How to Make Your Cut Peony Blooms Last: 7 Tips to Try
Peonies as cut flowers are among the most voluminous and unrivaled in the late spring display. With petal-packed blooms, a light fragrance, and a range of hues from the softest blush to scarlet, the beloved old garden perennials are a bouquet mainstay. Join gardening expert Katherine Rowe to explore ways to make cut peonies last longer in the vase and make the most of a short but bloom-filled season.
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The delight of late spring and early summer means peonies bursting from colorful buds and heirloom roses following suit. The combinations of textures, colors, and floral forms this time of year call for effortlessly elegant fresh florals to relish the garden’s offerings inside. But how do you make your favorite peony blooms last in cut flower displays?
Peonies, with their massive blooms, delicate fragrance, and unique flower structures, are a marvel as a single specimen and decadent by the armful. They also add soft, full-bodied contrast to mixed floral arrangements. With the proper harvesting, preparation, and treatment, each flower lasts about a week to 10 days on the bush and about five to seven days (or more) in the vase.
Whether cutting fresh from the garden or picking them up from the local florist, growers’ market, or grocer, following simple tips for preservation helps make your cut peony arrangement last longer. Simple elegance couldn’t be easier to appreciate than with these dreamboats.
Sarah Bernhardt Peony
- Show-Stopping Blooms
- Long-Lasting Perennial
- Low Maintenance
- Fragrant and Romantic
- Deer-Resistant
- Versatile in the Garden
- Cold Hardy and Resilient
Be Patient With Young Plants
Newly transplanted and young peonies can take a year or more to settle in. It usually takes a few growing seasons for them to become fully productive, blooming spectacles. In the first year, you may get leafy growth and a few blooms in the second year. By the third, they’ll show their true colors. If you’ve been ambitious and started your peonies from seed rather than tubers, it may take four or five years to develop buds.
Peonies are slow to establish and have extensive roots. Once they’ve settled in, the blooms take off, and the perennials are long-lived.
Harvest at the Right Time
When to cut peonies depends on the readiness and stage of the flower and the best time of day. Harvest in the bud stage for long-lasting enjoyment, or as flowers are just opening for a ready display. At either stage, the blooms will open fully in the vase for lasting cut peonies.
In bud, the home gardener can clip those that are in the “marshmallow” colored bud stage, when the bud is full, shows color, and feels soft and spongy like the sugary confection. Leave the firm, tight buds on the bush to develop further. If you clip underdeveloped buds, they may never open.
The best time to harvest peonies is early in the day before the sun and heat begin the daily evaporation process. In the morning, stems and flowers are full of moisture, which helps sustain them when clipped. It also means you’ll catch the about-to-open buds before they unfurl in the day’s warmth. Evening is prime time for bloom clipping, too – the best practice is to avoid cutting in the heat of the day to retain the strongest and longest-lasting bloom display.
Cut and Hydrate
With fully-budded blooms about to burst and a mild morning for harvesting, we’re ready to make the best cuts. Cutting is an easy process with clean, sharp snips or pruners. With the marshmallow buds, slightly open flowers, and a thick stem in hand, cut the length to just above a leaf node. Clip the stems at 12 to 18 inches long, and aim for at least two sets of leaves.
Snip the stems at an angle (about 45 degrees works well). This increases the surface area for water uptake at the base of the stem. It may also protect the remaining leaf node and branch from moisture settling on the cut and causing disease problems.
Carry a bucket of fresh water as you go to hold the stems immediately after cutting. Keeping them hydrated is the key to making cut peonies last longer. The large blooms wilt quickly without access to water. Stems produce sap as a means of protection, and for cut flowers, the sap seals the stems and blocks water absorption. Quick placement in water after a cut helps reduce sap buildup.
For market-purchased peony blooms, plunge them into water as soon as you get home to preserve them and stave off wilting.
Don’t Worry About Ants
Peony buds contain a sweet sap that draws ants, and it’s common to see them crawling around buds and along stems. The ants are harmless and don’t impact the developing blooms. They may even serve as a natural predator and deterrent for common invaders like aphids and thrips.
Encourage the ants to depart with a gentle shake of the stem. Leave the cut flowers outside in water for half an hour or so for them to move away from the stems.
Preparation and Placement
Until you’re ready to arrange, keep the freshly cut stems in water and in a cool space, out of direct sunlight and away from drafts. The blooms perform best under normal-to-cool room temperatures and average-to-tepid water temperatures.
If you need to delay opening, place them in the refrigerator until ready to move to the bouquet or vase. In the colored bud stage, they can last for up to two weeks in refrigeration. Flower farmers may store them in the cooler completely dry, meaning not in water and without any moisture on the buds, to avoid fungal problems. Wrap them in paper (newspaper works) until ready to rehydrate in water.
When ready to arrange the peonies, give the stems a fresh cut at an angle to promote water absorption. Snip off at least one to two inches to refresh the stems.
