Are your peonies in bloom yet?
Mine are almost….almost…..but probably 2 weeks from full bloom!
I walked through the garden last night and was amazed to see that….

The little shoots that looked like this just a month ago….
Now look like THIS!
 And even better….THIS!
 I can hardly wait until the whole side yard is filled with peonies….
I can hardly wait until I can fill vases and vases with these showy blooms…
Alas…the blooming season for Peonies is short and often affected by late spring rainstorms!
The Sweetwater Daughter got married in June and wanted Peonies for the main flowers….
I did my research and discovered this trick….and it REALLY WORKS!
We were able to have some of the early blooming peonies in the wedding bouquets…long after the plants were done!
Did you know you can keep peony buds refrigerated for up to 3 weeks?
But let me show you what I did last year!

I cut peony blooms that were in the soft marshmallow stage….and that had no moisture on them.
I cut the stems pretty long…10-12 inches.
They got loosely wrapped in newspaper….
If you have cellophane or a plastic bag that is nice to put around them as well…
I stacked them up pretty high…but I didn’t pack them tightly.
 
I left them in the refrigerator for 3 weeks….I think 2 weeks would have been better…
To be honest…I forgot they were in there…until Mr. S started complaining about “no room for beer!!!”

 I took them out of the refrigerator….
Made new cuts on each stem and put them in fresh warm water.

Then I waited…..
and waited….
and worried that I had left them for tooo long…

but 12 hours later….

They started to perk up and fill out….

Whew!!!!

Here are the flowers after a day….

SUCCESS!

Blooms that are stored this way don’t last quite as long in the arrangements….but hey….I wasn’t complaining when I had Peonies in the house in the last week of JUNE!

Here’s to the Power of Peonies….!



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0 comments on “My Trick for Extending the Peony Season!

  1. Kelley @ TheGrantLife.com

    Ohhh.. I love peonies! What a great tip! Ill have to remember this 🙂

    Ps.. make sure you share this up to my Friday link party.. if you havent already 🙂

  2. CraveCute

    This is a great tip that is new to me! Love the idea of extending the season!

  3. Rachelle

    I had forgotten you can do this! Awesome! I love peonies so much. I have only one bush, and our season is over.

  4. Kathleen

    Mary, do you know why I only get 2 or 3 blooms on each bush? They look healthy, but never get many buds. I know they don't like to be transplanted, and one of them gets plenty of sun!

  5. Terry

    I noticed that my peonies are on the verge of blooming too! Love them and wished they lasted longer…love the idea of extending them!

  6. Thrifty Miss Smith

    Wow this is amazing! I can't believe they came back like that. My peonies are just getting ready to open and my foxglove has just bloomed 🙂 Stopping by from the weekend blog hop. Following you now. Can't wait for more updates 🙂 So so sorry to hear about your cat too btw.

  7. Heaven's Walk

    Wow – what a great idea! You don't have to put them in water in your frig? Thanks so much for the great tip. I'm definitely going to try this because peonies are my fav flower!

    xoxo laurie

  8. Mary-Sweetwater Style

    I know it seems crazy that you don't need water….but it works! They look all wilty when you take them out of the fridge…I always panic and think I killed them….but then they rehydrate and are lovely!

  9. Six Sisters

    This is GREAT! Look at those peonies! They're perfect! Thanks for sharing your ideas on "Strut Your Stuff" Saturday! We hope to see you again! -The Sisters

  10. Tara @ Tales of a Trophy Wife

    What a cool idea. I would be worried that I killed them too(mostly b/c I pretty kill everything)