When we first purchased our farm, 7 years ago, I knew that it was special and that I wanted to do something special with it. I’ve always thought that flowers were the key and so for the first couple of years we grew all sorts of flowers and they were so, so beautiful! We sold them on our honor stand, to individual customers and a few florists. We knew that if we really wanted to get going with it we would need to add tunnels and more infrastructure to the field. However, as the seasons wore on we started feeling as if maybe there was another way that would allow us to be more focused and do a better job. Therefore, we started to give a lot more thought to specializing on one type of flower. We both love the idea of doing a deep dive on a subject, and doing it really well. When we really thought about what we would specialize in, the answer was obvious. The Peony.

The peony has always been my favorite flower. I love its full hearted beauty, its unabashed feminine nature, its ability to fill a room with its scent and lusciousness. On a practical level, it’s a high value flower, it’s a perennial and it blooms at the time of year when it’s usually lovely outside and we are thrilled to partake in harvesting and growing! Therefore, this fall we took steps to make the transition to growing peonies almost exclusively. Compared to most flower growers, planting over 200 peonies is a drop in the bucket, but to us it was a step in the right direction and a major accomplishment!

We started by mowing part of our field down. Frankly, it was some grass and a whole lot of weeds! Earlier in the season, we did soil testing and got recommendations for amendments for our soil so those amendments went down first, then we put a layer of cardboard on top of the amendments, followed by a thick layer of compost. We then let this sit for months to kill off weeds underneath the cardboard (still had plenty grow in the compost!).

We then set about digging 208 holes by hand! I want to note that most peony growers would trench the row to plant peonies but we chose to hand dig for several reasons. We know we have a fair amount of shale underneath the field that we didn’t want to pull up and we are trying to utilize the no dig method of planting as much as we can. Each hole got sand in the bottom as well to help with drainage.

I buy my peony roots from wholesale suppliers and have gotten rather picky who I purchase from. I want my peonies to have at least 3-5 eyes and be healthy and robust! I’ve purchased roots before that looked questionable as they went in the ground, and that bore out in the spring when the plants either were small and spindly or didn’t even make it through the winter.

And now we wait (and worry a fair amount!) for the spring to see how they all faired while tucked into their rows over the winter. Of course, there are concerns. As mentioned earlier, we have a fair amount of shale in the ground, which can cause water to not drain. This can be a huge problem for peonies as they will rot if in standing water. We have done a fair amount of mitigation in the form of planting willows, and other shrubs that soak up water, adding sand to the planting hole, raising the beds slightly, and not planting in spots we know are a problem. However, wouldn’t you know it, we have gotten an unprecedented amount of rain this fall and I can’t help but worry!

Another worry of mine is weed management. Many (most?) growers use plastic in their rows and in between rows. This is a brilliant solution to weed control and can be highly effective. We have several concerns and hesitation about using plastic here on our farm (which we have and have used in the field before). One concern is buying more plastic that could potentially end up in a landfill. We will continue to use the plastic we have but would like to not buy more. Another is that we feel like we need living walkways, not just for beauty, but for our soil health and drainage. We need those grass roots to soak up water! Finally, plastic around peonies can be tricky! I know that weed management is going to be a huge issue and I’m already dreading that aspect of it. I got a few tools for Christmas that I”m hoping will help, will keep you informed!