Greetings all,

I've been away from the forum for a while as I got engaged and have been wedding planning. We decided on the date of 08/31/2024. As fellow peony lovers you know this date is well out of the peony growing season for most and I want them in my wedding for sure if possible. That being said I have held peonies over in my fridge but only for about a month at a time. My florist said it won't hurt to try and if successful she will incorporate them. I plan on trying to save some peonies in my fridge for my bouquet etc. Any tips, advice, commentary, past experiences etc is welcome.
Check out my website if you were ever curious on what I looked like lol.
Theknot.com/ruthannaandvincent

Hi Ruthanna,
Congratulations on your upcoming marriage!

I'm a florist and have stored peonies for an early August wedding. A home fridge is possibly too active/humid for successful storing but here's what we did.

Bought 2.5x the stems we needed in the almost rock hard stage, kept them completely out of water. Marshmallow stage is too soft. Wrapped each bundle of 10 stems in clean, dry newsprint and put them in a large cardboard floral box and stuck the boxes in the back of the cooler where they wouldn't get wet.

A week before the wedding we took out 5 stems and cut them, put them in plain water and let them open, out of direct sunlight. They opened very quickly and shattered 12 hours after opening so we knew how long we had with them.

We opened all the stems and hydrated them the morning of the wedding, I premade the bouquet so if the peonies melted there would be other flowers in it. They held up for photos but I asked the bride not to keep them outside as much as possible. We had enough that looked good for the important things, bouquet, sweetheart table and a few in the arch that lasted about an hour but there was a ton of wasted stems.

As you can see this was a LOT for just a few peonies in August. There are a few options shipping in July/early August from Alaska, they are smaller but obviously have not been stored for months, most of the local wholesalers can investigate for your florist. We charged the client a lot of money for the efforts and extra stems which even when purchased in season are still pretty pricey. The only reason I did all this was because the bride was a complete nightmare and burst into tears every time I said they might not be available. She actually screamed at me once because the internet told her she could get them from somewhere in the world anytime of the year. Gotta love the internet. We charged her what I call a "crazy tax"

Here's some photos, they were pretty small and I can't remember the exact varieties. Good luck and again congratulations! you can share this with your florist if you like and they can DM me on Instagram if they have questions. @ sullivan_owen

I was thinking the same as Sulli. Contact the Alaskan Peony Cooperative and find out about availability that late in August!

Congratulations! I am so happy for you.

https://www.theknot.com/us/rut...

I only see a blurry photo at the top. Are there more photos to see?

Not sure what happened to the page where I had them all on. Here as some below.

Congrats!

Ruthanna, you are such a cute couple!
Thanks for sharing the photos with us.

Keep us posted on your peony quest.

Congratulations Ruthanna. I hope you have the wedding (and flowers!) of your dreams.

Congratulations! You and your fiance make a beautiful couple. The pictures are lovely! As for preserving peonies for your bouquets until August, I hope that you can succeed. I have tried once but they did not last until August. I think my problem was that my fridge temps were not uniform throughout so some parts were colder than others. As a result, some stems and flowers were frozen. Also, I did not wrap them well to insulate them against the cold and damp air. So Sulli's advice about wrapping them in newspapers and then put them in a box is very sound and should be followed. I may even put them in a plastic bag before putting them in the box. Hopefully, you will have a lot of peonies to save. Good luck!

Try silica sand. It's a great way to preserve flowers. I use it all the time to make dried floral arrangements. It preserves the natural color and shape.
Once dried place in decorative glass container for display. There are many you tube videos online to demonstrate the silica sand technique.

Thank you everyone for your replies and well wishes. I'm going to try and hold some over in my refrigerator to see what happens. I don't have high hopes and realize it may be for nothing but I will try.
Thank you everyone again.

You may consider using real flowers for everything in the bouquets except the peonies, and adding those in as artificial. Hobby Lobby has some artificial flowers that look pretty nice. Maybe you could even scent them w a perfume? With mothers day coming up, you may be able to find a peony scented spritz you can put on them.

!That's a great idea Frillylily

Found this on the Hidden Springs Peony Farm
https://www.hiddenspringspeony...

How to save peony blooms
Long story short, you'll wrap your stems in plastic and lay them in the fridge until you fancy a bit of beauty.

This is such a great idea when you know you'll have company in mid-summer or perhaps a wedding. Or maybe you're just celebrating a summer day.

No matter the reason, you can enjoy a vase of peonies well after spring has passed. Here's how.

Cut your peony BEFORE the flower opens. For a large double peony, the perfect time is when the bud feels like a marshmallow and is about the size of a golf ball. A single, Japanese or Anemone form peony will be much smaller and should be cut when it is firmer. For these forms, cut the stem when the bud starts to show color. There can be a little bit of experimentation here to get it just right. Picking it too early and it may never open. Too late and it will open in the refrigerator. Practice makes perfect.
Remove all the leaves from the stem.
You'll want to store your peony stems in plastic. Refrigerators can provide good temperature control for the flowers but they are quite dry inside. Wrapping the buds in plastic will help them retain moisture and not dry out while they await the vase. Produce bags, plastic grocery bags and even large resealable baggies work well. You can wrap them individually or in small bouquets. If the entire stem doesn't fit in the bag the ends can stick out without protection.
Lay the wrapped stems on a shelf in the fridge. You can stack them up on top of each other to save space.
Check on the stems periodically and remove any that show signs of mold.
When you are ready to take the flowers out and enjoy them:

Give them stems a fresh cut off the bottom. The flowers will have dehydrated during their refrigeration and may be a little wilted. Don't worry.
Place the stems in a vase with lukewarm water and flower food. A cool room is best. Avoid direct sunlight. The blooms tend to open faster than you think!
Replace water regularly.
Extra tips:

The temperature of your refrigerator matters. The colder the better. Although your fridge may not go this low, the best temperature for long-term storage is 32 degrees.
If you plan to take out the stems one by one, wrap them individually. Wrapping them in singles also helps prevent mold spreading form one flower to another. Wrapping them as a small bouquet can work best for shorter-term storage when you plant to take them all out at once.

Thanks for all those details RJ.

Congratulations! Could you cut your peonies and ask your florist to refrigerate them? They might have a specialized fridge.

Some peonies , for example Sea Shell, shatter very quickly, even when not cut. Others, for example, Vivid Rose, last for days when cut. It pays to know which are the long-lasting ones. Your florist apparently needs some education about this, too.

How did the peonies turn out for the wedding?

AnnaZ said: How did the peonies turn out for the wedding?

I stored some from my garden in the fridge and ended up turning out perfect. I was in shock. To supplement I ordered some peonies from Alaska that arrived the 3rd week in August and I stored those in the fridge. I gave half to my florist for bouquets and centerpieces and DIY'ed some small bud vases for my cocktail hour. All of the peonies opened perfectly just in time.
I can't find a good picture of my bouquet but the bud vases are below.

Wow! So beautiful!!!