A week ago, along with all other gardeners in the Northeast we had a hard freeze in Thomaston. The weather for the two weeks prior to this had been so warm that it was more than just unseasonable, it was weird and frankly a little disturbing to have consecutive days reach 80 in mid-March. Needless to say the peonies really took off under these conditions. On the afternoon of 3.26.12, we fielded many calls from northern peony growers concerned about the potential harm which the predicted cold could bring to their fecund tree peony buds. We recommend placing a plastic garbage barrel over peonies for quick frost protection. For larger plants, it is necessary to use tarps or row cover supported by stakes to cover the plants. Since we have several hundred plants, it would be unfair to baby some and neglect others, so we opted to let them face elements without any protection. Herbaceous peonies are later blooming and though the shoots had emerged, were still quite close to the ground and were of less concern.
The mercury dipped to 22 degrees at Cricket Hill on the night of 3.26. The next morning, the early season tree peonies, which were the most far advanced, were all bent over in very precarious looking positions. The later blooming Japanese and Chinese Rockii hybrids still had quite tight buds and looked none the worse for wear. As the day wore on, the tree peonies showed us yet again why they are such incredible plants. Slowly but surely, the stems, leaves and buds thawed out and righted themselves. A week later we can see no lingering negative effects.
We have heard from many customers along the East Coast and in the mid-west about unusually early peony blooms this year. This past weekend fellow peony growers in Maryland and Nebraska informed us that their collections are in peak bloom. Since our weather has been mercifully cool and seasonable for the past week, new growth has essentially been on pause. As of now, the peonies still look to be two weeks ahead of schedule. We have adjusted our Peony Festival calendar to reflect this. These dates are of course dependent on the weather in the coming weeks. If it stays cool for a few more weeks, the bloom could even be pushed back to a more ‘normal’ peak in mid-May.
In preparation for welcoming visitors to Peony Heaven, we have been busy cleaning up the garden. Have a look at our blog post on spring peony care, for a good primer on getting your plants off to a great start for this growing season. In the course of our work in the garden, we found two ‘volunteer’ seed grown peonies that should forever disprove the myth that peonies are finicky growers.
With less glee, I must report that this week’s garden clean-up has also yielded our first botrytis sightings of the season. The cool damp weather we have had the last week is ideal for the spread of this harmful fungus. Infection so far seems very minor, limited to some buds which look to have been weakened by winter damage. As a precaution against further infection, we will be spraying our peonies with Actinovate this week. For the last several seasons we have used this OMRI certified organic fungicide with great success to control fungal infection in the garden. If you see signs of botrytis on your peonies, make sure to remove all diseased material from the garden. Thoroughly clean any shears or cutters used in the removal of infected material to prevent any inadvertent further spreading.
My peonies froze last night although I covered them; they look better this afternoon than this morning but we have one more night of freezing temps to go. My tree peony was almost in bloom, too. I expect I’m going to lose the blooms. Bummer.
Hi Rene, Cover them again tonight, it can’t hurt. I think they should still be fine unless they are really close to opening. Where are you located? Best- Dan
Hi, dear CH, I still have two of my peonies that I transplanted to NC from VA. I have buds and we’re expecting frost tonight! Don’t remember what I did for them when this happened before, but I do remember that one of the blankets that I used, cotton, was too heavy for them What do I do? Help!!
Burlap works, as does a plastic garbage bag. Frost is fine for the buds, temps in the mid-low twenties seem to be the point at which tight buds get damaged. If you buds are farther along and close to opening, I would cover the plant even if its only going to 32.
When we got down to 25F a couple weeks ago, a few of my tree peony seedlings were killed off even with the frost cloth on. The bigger plants seemed to handle the freeze much better, but that’s what we get when we get very warm in late March followed by below average temperatures in April.
I covered my Peony But sadly they we all drooped over this morning Should I water them ? I’m very sad It was bitter cold
thanks Any thoughts would be helpful
Hi,
Withhold water for now. The buds should recover. Where are you gardening?
In Colorado ..zone 5 .. No Buds yet.. But they are poised :)) thanks for your thoughts They didn’t get surrounding water because they are in two large raised beds
We have two 10 year old Cricket Hill tree peonies at our house in Chapel Hill, NC. One with several tight buds and the other with a few buds just opening. After days in the mid to upper 70’s, we got an inch and a half of rain today and temps are supposed to dip down to the low thirties the next few nights. Should we cover the tree peonies over night?
Low 30s should be no problem for the tight buds, though below freezing temperatures may wipe out open flowers. Air on the side of caution an cover the plants with burlap or a tarp.
Thank you. I have two peony trees in poolesville Maryland and we are expected to freeze tonight. I feel better they will be OK. 4/4/16
Hi Maggie,
The tree peonies should be fine, as your temps are only dipping down to the high 20s. They are very hardy plants, even after new growth has begun for the season.
Good gardening-
Dan