2021 Cut Back Brown Peony Stems After a Rain

Wet/Damp Peony Stems Are Easier to Handle
This is something I have been doing for a few years now. If you haven't figured it out yet, the best time to cut back brown peony stems is just after a rain. (I usually do it the day after a rain so that things aren't completely soaking wet.) Otherwise the peony leaves and stems are so brittle, they break and crumble so easily making a big mess in the garden, especially if you are trying to bag and dispose of them (which you should be to prevent more disease spread).


Rain from Last Night
After a rain however, they are soft and pliable, easily bagged and stay in one piece. We got over a half inch of rain yesterday. So today was a great day to get out in the garden and work in the peonies. I am not completely finished cutting back all of my dead peony stems for the year, but I have made a big dent this week while on vacation. I hope you had some time around the holidays to get out in the garden and enjoy the nice weather. We've had an entire week of 70 degree temperatures, which is unheard of for this time of year. Sometimes you will get a day here and there over the winter in the 70s, but never an entire week!

2021 How To Cut Back a Tree Peony

Tree Peony with Dead Foliage
After a while that beautiful tree peony goes from gorgeous to gross, and you just want to erase it from your landscape. In order to get it looking decent again (and ready for spring), you need to cut it back. Cutting it back also removes parts of the stem that won't be needed next season and all of the dead foliage, which could harbor disease. The parts of the stem you will want to remove are any bloom stems that either bloomed or failed to bloom, but you don't want to cut off too much, as you don't want to lose any growth buds, which is where the peony will start to grow from in the spring.


Cut Tree Peony Bloom Stem 1" Above Top Bud
There are different ways you can cut back your peony stems and different methods of removing the foliage. I'll go over both of them here. The first way of cutting back the bloom stems is to cut the bloom stem back to 1 inch above the top growth bud on the stem. Using your pruners cut the stem at an angle (to prevent water pooling/damage) 1 inch above the leaf joint that contains a rounded, sometimes pinkish growth tip.


Tree Peony After Bloom Stem Cut 1" Above Top Bud

Tree Peony Bloom Stem Cut Back
After the bloom stem has been cut off, next the foliage stems should also be pruned. The foliage stems can be cut back to about 2 inches to leave a pointy, pokey hardened foliage stem to protect the growth bud, while the dead leaves will be removed and thrown away. These hard stems can be useful if you have a problem with animals that like to browse your tree peonies (like deer). It is not a huge obstacle, but an obstacle nonetheless, and may help protect your peonies from hungry animals.


Cut Tree Peony Leaf Stems Down to 2"
After one foliage stem has been cut back, continue cutting back all of the foliage stems on that main stem to 2 inches as well. As you are cutting the foliage, make sure you are placing it in a bucket or bag for disposal. Don't leave the dead stems and foliage on the ground underneath the tree peony. This will help with plant hygiene and health.


Cut Tree Peony Leaf Stems Down to 2"

Dispose of Tree Peony Stems & Foliage

Cut Tree Peony Bloom Stem Just Above 1 Segment Higher than Top Bud
Another way to cut back the peony bloom stem is to make your cut a little higher on the tree peony stem, one leaf segment above the top bud. This may be a useful method if you are concerned about severe cold or dieback in your peony stems. Here in my garden in the South, we don't usually have to worry about temperatures that cold. Some Northern states keep snow cover all winter to protect the peonies. However if you live in an area with extreme cold and no snow cover, you may be a bit more concerned about stem dieback. Or perhaps you've experienced stem dieback in the past, in which case this maybe the method that you choose.


Tree Peony After Bloom Stem Cut
Just Above 1 Segment Higher than Top Bud

Remove Foliage Stems from Tree Peony

Pull Down Tree Peony Foliage Stem to Pop Stem Off

Another method of removing tree peony foliage stems is pretty easy and doesn't require any clippers. You simply pop them off by pressing the foliage stem in the opposite direction than it was growing. The entire foliage stem removes cleanly. I like to use this method for any foliage segments that do not have a growth bud in them. Since there is no growth bud that needs protection, the entire foliage stem can be removed, leaving the tree peony a bit more clean.


Tree Peony After Foliage Stem Popped Off
You can then continue cutting back any foliage stems with growth buds at the base. Keep repeating these processes until you have cut back all bloom stems and removed or cut back all foliage stems as well. After you are finished with the entire tree peony plant, it will be back to stems only, be so much cleaner, and ready for spring!! Happy Garden Cleaning!!!


