I have about 12 tree peonies and all of them are 3 years old or less. I have quite a few of them that have not produced a bloom yet so I cannot compare them all. For the ones that have bloomed, I have seen quite a range of differences in the length of time the bloom lasts (stays nice from slightly open to petals drop). I know alot of factors can affect this, such as day temps, sun exposure, and wind/rain. But assuming that all of these factors are constant or the same in your garden, which tree peonies do you have that have the longest lasting bloom and whether they are in full sun or partial shade? For me, High Noon and Hanakisoi last the longest even in full sun. The Chinese tree peonies are the ones that last the shortest and petals drop in 3 days.

Pretty as these are, they don't last long. Petals scorched or dropped in 3 days.
NOID

Wu Jin Yao Hui


These are better, lasting 5-6 days from opening to petals drop in full sun
Hanakisoi

High Noon

I find the more double their are the longer blooming time their had, the darker color one really don't like the sun.
Long blooming time verity











Those verity are short :

My only Tree Peony is Taiyo and those blooms last about a week. It is in afternoon shade. You can see the fading in the older bloom.

Thank you for your responses, Yan and Debra.

Yan, do you know the names of your tree peonies? Are they all in full sun?

kousa said:Thank you for your responses, Yan and Debra.

Yan, do you know the names of your tree peonies? Are they all in full sun?

Yes, I do know most of their names, most of my TP are from tree peony garden, but I still have about 6 are mislabeled, one from local nursery, 4 from VKB whole sales, the other one is from EBay. All my TP are planted in full sun, the darker color verity really got burn from the sun, I'm think to move couple of them, but I'm afraid I'm going to lose them. Because one of the spot I had planted TP before is not good for TP, I lost couple of them in the same spot. so I don't know what to do.

Tree peonies actually bloom?? Still waiting on about a 5 year old shrub. It gets about 6' tall, very healthy looking, but nary a bud or bloom. I'm pretty close to just yarding it out as a misfit. Nice foliage though so every spring I think this will be the year...

Bonehead said:Tree peonies actually bloom?? Still waiting on about a 5 year old shrub. It gets about 6' tall, very healthy looking, but nary a bud or bloom. I'm pretty close to just yarding it out as a misfit. Nice foliage though so every spring I think this will be the year...

WOW, that's really tall for a 5 years old tree peony. Some of my TP are 10 years old but only 3'-4' tall.

Deb aka Bonehead, do you know the name of your tree peony? Is it own root or grafted?

This was a gift from my neighbor, who grew it from seed, I believe perhaps seeds from an existing plant she had. She thought it might be yellow. It was a little seedlings in a 4" pot. I planted it out and have been patiently waiting for something to happen. Here's a photo from a couple years ago:

Tree peony flowers can last a couple of weeks if it doesn't rain, at least here. If for some reason it gets into the 90s when blooms are on they don't do well either.

I may have mentioned what I learned about tree peony seedlings this year in another thread. IF you are talking about a seedling, depending on the maturity of the plant (in the case of a seedling) it can take 7 or 8 years to bloom even...speaking about a plant that has never bloomed before. Suffruticosa (tree peonies) varieties are some that take the longest to bloom from seed. I also asked if there was such a thing as a bloomless tree peony, I was encouraged with the word "no" and "patience, it is worth the wait".

Bonehead said:This was a gift from my neighbor, who grew it from seed, I believe perhaps seeds from an existing plant she had. She thought it might be yellow. It was a little seedlings in a 4" pot. I planted it out and have been patiently waiting for something to happen. Here's a photo from a couple years ago:

Deb, you had a beautiful gardens!
Your TP looks like the Tibetan tree peony from the picture. TP seeding they do take a longtime to bloom, about 4-5 years, so just be patient!!!

Thank you, Yan. I will continue to be patient, and thanks for the clue that it may be a Tibetan tree peony. I'll do some research in that direction.

with Yan. You have a very lovely border going there. I especially love the combo of the yellow daylilies and those red flowering plants. Are they crocosmias? The tall tree peony adds a nice contrast.

Tracey, I wish my tree peonies flowers last as long as yours. It is incredible that your tree peony flowers last a couple weeks. You must have really nice cool weather up there. Do you know the names of the varieties whose flowers last that long?

Besides hot weather and rain, and most of my tree peonies in more protected locations, near house, part sun, will last that long. Since weather here can be very variable, moderate temps in the mid 60s to 70s during bloom preserve the blooms best. 10-14 days in good years. The ones out in the "field" last about a week.

I have both lutea and suffuticosa tree peonies. In protected areas, they last. When I first planted them, I had no idea they would be happier and have more flowers near the house. They probably suffer less cold temperatures I would guess, and less weather elements all around.

Tracey for your response. Perhaps the longevity of the tree peony bloom is more dependent on the weather and shelter factors than the varieties themselves. I may have erred in thinking that their genes play a large part in how long they last. I don't grow many tree peonies so I cannot make a firm conclusion. But from my observation of the limited number of tree peonies that I have, it would appear that the lutea hybrids and the Japanese suffruticosas last much longer than the Chinese suffruticosas. I have yet to get a bloom from any of the Rockii hybrids that I have so I cannot be sure how long their flowers last.

Tree peonies can perform better in partial shade than under full Sun. People traditionally use umbrella to protect the flowers if they are planted under full sun.


This picture is from Cricket Hill Garden

I don't have those Japanese umbrella, so my mother bring out my beach umbrella and patio umbrellas when the tree peony blooms, it's quite a sight! LOL
What we do for those beauties!!!

Yan, what is the name of the tree peony with the lovely rosy pink color in the last picture on the "long list" ? It is gorgeous! What is the name of your second one on the "long list" with white color flower in ball form?

kousa said:Yan, what is the name of the tree peony with the lovely rosy pink color in the last picture on the "long list" ? It is gorgeous! What is the name of your second one on the "long list" with white color flower in ball form?

The last one on the long lists is call " Shinshichifukujin" Japanese verity





The flowers are huge, about 8-9"

The white one is " Fragrant jade"(Xiang Yu) Chinese verity