| I have a blight on my peonies. It started on the oldest of my tree peonies. I have sprayed several times -including the soil- and cut out all the damaged blighted stems.Most will not bloom. My plan was to enjoy what blooms I do get, cut to the ground all floiage and respray, but the orginal tree peony barely has new growth and it is wilting again. If I cut that one back again will it survive? It is of course my favorite, can I selectively remove effected new growth? Will that help? Remove the soil ? Help. I have 19 plants in various places in the 200foot long bed. |
| Peonies are subject to a number of diseases and a wet spring encourages problems. The symptoms sound like a fungal disease. Fungus can overwinter in the soil and attack plant parts as they emerge. It might be best to remove and destroy the affected plants and put new peonies in a different location. However, before doing that, you might also want to take a sample to your County Extension to identify exactly what is affecting your plant. The best method of limiting disease from year to year is to cut off, remove and destroy all peony foliage every fall after frost. You may also wish to cut off, remove and destroy all the affected plant parts when they show up; dip your tool into a disinfectant 1 part household bleach and 1 part water solution as you cut to avoid spreading any disease to uninfected parts. |
