Hi all,

I've had two peony plants in containers on my patio for the past 3 years (this Summer will mark year 3). This year, we had a good 24 blooms per peony and lost half of them to some sort of bud-blast. That, in itself, is a lot to figure out. However, for the half that survived, half of those have actually opened, and of THOSE, only a few are fully opening. Most concerning, the flowers seem really distorted (see attached photos) with fragile petals that are just falling off.

We live in zone 6b, the plant gets 8+ hours of full sun. They were fully exposed to the winter cold and I've made sure they aren't buried too deep in the pots. The soil may be a bit nitrogen rich but is generally good. Of note, last year the plants had a horrible powdery mildew that destroyed them by September.

Any ideas as to what may be causing these distorted flowers? Bonus points if anyone can hazard a guess at the initial bud-blast, too. I suspect the two may be related but am unsure. I've been told by nursery staff that peonies are extremely difficult to grow in pots, I'd hate to admit they're right.

That pot looks way to small for how big that peony is. They have big roots that need to spread out and establish. The nitrogen will encourage leafy growth but few blooms. My advise: put them in the ground.
I would suggest posting this in the peony forum and see what they have to say.

Moved to the Peony forum

Thanks for the reply. I didn't realize there was a peony forum! I wish planting in the ground was an option - we rent. But I'll be on the hunt for a larger winter-safe pot for sure.

Ohhh you must check under the Community tab in the menu bar above, so many forums to explore!

Do you remember whether there was a frost or freeze after the buds formed?

There wasn't a frost per se but temps dropped to low to mid 30s for a few nights right as the buds were developing. I suspected this was the issue for the poor buds that never developed.

Yeah, bigger pot will help a lot. Therese from Brooks Garden Peonies has some that she's had in a 1/2 wine barrel for years, has never taken it out, but you really need something that size of you plan to keep them in pots for any length of time. Really well draining soil and they will feel the cold and heat more as pots offer less insulation than the ground does.