I need advice from you peony experts. I've had peonies for years but have recently gotten more into them. I have probably 2 dozen "regular" peonies of various varieties with no problems whatsoever. Two years ago added an Itoh Bartzilla and last year a Oochigeas to my sunniest bed. Both were started plants. The Bartzilla had one bloom when I bought and transplanted it. Last year it had 3 blooms. The Oochigeas was a large started plant purchased last year that had several blooms. They both look very healthy, albeit a little smaller than last year but neither have any buds whatsoever. I've researched everything I can. I'm confident they were planted at the right depth and the bed has been prepared properly. All the others are looking normal with lots of buds. We did have an usual weather pattern. In March we had some warm weather that got everything going well. Then in mid/late April we had about a week straight of hard overnight freezes (mid 20s). It hit some hosta varieties really hard. everything has recovered well now except for the 2 Itohs which will obviously not bloom this year. Is this "normal" under the circumstances? Am i being too paranoid? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

The itohs probably didn't like the freeze which is why they aren't blooming this year. Timing is everything with peonies. They should bloom next year, assuming you don't get hit with anything unexpected weather wise. If you are expecting a hard freeze like that after a warm spell, cover them with blankets to keep them warmer. It might help but otherwise it's just up to ma nature to decide. Add some compost this year to feed them a bit and cross fingers and toes that next year is a better year.

If you have more questions we do have a peony forum on here and it's very active so you can get more and possibly better answers there. https://garden.org/forums/view...

Thanks Amanda,

This is pretty much what I expected. We who garden must have patience, if nothing else! High hopes for next year.

Les

Hi Lespen. I have found that Itohs are highly susceptible to late frosts/freezes. My Oochigeas had a very nice bud on it, but it got nipped and the bud did not grow after that happened.

Try to remember to feed your Itohs in late July/early August, as that is when they are forming buds for next Spring's blooms. Make sure the first number is low (N). I've been using organic bulb food.

You are so right, LG I have only one bloom on 4 of my itohs because I couldn't feed them last fall

Oh, that's too bad, Oscar! I am really going to be careful this year, and get them fed.

Is Bulb Tone the fertilizer of choice?

I have a couple of organic bulb foods I use. Fertilome has one, and so does Jobe's. I buy what I can find because most places only carry it in the Spring.

I have had many many years that ITOHs didn't bloom. I kept thinking, did I plant this too shallow, too deep, what on earth am I doing wrong? I grow all sorts of peonies here, that, for the most part do well.

This year I had every one bloom. My thoughts are a couple:
one, the weather was cooperative or it seemed to be the later cold temps in the spring were not cold enough to damage buds in development.

two I redid a huge area where they reside, adding a fertilizer and blend of sorts to my soil. Everything I planted with this mix is planted near the ITOHs. I think they too benefited from the fertilizer soil blend.

Just a couple thoughts on the subject. Hope it helps. Here I am anxious to see if everything carries over to next year.I'm hoping.

Thanks to all your replies. They are all helpful and i'll keep a close watch on them. Now I have another question. I have a couple of peony plants that are doing very poorly and I suspect juglone poisoning. I planted them outside the drip ring of the tree but it looks like not far enough. My question is, once a plant is affected by juglone will they recover if they are moved or is it a permanent situation?

Thanks again,
Les

I've not dealt with juglone poisoning but from reading how plants are impacted I'd say it's worth a try to move them. If you do it right away make sure to try to take as much soil as possible to keep the root as intact as you can and give it shade for several weeks after the move. