Peonies are long-lived herbaceous perennials that produce a single flush of blooms each spring or early summer. They are non-re-blooming, meaning cutting a flower will not stimulate new growth later in the same season. Pruning or harvesting must focus on promoting the plant’s long-term health and next season’s production. Future successful displays depend entirely on how the plant is managed after the current blooming period concludes.
Cutting Peonies for Bouquets
Harvesting peonies requires careful consideration of the foliage removed. The best time to cut flowers is when the buds feel soft and spongy, often called the “marshmallow stage.” The bud should be showing color and the outer petals beginning to crack open, but not yet fully unfurled. Cutting buds at this stage ensures they open beautifully in a vase and have the longest indoor life.
When removing a stem, leave a substantial portion of the stem and leaves attached to the parent plant. Aim to retain at least one-third to half of the foliage on the remaining stem. This ensures the plant has enough leaf surface area to generate the energy reserves needed for future flowering. Removing too much foliage weakens the plant, potentially resulting in fewer or smaller blooms the following year.
Managing Spent Blooms
Once a flower has finished blooming, removing the spent flower head—called deadheading—is beneficial for the plant’s health. Deadheading prevents the plant from expending energy on producing seeds, redirecting that energy into the root system for storage.
The correct technique involves cutting the stem just beneath the spent flower head, above the first set of healthy leaves. This keeps the maximum amount of foliage intact for photosynthesis. Removing the unsightly flower improves the plant’s appearance and conserves resources needed to prepare for the next season.
The Role of Foliage for Future Growth
The leaves fuel future bloom production through photosynthesis. This process converts sunlight into carbohydrates, which are stored in the plant’s fleshy root system. These stored carbohydrates provide the energy the plant uses to survive winter and produce the next season’s stems and flowers.
The plant sets the foundational buds, known as “eyes,” for the following year immediately after the current season’s bloom. Therefore, maintaining healthy, green foliage throughout the summer and early fall is essential for ensuring abundant flowers next spring. Stripping the leaves too early limits the plant’s ability to store energy, resulting in a reduced number or size of blooms the following year. If foliage is damaged or prematurely removed, recovering the stored energy deficit can take multiple seasons.
End-of-Season Pruning
The final major cut of the season is performed late in the year, after the foliage has naturally begun to die back. The signal for this pruning is typically the first hard frost, which causes the leaves to turn yellow, brown, and collapse. Waiting until this point ensures that all valuable nutrients have been withdrawn from the leaves and translocated back into the roots for winter storage.
This end-of-season cleanup involves cutting the entire plant down to about three or four inches above the soil line. The primary purpose of this cut is disease prevention, specifically against fungal infections like botrytis blight. Botrytis spores can overwinter on old stems and leaves, ready to infect new shoots in the spring. All pruned material must be removed from the garden area and destroyed, rather than composted, to eliminate these disease sources.