This Year's Blooming Tree Peony Garden
I hope you caught the photos on my Instagram page @MarthaStewart48 - my tree peonies are looking so incredibly beautiful this year.
I adore tree peonies and have been collecting them for a long time. Here at my Bedford, New York farm, I have a tree peony border planted in semi-shade under a stand of giant, sugar maples across from my Summer House. Many of the specimens were transplanted from my Turkey Hill garden while others were added more recently. All of them continue to thrive. Unfortunately, the tree peony season is very short - only seven to 10 days, but these unimaginably large, and often fragrant, white, pink, yellow, and burgundy flowers are some of my favorites and they’re blooming right now.
Enjoy these photos.
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- These tall and striking sugar maple trees, Acer saccharum, are located at one corner of my farm – just outside my Summer House and its formal sunken garden. These maples are covered with climbing hydrangea, and beneath them is one of my favorite gardens this time of year…
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- …my tree peony garden. I love my curving border of tree peonies, Paeonia suffruticosa. There are very few plants that can compete with a tree peony in full bloom. They flower from late April to early May, but the season often varies from year to year.
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- Unlike the more common herbaceous peonies, which flop over if not staked, tree peonies bloom on graceful woody stems.
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- And, tree peonies prefer partial shade, with three to four hours of sunlight.
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- Tree peonies typically reach only about four or five feet tall. Once their spectacular blooms have died, the green-leaved shrubs provide an attractive backdrop for other plants. They grow best in climates with hot summers and cold winters, making them great specimens for much of the eastern, midwestern, and western United States.
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- I have both Chinese and Japanese varieties. Chinese tree peonies are more robust and bushy. Their flowers are also more likely to be fragrant. Japanese types, by contrast, are renowned for their beauty and elegance.
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- This white variety is a slightly ruffled silken single form. Its flowers are borne in great profusions right at the edge of the garden bed.
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- These white peonies are so striking against the green foliage.
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- Tree peonies come in colors that include all ranges of white, yellow, pink, magenta, and dark maroon.
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- The pink varieties are more fragrant than the darker maroon flowers. This one has slightly ruffled petals with a gold center.
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- This bold pink peony has enormous semi-double flowers. The petals are somewhat cupped, giving the flower a very full appearance. It also has a light, sweet fragrance.
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- This peony has lovely pink flowers that are held up well above the foliage making for an excellent display plant.
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- Tree peony plants like to grow in soil that is well-drained, with a pH that is neutral or slightly alkaline. They will thrive in a loamy soil fortified with compost. Tree peonies have medium water needs and should not be overwatered – water deeply after the top four inches of soil have dried out.
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- This darker pink cultivar has several rows of ruffled petals around a golden interior – another eye catcher in this bed.
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- And here is a light pink flower with dark purple and a gold center. Tree peonies are heavy feeders and respond well to a generous, early autumn top dressing of bone meal or rose fertilizer. The high potash content encourages flowers to develop. A light sprinkling of a general fertilizer can also be applied in spring.
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- And look at this deep maroon-red peony. The plant is medium tall with strong, sturdy upright stems. It comes into bloom early mid-season and is striking against its green leaves.
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- At the edge of this garden are large azaleas. Of all the shrubs that flower in spring, azaleas provide some of the most brilliant displays. Azaleas are flowering shrubs in the Ericaceae family, which includes blueberries and mountain laurel. They are also all rhododendrons and members of the genus Rhododendron.
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- Smaller flowering plants grow among the peonies including Spanish Bluebells, late-blooming spring bulbs. These flowers are in the asparagus family, as are lily-of-the-valley and Adam’s needle. The flowers are a charming blue color, bell-shaped and about 3/4 inch long.
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- This is Ornithogalum. It features spear-like flower stems with multiple star-shaped white blooms.
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- Across from the tree peony garden is this variegated Norway maple showing off its bright green foliage. Below is one side of boxwood enclosing my herbaceous peony bed. This year, everything is looking so lush and green.
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- And look at what is about to bloom next… hundreds of stunning pink, cream, and white herbaceous peonies. One of the most anticipated sights at the farm. Just wait for the photos…
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