People are talking more and more about leaving their dead plants until spring with bare stems bringing winter interest to the garden and insects having place to hide. I generally do not cut my Calamagrostis, hydrangeas, butterfly bush, some other shrubs and perennials until things are starting to grow in spring. What do you think about not cutting peonies stems until spring? Yay or nay?

I've left mine in the past but the last couple of years I've had more mildew issues. I don't know if it would cause more problems if I left them but I'd rather not take the chance.

LizinElizabeth said:I've left mine in the past but the last couple of years I've had more mildew issues. I don't know if it would cause more problems if I left them but I'd rather not take the chance.

Yeah, the recommendation that I've seen for any sort of fungus problem is to remove all of the surrounding leafy materials and to dispose of it (i.e. do not compost). One of my juvenile peonies got some funk from grass that was tossed on it during mowing. When I examined the gas, it had the same symptoms as my peony - and I am not sure how to handle that. Kinda makes me want to get a torch in late winter and to burn the dead grass just before spring.

Sometimes I run out of time, and don't get to cut my Peonies down until Winter. I wouldn't recommend leaving them, unless you are overwhelmed like I am.

Right now you can get bargains on garden ornaments! Cut those peonies down and stick a garden ornament in there for winter interest. 😊

Nay for me if I can help it. Disease is a big issue because of the many that I have growing in close proximity. Grass, conifers, and shrubs make better winter interest than peony, IMHO.

I think it depends on climate. I always cut peony leaves before winter but watch peonies on campus where they are not cut until spring (probably due to lack of workers). The peonies grow and bloom year after year without a problem.

I guess it depends on weather after all - temperatures and moisture during fall and winter, amount of dead foliage and whether is was infected to begin with. Hmm....
I've seen and have done cutting of peony dead stems in late winter / spring and guess it would be ok if I pick them up before the spring really comes and warms up all those hibernating bacteria in the dead foliage. But I certainly will get rid of it in fall if I have powdery mildew.

I always do a fall and winter clean up here in GA. I've already started with the peonies that have gone dormant.

We also get mildew here, and we don't stay very cold all the time. The leaves on some of my other plants tend to get slimy😖, and they're no fun to clean up. Further, my roses get blackspot, so leaving the fallen debris below them was not an option.

Topdecker said:

Yeah, the recommendation that I've seen for any sort of fungus problem is to remove all of the surrounding leafy materials and to dispose of it (i.e. do not compost). One of my juvenile peonies got some funk from grass that was tossed on it during mowing. When I examined the gas, it had the same symptoms as my peony - and I am not sure how to handle that. Kinda makes me want to get a torch in late winter and to burn the dead grass just before spring.

You mention burning the grass, when we were touring Oregon Perennials during the 2018 APS convention we saw a huge piece of equipment that looked slightly like a pull behind plow that was actually used to torch the fields to destroy all of the left over foliage in place

LizinElizabeth said:

You mention burning the grass, when we were touring Oregon Perennials during the 2018 APS convention we saw a huge piece of equipment that looked slightly like a pull behind plow that was actually used to torch the fields to destroy all of the left over foliage in place

I've not seen a larger piece of equipment like that - interesting! Here, the most common rig would be a dolly/cart with a 20lb propane bottle and an attachment for the bottle specifically made to produce a flame at the end of a wand-like igniter.

Is there not something that when the leaves are cut,the peony will go into dormancy and produce feeder roots ?
I am cutting peony foliage off. But leaving other plants for the birds and insects.

These are very common in one type or another.
https://www.youtube.com/watch/...

Caroline, if your foliage is still green it's suggested in the south to cut them down anyway in the fall to force them into dormancy. Regardless of whether they're cut or not they'll go dormant where the winters are really cold. I never started cutting my foliage back in the fall until I started getting mildew, used to just cut the old stuff back at first sign of life in the spring. Now it's about half and half-I cut back all I have time and energy to get to, the rest in the spring!