- Harvest the seeds and grow young plants from them
- The division of older specimens
- The usual methods of grafting tree peonies
With its eye-catching flowers, the shrub peony, which is usually uncomplicated, is an asset to any garden. There are a whole range of options for propagating this plant, which can be distinguished from the perennial peony.
Propagation via seeds is very promising for tree peonies
Harvest the seeds and grow young plants from them
When caring for tree peonies, it is often recommended to cut off the withered inflorescences immediately after flowering in order to save the plants the energy needed to form the relatively large seeds. On the other hand, if you want to harvest germinable seeds, you have to let the seeds mature on the plants until they can finally be removed from the burst star-shaped seed pods in autumn. Although propagation by seeds is the only possibility for the natural creation of new hybrids of flower colors, it is not necessarily common in tree peonies due to the long duration. To speed up germination, which can take up to two or three years, the seeds can be stratified by alternately soaking in water and freezing.
The division of older specimens
If you have planted the tree peonies in the right place in your garden, then such a plant can live up to 60 years without transplanting. Any (unreasonable) transplanting of the peonies should be avoided as far as possible, as this slows down the growth and flowering of the plants. However, older specimens can be dug up for propagation purposes and divided by cutting or sawing. Make sure that each section has at least 2 or 3 buds and the smallest possible wound area.
The usual methods of grafting tree peonies
Commercially sold young plants of the tree peony in pots are usually grafted. The following methods are available for this purpose:
- wedge method
- chip finishing
- Bevel-cut finishing
- oculation
- nurse refinement
In the wet-nurse grafting or also the goat's foot method, a scion of the tree peony is usually grafted onto a root of a shrub peony in August or September. This root then serves as a supply root for the young plant for the first 2 or 3 years before it is finally shed. However, this can only work if the offshoots have been planted deep enough to allow root formation directly on the attached scion of the tree peony.
tips
The tree peony can also be propagated without grafting by rooting cuttings. A special rooting hormone should be used for this and a time chosen in early autumn.