Remove any excess lower leaves to avoid contact with the water and preserve resources for the blooms. A few upper leaves can remain for visual interest and filler qualities, but removing the bulk of foliage along the stem directs water to the blooms rather than to large leaves. Make sure the remaining leaves don’t fall below the water line. Removing leaves helps keep the water clean and improves the aesthetic, too.
Refresh and Revive
Every two to three days, pour out and refresh the arrangement’s water. Clean water means less bacteria buildup and promotes longer-lasting cut peony blooms. It also ensures they have plenty of moisture to absorb.
Give the stems another fresh, angled cut to promote continued water absorption. Keeping the vase out of drafts and direct sun, too, makes for peonies that last.
Encouraging Buds to Open
If your fresh florals are for an occasion or event, timing the peonies’ opening becomes important. Picking blooms that have just opened ensures a ready display. To accelerate buds and flowers to open more fully, opt for warmth. Stick the prepped stems in a vase of warm water instead of room temperature water. Situate the arrangement in a warm area of the home to promote natural processes.
Warm water can accelerate bacterial growth and lead to cut flowers that don’t last long. After the initial warm bath, refresh it every few days with average-temperature water.
A Few Favorites for Cut Flowers
Depending on the species and variety, peonies fall into early, mid, and late season bloom times. Choose those with staggered flowering for a long-lasting display in the border and the vase.
From the common garden hybrids (Paeonia lactiflora) to tree peonies (P. suffruticosa), there’s a selection across garden situations. Itoh, or intersectional, peonies bring the best of the hybrids and the tree species in robust selections with floriferous vigor – excellent for lasting cut peonies.
‘Sarah Bernhardt’
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botanical name Paeonia lactiflora ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ |
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sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
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height 3′ |
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hardiness zones 3-8 |
The heirloom ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ is a 1906 French introduction by Lemoine and remains hugely popular today. Massive, fully-petaled soft pink blooms show fuchsia flecks, and the decadent double blooms reach up to nine inches wide. Their sweet fragrance sweeps with light floral and citrus notes.
‘Sarah Bernhardt’ flowers prolifically with a robust growth habit, earning it the Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit. The perennial favorite is also drought-tolerant, cold-hardy, and a long-lived performer.
‘Sarah Bernhardt’ blooms from late spring to early summer as a late peony. Easy-care once established, it grows best in moist, well-drained soils. Provide afternoon protection from intense direct sun.
‘Festiva Maxima’
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botanical name Paeonia lactiflora ‘Festiva Maxima’ |
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sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
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height 34″ |
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hardiness zones 3-8 |
This dreamy variety has large, double white blooms with crimson splashes. Deep red markings dot and dash a few central petals. The packed petals, arranged loosely, are tissuey ruffles with scalloped edges.
‘Festiva Maxima’ is highly fragrant and one of the most popular heirlooms. Its large, dark green leaves and strong stems make a lush backdrop to other perennials.
‘Festiva Maxima’ is adaptable and heat-resistant, making it a good one to try in warmer zones. The beauty also has Award of Garden Merit status for its blooms and reliability. Buds open in late spring; pair them with early and mid-flowering peonies for six weeks or more of peonies in flower.
‘Duchesse de Nemours’
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botanical name Paeonia lactiflora ‘Duchesse de Nemours’ |
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sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
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height 30-36″ |
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hardiness zones 3-8 |
‘Duchesse de Nemours’ holds her reign with over 150 years of garden grace. She presents fully double, milky white cupped blooms with creamy yellow interiors and lilac overtones.
The bomb blooms open to form a loose crown, dense with petals and fragrance that makes for a luxe bouquet. From the French breeder Calot in 1856, the tried and true ‘Duchesse’ is an early mid-season bloomer. The top performer also holds the Award of Garden Merit.
The ‘Duchesse’ is an herbaceous (common garden) heirloom peony that adapts to a variety of soils, with notes of good performance in clay. For the best health, amend clay or sandy soils with organic matter to improve nutrition, aeration, and moisture retention. Peonies perform best in organically rich, loose, well-drained soils.
‘First Arrival’
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botanical name Paeonia ‘First Arrival’ |
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sun requirements Full sun to partial shade |
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height 2-3′ |
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hardiness zones 4-9 |
As intersectionals, Itoh peonies bring the longest bloom time of all the cut peonies. With color flares and overlays, the multi-toned petals shine in single or semi-double forms. Cold hardy and with hybrid vigor, Itoh has sturdy stems, good disease resistance, fine foliage, and hefty flowers.
Itoh cultivars flower later in the season than other varieties, and ‘First Arrival’ is one of the earliest in the group. Tissuey pink petals with lilac overtones and deep magenta centers have ruffled edges that resemble crêpe paper blooms.
To match its coloration is a rose fragrance, another merit of the large, semi-double flowers that reach eight inches across. With open yellow centers when fully open, the blossoms attract pollinators. Productive bloomers, established colonies can yield 30 to 40 blooms. ‘First Arrival’ is another Award of Garden Merit recipient.
