlic water (10 grams of chopped vegetable/1 liter of water) or suitable fungicides. We spray not only the flowers with any of these products, but also the ground underneath them. When signs of disease appear, we cut off the stems to the very roots and burn the plant residues outside the site.
Peonies can also be affected by another fungal disease - powdery mildew, which appears as a white coating on the leaves. We fight this disease using a special solution prepared from laundry soap (200 g) and copper sulfate (20 g), diluted in 10 liters of water.
Peonies, regardless of type and variety, are highly prized by gardeners - not many ornamental plants combine the ability to bloom with magnificent flowers, unpretentiousness and excellent opportunities for propagation on their own. The most common complaint from flower gardeners is that peonies in flower beds either do not bloom at all or bloom poorly. Even if there are no visible reasons for this state of affairs, the problem requires investigation, because there may be enough hidden reasons.
Very old plants
Although peonies can grow in one place for up to 20 years, like all living things, they gradually age. In this case, the root system becomes very crowded, the leaves stretch out, and the flower buds become small or do not set at all. Quite often it happens that due to the gradual destruction of the main root, the plant itself splits into several bushes. If such a plant is not planted in a timely manner and the rotten part of the root is not removed, then it will consist of a large number of weak shoots that will never bloom. That is why it is recommended to replant and divide the bushes after 10-12 years.
Wrong choice of landing site
Since peony is a light-loving plant, it needs space and sun. Therefore, strong shading, even for 2-3 hours a day, leads to the fact that the plants do not bloom at all or very poorly; even a small shadow depresses the plant. Near the wall of the house they suffer from overheating, dripping from the roof and snow debris, and near the tree trunk they suffer from a lack of moisture and nutrition. Peonies are demanding when it comes to soil moisture, but they cannot tolerate waterlogging at all and rot. Therefore, when the groundwater level in the area is high or water stagnates during the rainy season, plants are planted on high ridges.
Planting depth
This is a very common mistake that significantly affects the flowering of peonies. The peony bush grows upward every year. But from year to year, peonies are sprinkled with peat or humus for the winter, and in the spring they are not completely removed. And gradually the buds become buried. And during careful weeding, on the contrary, peony buds may appear above the soil surface. They will suffer not only from frost in the spring, but also from heat and dry air in the summer. The annual flowering of peony depends on how correctly the depth of placement of renewal buds from the soil surface is chosen. Such planting is considered optimal when the renewal buds are buried 3-5 cm on medium loams and 5-7 cm on light sandy loam soils.
Replanting a peony as a whole bush or in large sections
It seems to us that such a bush will develop faster and bloom more profusely, but the opposite is true. True, in the first year such a bush can produce abundant greenery and bloom, but all this is due to the nutrients previously accumulated in the rhizome. Then the root is depleted, the plant stops blooming and withers. And all this is due to the fact that there were many buds and few roots in the division, so the growing shoots were on a starvation diet.
Divide too small
The division is too small if it has only two or even one bud. The roots of such a division have not yet grown, and the plant is starving. Here you will have to be patient and wait, given that during the first years the peony grows very slowly.
Soil too acidic
Excessive soil acidity may be the reason why peonies do not bloom. Before planting, it is advisable to conduct a soil analysis and, if necessary, lime it. Peonies feel best at a pH of 6.5 (no less than 5.8 and no more than 7). And in order to increase the pH by one, you need to add 350 grams of lime per 1 square meter.
Cutting off the above-ground part too early
There is no need to rush in the fall to cut off the above-ground part of the plant. The longer we give the peony the opportunity to receive photosynthesis products, the better the formation of renewal buds will be. And it is necessary to cut off the above-ground part with the onset of stable night frosts. If this procedure is carried out prematurely, the plants will enter the winter weakened, which will undoubtedly affect their development and flowering in the next season.
Lack of moisture
Peonies have fairly powerful green foliage and therefore evaporate a lot of moisture. Regular watering throughout the season is required to replenish it. In its absence, next year's flower buds are poorly formed. If during the budding period the weather is dry and there is not enough moisture in the soil, then the peonies may not bloom either. Therefore, in dry weather, peonies should be watered abundantly over the entire thickness of the root layer.
Strong cutting of shoots for bouquets
Usually, at the base of such shoots, the formation of renewal buds begins, for which they require at least a few leaves for feeding. Therefore, lovers of lush peony bouquets need to cut off no more than a third of the flower shoot, leaving at least two leaves below, and in general - the more leaves left, the better. These leaves are very important for the plant to bloom next year. Even diseased leaves should be tried not to be cut off, but to be treated, or cut off as late as possible. You should not completely cut off the peony bush for bouquets; it is advisable to leave at least a quarter of the peduncles with smaller flowers on it, which should be cut off after flowering has ended.
Frequent division and replanting of plants
Some flower growers, trying to quickly propagate a valuable variety, repeatedly divide fragile young bushes, bringing them to complete exhaustion - here, as you understand, the plant is not able to bloom.
Peonies are overfed
Peonies overfed with fertilizers, especially nitrogen ones, will produce abundant greenery, but will not want to bloom. You need to remember the golden rule that it is better to underfeed a plant than to overfeed it.
General starvation of the peony bush
In this case, buds appear on the bush, but do not bloom. Many gardeners have probably noticed this phenomenon on their peony bushes, as this occurs very often. In this case, you need to pay serious attention to fertilizing, especially if there is a significant lack of potassium in the soil.
Well, in order to get large flowers for cutting, you need to leave about half of the stems on the bushes, and leave at least 2-3 leaves on the cut stems. And on the remaining stems, only one bud should be left, and all side buds should be removed when they reach the size of a pea. But if you want to leave flowering peonies to decorate your garden area, then there is no need to remove the side buds - they will extend the flowering period of the plants.
