Peonies: Care and Reproduction

Perennials, which in late spring please gardeners with lush foliage and beautiful fragrant flowers - are peonies. Care for unpretentious handsome men is easy. The most important thing is the correct planting. If you do everything right, then you will be pleased for many years with a variety of bright peonies, the care of which will also give you a lot of fun.

Meet the peonies

The plant is native to southeast Asia and belongs to the family Paeoniaceae (pion). This is the only representative of the genus Paeonia L, which includes more than forty species. The most common grassy peonies. There are also tree-like species.

Peony is known not only as an ornamental plant. Long been used and its medicinal properties. Especially it is widely used in Chinese medicine. The plant has antipyretic, soothing and analgesic properties. It is used for pulmonary tuberculosis, as well as for diseases that are accompanied by the appearance of rash and increased body temperature.

At present, about five thousand varieties of pions are known . Such diversity provides an unusually wide choice of colors, sizes and shapes of flowers, as well as the timing of flowering, height and appearance of the bush. Among the colors - different shades of red, yellow, orange, white and other colors. According to the structure of the flower , pink, crown, double-paired, double, Japanese, semi-double, anemoid-shaped peonies occur. Care and breeding ensure the constant appearance of new varieties of this popular plant.

Peonies: Reproduction

The most common method of reproduction is the division of rhizomes. With this method, the plant must be carefully excavated, taking care not to damage the roots in the process. Then cut the leaves and remove the rotten roots. Cut them from the inside at an angle of forty-five to sixty degrees. It is desirable to divide a part of the bush, which has three or five eyes and roots.

Peonies: planting and care

The plant prefers open solar areas. Peonies growing in deep shade do not bloom fully. The close passage of groundwater (as well as wet, wetlands, stagnant waters) and the absence of air circulation for the peony are unacceptable. They lead to rotting roots and the development of diseases. Peonies are suitable for loamy soils with good drainage.

To plant well grew for many years, it is important to immediately choose the right place. Planting and transplantation is carried out only in the autumn. The bushes are placed at a distance of one meter, as they grow over time. The pit for landing should have sixty centimeters in length, width and depth.

Substrate for planting consists of equal parts of humus, peat, garden soil and sand (one bucket). It is desirable to add to the mixture double superphosphate (250 grams) iron vitriol (one tablespoon), wood ash (liter pot) and potash (one teaspoon). Two-thirds of the pit is filled with the above-described mixture, the rest of the space is filled with earth. Usually in the second or third year on the bushes there are full-fledged peonies.

Care for them in the future lies in watering, fertilizing and mulching. Top dressing of both young and adult plants at the beginning of the growing season is carried out foliarly. Irrigation is rare, except for the period of budding, flowering and planting of flower buds. In autumn, the stems are cut, and the bush is covered with ashes.

Peony, care for which is easy to master, equally looks great in mass plantings, and in small groups, and in a single landing. These flowers are good in combination with crocuses, scylls and other spring flowers with early flowering. Often with pions, lilies and gladioli neighbors.