Hallson Gardens

Hi,

I have a good friend who has offered her entire, rare peony collection to display in the gardens here. I have expanded more gardens around here and they are ready to go; would be so much easier this spring. How much harm can this do if I move them early this spring in big clumps w/o dividing? Perhaps, I risk this season blooms?

Thanks, Rick

Hi Rick! If my memory serves me fall is when there should be moved so I would do them sooner than later if
at all possible. We did move some in late summer and was disappointed the next year. Wishing you the very
best as we are seeing them pop up already here in the PNW.

They will bloom this year although perhaps not quite so well as usual. If you divide them, though, you will likely get fewer blooms.

I would then divide them in the fall although that will result in few if any blooms next year. I would do it only because they will be easier to dig up then, after just one summer, than in following years when they are all settled in.

Viktoria

Personally I don't think it will be a problem. Just be sure to bury them at the same depth they were growing and do NOT overwater them. I've learned that they really don't mind being dry during the transplant but resent being wet. This is how I learned that:

3 years ago I was digging peonies, in bud, and potting them up for the nursery. We do this on a fairly regular basis and most buds tend to continue to develop and we still get some flowers on them. Well, this time I dug up about 2 dozen plants, potted them up, and we watered them really well (like we normally do). They did okay, but a few dropped all their buds so we set those aside to replant later. A couple weeks go by and I see something pink flowering outside the growing beds and go to see what it was. It was a huge clump of Peony Do Tell, in full bloom, lying flat on the ground, bone dry, and in full flower! The stems were bent at a 90 degree angle to reach for the sun, the flowers were smaller than the ones growing in the ground, but the damn thing was flowering 10 times better than the ones we potted up and babied in the nursery! We immediately stopped watering the ones in the nursery and they eventually turned out to be one of our best crops - plus I potted up the one that had been on the ground and sold it a few days later

never heard about the water before, but know for sure it is important to place them in the same hight as before... yes learned the hard way, they can stop flowering for years if planted too deep.

Sounds good... have luck

Hi All of you,

Thanks for your help.

Karma, always fun to hear your spirit

Viktoria, Thanks. Seems your name is getting more known in the world of hosta and perennials; congrats

Chris, It is funny how experience can really go "against the grain" of books, recomendations, etc. I look back at what I have learned from experiences; sometimes wonder if anybody else is remotely qualified. Then reality sets in; don't know a damn thing.