Cut Back Foliage Stems to 2" to Protect Growth Buds

Tree Peony Cleaned Up & Ready for Spring!

2021 Southern Peony Colors Page Updates

While working on updating the colors for the Southern Peony Colors page, I noticed that some of the colors I was adding didn't accurately match the swatches in my RHS Mini Color Chart. I was previously (until this month) using the color RGBs listed in the RHS Color Fans from the Azalea Society of America, which have some noted flaws listed here on the Azalea Society of America Color Systems page, if you are interested in a bit more depth on color matching theory. I had noticed this in the past on a couple of the colors and tried adjusting the brightness on them manually to get them to match the swatch a bit better. Since I felt the color swatches I was creating were too manual of a process and open to a bit more error, I decided to search for a different RHS RGB color chart.


Southern Peony Colors Page Navigation Bar So I found this PDF of an RHS RBG chart from the International Lilac Society - Lilac Color Groups by RHS, which I have downloaded for future reference as well, as I add new colors in the future. This RHS RBG chart seems to be much more accurate than the Azalea Society RGB charts. RGB is the numerical representations of the amount of Red, Blue, and Green that are needed make up any color in our visible color spectrum. This RGB number can be represented as either 3 separate 3-digit numbers or a single hexadecimal number. Anyway, enough color nerd stuff, the point of all this is I used these updated RGBs to remake all of the color swatches on my Southern Peony Colors page.

Don't worry, the peonies themselves haven't changed, their relationship to other peonies classified in the same color haven't changed. The only thing that has changed is that you should get a more accurate color representation on your device when you view the Southern Peony Colors page. Hopefully this all make sense and helps readers find the peony colors they are looking for, for their garden! Also while I was updating the Colors page, I also decided to update the navigation bar at the top to have a small color swatch underneath each color name (as shown in the photo above) - hopefully making the navigation a bit quicker too!  🙂

2021 Cutting Back Peony Stems

Merry Christmas Eve!! 🎄 I spent some time in the garden yesterday afternoon cutting back dead peony stems. So if you've still got some dead stems in the garden, please know that you are not alone! Sometimes I don't even get them cut back on in the same calendar year! So I'm considering myself lucky to at least have gotten a start on clearing out the dead foliage from this year.


Cutting Back Peony Stems
I am actually doubly lucky this year since my little boy offered to help me in the garden yesterday. I have learned by now that you never refuse help (especially from a child)!, as they might not offer it again if you turn them down. Even if kids don't do things exactly as you would do them, it is an awesome opportunity to have them be useful and teach them something! He actually did a great job, not only helping me cut back several peonies, but he also helped me clear out all of the dead vinca that was growing in the middle of my peony garden bed (another great Peony Companion that I'll have to write an article on later).


Putting Dead Peony Foliage in Bags for Garbage
If you, like me, are still clearing out the dead foliage and you want a pointer or two on "how to", please check out our Peony How To section. We have articles on How to Cut Back an Herbaceous Peony and How to Cut Back an Intersectional Peony. Even if you don't get it all done in one day, it will be okay. I will be spreading my work out over weeks (or maybe even months!!) 😉 And those gorgeous peony blooms will be here again before we know it!!

2021 Peony Companions Dianthus

Peony 'Lady Alexandra Duff' and Hot Pink & Red Dianthus
Dianthus are a great companion for peonies, especially here in the South, as most of my dianthus come back every year. Sometimes one or two of them will give out (usually from the hot summer heat), but most of the time they are perennial flowers for me. Dianthus seem to keep their roots pretty shallow, so they won't compete too much with the super deep roots of the peonies. Dianthus also come in so many colors from solid fire engine red to white to pink (hence their nickname "Pinks") to even pinky lavenders! There are also many varieties of bi-color Dianthus, with pretty patterns on the petals too!


White Single Peony and White Dianthus
Another great thing about Dianthus is that many garden centers sell them each spring as annuals, for a relatively inexpensive price! If you live in the South and haven't given Dianthus a try yet, you should definitely consider planting some this upcoming spring. In my garden my dianthus plants usually have a huge spring flush of flowers on the plant, but then the blooms keep coming (although fewer of them) all the way up to frost for me. (Although the plants do look a bit more worn as the season goes on, it is still nice to see some continuous spots of color in the garden!) You may remember the white peony and white dianthus from my 2019 White Peonies En Masse in Front of the House article. Writing this post makes me think where else can I tuck a few more "Pinks" (aka Dianthus) into my own garden this spring? ;-)


Peony 'Lady Alexandra Duff' and Hot Pink & Red Dianthus