If anyone has tips and experience for storing peony flowers for later use, please share and post them in this thread. Also if you know of any peony varieties that have prolonged vase life and/or do well in storage, please share them here too.

Two varieties that have good vase life for me are Red Charm and Cytherea.

I've not tried to keep peonies in the fridge, something to try in the future. Axel writes about it in the Peony Lovers and Enthusiasts group and has info about it in the topics at the top of the page. He talks about storing them for several months and the pics of them open later are gorgeous.

Wonderful, Liz! If anyone is interested to check out Axel's post, here is the link on facebook

https://www.facebook.com/group...

Mr. Henry Chotkowski shared a pro's technique for determining the right stage of bud for picking in Axel's thread that I find very interesting and helpful:

"Last year when testing when to pick peonies for storage, a venerable peony grower showed me how to test for the marshmallow stage; not by squeezing the sides of the bud together between one's thumb and forefinger, but by securing from underneath the bud between one's forefinger and middle finger and then pushing down on top of the bud with your thumb. The second method will result in buds that are cut later in their development, and more apt to open well when the time comes."

I have always squeezed the sides so this spring I will test out this pro's technique to pick the flowers at a precise stage for storage.

From AN INTRODUCTION TO HARVESTING AND SELLING CUT FLOWER PEONIES....

https://uaf.edu/files/snre/MP_...

All flowers at the GBG were harvested at the "marshmallow" stage which refers to the firmness of the flower bud at harvest. When holding the stem at the base of the bud between the index and middle fingers and pressing down on the top of the bud with the thumb, the bud has about the firmness of a stale marshmallow. No solid spots can be felt in the core of the bud. At the GBG, Jan Hanscom and I chose this method for its simplicity and because of our lack of experience harvesting flowers.

The same document has a numeric table for stages of bud development.

1.0 Hard tight bud, little petal color
1.5 Hard tight bud, slight color
2.0 Firm tight bud, petals showing color
2.5 Slightly softer bud, "squeezable" (Marshmallow stage)
3.0 Loose or soft bud. Outer petal loosening, petals still firm
4.0 Very loose bud, "hollow feel"
5.0 Almost out, petals curved inward
6.0 Open (optimum) petals reflexed
7.0 Petals reflexed and wilted or dropping

Quite a few cultivars were safe to harvest at stage 1.5 or 2.0 and would enjoy a longer storage life when harvested so early. Pink Hawaiian Coral, Coral Sunset and Festiva Maxima were all harvestable at 1.5 and Sarah Bernhardt was listed as a 2.0. The chart is very limited and so experimentation with your own flowers will be necessary.