Liz,
That growth is coming up! it is about an inch above the soil line now. Should I dig down and break it off now?

Hi Jennifer, your tree peony will have growth coming up from the ground, too. I know I can tell on mine because the color of the new growth (herbaceous) will be completely different from the color/shape of the tree peony new growth. Uncover the eye and pinch out any new growth that is different from the tree growth. Hopefully someone with pictures of new tree growth will post here to show you what is good/bad, I still have almost no growth on my trees to show an example.

Just thought I would post a pic I took yesterday as an update

Looks like it survived the digging up/replanting just fine! Congrats on your new tree peony!

I have just received 4 large (as in 4ft. tall) tree peonies from a friend who is a landscaper. He dropped them off last night, and I planted them. They had pretty nice root balls on them. I watered them last night, and again this morning. They have not wilted at all yet. They had flowered heavily last year based on all of the seed pods on them. I cut the seed pods off. I have a very well drained, sandy soil here. I read above that they don't like to be wet. Wondering how much I should water, or if I should water at all? I know it's not an ideal time to transplant, but I wanted to try to rescue them if possible. I had posted a question on the question forum, but that was pretty much answered in this tread. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

You'll probably want to shade them more this summer and water like you would any other transplanted perennial to get them established. You won't see any new growth this season but the roots will need the moisture to make it though the summer until they're established; they're not very water needy other than that and when it's extremely hot and dry. Your soil sounds perfect for them, great starting point! Leave off watering when the temps start to cool off and the peonies in your area start to brown in the fall. Good luck with your new tree peonies and aren't you lucky to have a landscaper friend!

Thanks for the info! It's very helpful. They do have a quite a bit of new growth already, but I'm wondering if that might die back some.

Jennifer,
Congratulations on your tree peony. It has survived and flourished. In the fall, after Labor Day, you need to put the plant into the ground where you want to leave it. Well drained soil, fertilize, and be patient the next couple of years.

graycrna4u said:Jennifer,
Congratulations on your tree peony. It has survived and flourished. In the fall, after Labor Day, you need to put the plant into the ground where you want to leave it. Well drained soil, fertilize, and be patient the next couple of years.

Thank you @graycrna4u . I like to think it survived because it was happy someone finally came along and rescued it. I am so excited to have it. I have a great spot for it, already waiting with new amended soil.

My wife and I are planning to establish a display bed for tree peonies this fall. We plan on a bed 4-5' wide and 40' long. we were going to get our plants this fall from the Tree Peony Garden in Centre Hall, Pa. Since we have heavy clay soil, I was considering incorporating Hugelkultur in building this bed. I was planning on using screened compost and possibly mushroom soil for the bed. We plan to add mass plantings of grape hyacinth, Muscari, and probably herbaceous annuals like Begonia semperflorens. Any helpful suggestions would be appreciated.

Sounds wonderful to me! How high do you expect your mounded beds to be?

I would think no more than 9-12"s. After we do the lay out I may till the sod before we start building the bed, that should improve drainage even more..

Ric, check out Lasagna gardening. That might work better for you.

Diann

Thank You Diann, We do lasagna beds all the time. I visited the permaculture forum and wanted to one up it, so to speak. I thought using Hugelkultur would be a greater benefit in the long run, especially since the tree peonies are going to be a permanent bed. my biggest concern is that using that system may be contradictory to good peony practices.

Ya know, I don't know. If it was an established bed for a few years I'd feel better about planting some very expensive things in it. I currently have nine tree peonies to plant this fall. I'm trying to get my beds ready now. Good luck and let me know how it turns out.

Diann

I had not heard of Hugelkultur before, I had to look it up. It's an interesting concept. I would think it would take a long time for the wood to decompose, but what fertile soil it would make.

In 2011, I made 2 beds, each 6 x 25 ft with biodegradable landscape fabric on top of the grass, with soil conditioner, top soil and composted manure. I made a 3rd bed this spring 4 x 50 feet the same way on April 23rd.

I planted herbaceous and Itoh peonies in the 1st 2 beds as soon as I made them, and they have done fine. The 3rd bed made this spring had roses planted in it, and they are also doing fine. I added some Brugs to the new bed today, and I noticed the biodegradable landscape paper had already dissolved, and the grass underneath dead.

I already have 3 tree and 2 Itoh peonies to plant in this new bed this fall, and I've ordered 3 more tree peonies and several herbaceous peonies for this area as well.

The beds from 2011 also have bearded irises, lilies, and an edge of daylilies



The new spring 2014 bed today, with roses, and the Brugs I planted this morning.

Beautiful, Annette.

Thanks Debra.

I forgot to add in my post that I also have heavy, red clay soil. It's very hard to dig in, so raised beds are the best option. All of my beds are mulched with pine straw which breaks down quickly, and also helps to amend the soil.

Annette, Your established beds look great, and your new one shows the same promise. We also have heavy clay and that's why I want to try the Hugel bed, to push it one step further. Since the tree peonies are an investment and we can pick them up at the nursery I also plan on picking their brains a bit too. All the started with Holly visiting The Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, and a friend from Dave's Garden visiting her home in China, and the photos she took.