Question….once again my stand of peonies were great this year.
As always, they got top heavy when in bloom but I took the hint from one of you and use a tomato cage upside down. Worked great.
Now that the heat has moved in here in Missouri , my greenery from the peonies have developed a powdery white mildew on most of the leaves.
Does this mean I need to cut the plants back to the ground and dispose of the infected leaves? Those of you who grow peonies…what do you recommend ? Thanks in advance

Years ago Le Cygne did that every year I had way too much to do in the gardens to worry about it and didn't do anything, let alone cut down its foliage. This year it flowered its head off with no sign of this bloom or powdery mildew or whatever it was. I left it to Mother Nature but realize this, it did not have many other peonies around it. Certainly don't cut the plants down; you could spray with a mix of baking soda, water, and washing up liquid as a surfactant - it can't hurt.

I googled, and SaferGro makes a powdery mildew cure. I would try it.

Make sure you clean up your dead foliage in the fall.





I haven't used this product. I rarely get PM.

You do not want to remove the foliage because you need it to feed the peonies for the rest of the summer. Next year's flower buds are formed in late summer and early Fall.

Had mixed reviews so I cut them down..plants were 20 years old. Will have to see if they bloom next spring. Thanks for your opinion.
Happy gardening

Didn't see any "mixed" reviews Dewayne - pretty sure we agreed it was powdery mildew
With no foliage - even mildewed - to feed roots for next year, I think you may be waiting more than a year for blooms

My herbaceous peonies get powdery mildew only if they are not under-planted. If there is no ground-cover around them (or other plants) they will get powdery mildew.