Do you have a beautifully blooming peony and want to propagate it? Then you have several options to do that. Below you will find out how to proceed step by step with all propagation methods and which propagation method is the easiest…

Peonies are easy to propagate from seeds

Sow the shiny black seeds

Sowing the seeds is not difficult. But waiting for germination requires patience. First of all, it is important that you use fresh seeds. They mature around September and are in the pods of the peonies. When ripe, the follicles open and present their shiny black seeds.

After harvesting, the seeds are best sown immediately:

  • Fill the seed tray or pot with nutrient-poor, sandy soil
  • Sow seeds about 1 cm deep
  • moisturize
  • put outside in the open e.g. B. in the garden or on the balcony
  • need a longer cold spell

Seed germination can take up to 2 years. Immediately after emergence, the seedlings must be pricked out. This is usually the case in March/April. An additional disadvantage of sowing is that shrub peonies can be expected to flower on the sown plants for the first time after 7 years. For perennial peonies, it takes 3 to 4 years.

Division of perennial peonies

The division of the perennial peony is not about rejuvenation, but only about propagation. The division can take place towards the end of July/beginning of August. But the timing is also perfect in autumn and spring. It is important that only older plants are divided and the division is never done at flowering time.

Step by step:

1. Carefully dig up the peony.
2. Separate the roots with a spade.
3. Plant root pieces separately from each other.
4. Suitable location is sunny and sheltered from the wind.
5. Watering.

Multiply shrub/tree peonies using cuttings

Paeonia lutea, delavayi and rockii can be easily propagated using offshoots or cuttings. It works like this:

  • choose semi-ripe shoots that are woody at the base
  • cut off from the end of August
  • Shorten to a length of 10 to 15 cm
  • remove lower leaves
  • Insert cuttings 3 cm deep
  • keep moist
  • Rooting period: several months

Propagating shrub peonies by grafting!

Refinement is also possible with the shrub peonies. If you should decide to do this, you should know this:

  • Result: same properties as the mother plant
  • first flowering after 2 to 3 years
  • Graft a matching shoot onto the roots of a shrub peony
  • plant in humus rich, well drained soil
  • Planting depth: at least 10 cm

tips

A cold stimulus from one winter is often not enough for the seeds, and a second winter is necessary. Due to this tediousness, sowing is not recommended.

Category:

Vegetable garden