What if I told you caring for peonies was easy and that there was a way for you to harvest your peonies and make them last all summer?
It’s true! And it is so incredibly easy to do! So let’s get to it so you can learn how to harvest your perfect peonies you worked so hard to grow!
Caring for Peonies
Step 1:
When those late spring days heat up your peonies will very quickly bloom and timing for when to cut them means constant supervision. I actually check my peonies 2-3 times a day! Note: You want to try to harvest the peonies when it’s cooler, in the early morning or evening.
When the peonies start to bud they feel like hard little marbles. If you are looking to maximize vase life {or keep them all summer} you’ll want to cut them when they are in the marshmallow phase… meaning they feel squishy like a marshmallow.
Once they hit the marshmallow stage they are very quick to bloom!
Step 2:
Cutting. I cut all of my flowers at a diagonal. Reason being – when it rains the moisture will slide off the stem instead of staying to soak in which can cause mildew and disease.
I always cut my stems extremely long, I cut as long as I can while leaving 1-3 sets of leaves on the stalk. This gives me room to play with the desired length I want for my bouquets while also trimming the peony bush down for the bulbs to conserve energy.
Step 3:
Remove the foliage! For maximum vase life you can remove the foliage by stripping the leaves with a floral stripper {like this one I’m obsessed with!}.
By removing the leaves you are allowing the stem to take the water up to the bloom for longevity. I do keep the other little tiny buds on though, I think they make the bouquets so sweet!
Step 4:
For this step you can do one of two things…once you harvest your peonies you can pop those beautiful blooms in a vase and watch them open in 1-3 days…
OR…
You can make little peony bouquets to store in your refrigerator and have peonies ALL SUMMER LONG!!!!
In order to do this you need to definitely cut the flowers in their marshmallow phase, and then wrap them in plastic. You can order plastic wrap or use two gallon plastic bags and wrap with rubber bands or tie with string/twine.
Be sure that once they are wrapped up you lay them in your refrigerator HORIZONTALLY. And just like that – you have your harvested peony blooms all summer. Whenever you are ready just pull out one of you wrapped peony bouquets and pop in room temperature water! They will open in 1-2 days!
Let me know if you save your peonies in the comments below!
For More Garden Inspiration + Tips Check Out My Garden Club Articles
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Do you have any extra tips on caring for peonies? Let me know in a comment below!
How do you avoid bringing the ants inside with your peonies? I love the flowers but they are such any magnets outdoors and ants inside make me lose my mind. Thanks! Gorgeous photos and flowers!
When you say to “wrap them” with plastic wrap or two gallon bags, are you saying to wrap the stems? Not the buds, correct?
How do you get them to last longer while cut in a vase? Mine seem to wilt quickly. TIA
Do you wrap the whole bud of the flower, too?
Have very old large peony bushes, they already bloomed & the heavy rains leaving a big mess. I trim all the plants they are so huge the support wreaths don’t do anything. Do you have any ideas that will help me with the mess of flower petals
I am going to be harvesting peonies at marshmallow stage in CO this summer for an October 6th wedding, and if I need 20 peonies, how many do you recommend I cut at marshmallow stage to make sure that I have twenty bloom for my bouquet?
Any tips appreciated!!
I am going to try this!
I am going to try this tomorrow!