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Harvest the seeds and grow young plants from them
When caring for shrub peonies, it is often recommended to cut off the withered inflorescences immediately after flowering in order to save the plants the energy they need to form the relatively large seeds. On the other hand, if you want to harvest germinable seeds, you have to let the seeds ripen on the plants until they can finally be removed from the bursting star-shaped seed pods in autumn. Propagation by seeds is the only possibility for the natural emergence of new crossings of flower colors, but is not necessarily common with the bush peonies due to their long duration. In order to accelerate germination, which can sometimes take up to two or three years, the seeds can be stratified by alternating soaking in water and freezing.
also read
- Choosing the perfect location for the shrub peony
- Plant the shrub peony in the garden
- Cut the peony in the garden correctly
The division of older copies
If you have planted the shrub peonies in the right place in your garden, then such a plant can live up to 60 years without transplanting. Any (unprovoked) transplanting of the peonies should be avoided as far as possible, as it slows down the plants in their growth and flower formation. However, older specimens can be dug up for propagation purposes and divided by cutting or sawing. Make sure that each section has at least 2 or 3 buds and the smallest possible wound area.
The usual methods of grafting bush peonies
Commercially sold young plants of the shrub peony in pots are usually grafted. The following procedures are available for this:
- Wedge method
- Chip refinement
- Bevel cut finishing
- Oculation
- Nurse refinement
In the wet nurse grafting or goat's foot method, a scion of the shrub peony is usually grafted onto a root of a perennial peony in August or September. This root then serves as a supply root for the young plant for the first 2 or 3 years before it is finally rejected. However, this can only work if the cuttings have been planted deep enough to enable roots to form directly on the attached leaflets of the shrub peony.
Tips
The shrub peony can also be propagated without grafting by rooting cuttings. A special rooting hormone should be used for this and a time should be selected in early autumn.