#145

In this episode, I sit down with my good friend Dave Dowling to cover the basics of growing peonies. For home gardeners, we cover where and how to plant them, when and how to fertilize, watering, deadheading and fall cleanup. For commercial growers, we cover varieties to grow for profit, purchasing tips, environmental conditions where they thrive, weed prevention, spacing & bed prep, disbudding, when and how to harvest, and conditioning tips.
Links & Mentions:
Dave's online course, published by The Gardener's Workshop: Flower Farming School Online: Bulbs, Perennials, Woodies, and More!
thegardenersworkshop.com/prod...
The Field and Garden Podcast is produced by Lisa Mason Ziegler, award-winning author of Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers, owner of The Gardener’s Workshop, Flower Farming School Online, and the publisher of Farmer-Florist School Online and Florist School Online. Watch Lisa’s Story and connect with Lisa on social media!

[@rhondaburkhart]

Thank you so much for this podcast! It was very helpful and informative.

[@3kidmama]

SUCH a helpful podcast - Thank you, Dave and Lisa!

[@ronaldpratt3153]

Great, very helpful information! Thank you!
Carol Pratt

[@marthaduffy8386]

Fabulous information..So glad I listened to your podcast before I planted my Peonies.

[@lani_lucia]

I'm in zone 9b and my peony has started to turn brown and the stems were flopping over so today I cut the 3 stems down. Now, listening to Dave and i'm kicking myself because i needed to let them die off on their own before I cut it down :( Hopefully enough energy was able to go back to the tube. Thank you Lisa and Dave~~

[@allenbeachy3511]

Great interview! Anne

[@susanwalkergirl]

Great information...thank you. Question for you Lisa. I had purchased a bare root peony. Is it better for me to plant it now in early June or wait until fall. We live in north Texas, zone 8A and it gets really warm here in the summer. Thank you...learning a lot from your podcasts and videos.

[@oldsonfarm3546]

Thank you, such awesome information as usual!🌻

[@christinatromburg3231]

This was so helpful, thank you!

[@isabelleforlenza1662]

I learned so much in 30 minutes. Thank you!

[@TheGardenersWorkshop]

Dave is a force of information to be reckoned with!
L

[@cbak1819]

Thanks Dave and Lisa!🌻 Great steps.. from start to finish. Do you know how to prevent black spot on leaves? Like I get on maple leaves.

[@chantellecha6466]

Where do you buy peonies for only $5-7 for 3-5 eyes? Cheapest I see is $10.

[@mtg333]

Thank you! I am planning a flower farm now. I have read about many different methods for suppressing weeds and improving soil health, while minimizing the use of plastic as much as possible. You mention suppressing weeds with a plastic membrane and only adding a little compost to the peony hole, which is similar to what my local nursery suggests for planting trees and some herbaceous perennials. They really don't encourage adding a lot of amendments to the soil. Could this work for annuals.- cover the soil for weed suppression and add a little compost to the hole. I am wondering because I will be an older, one woman show and thinking about adding inches of compost to rows and rows makes my back hurt just thinking about it.

[@triffawnawitt131]

On 1, 10+yr or mature peony plant roughly how many stems can you harvest per season year? Like the varieties yall talk about at least. It's very difficult to hear about accurate stems you can harvest and different length of stems you can harvest off 1 plant.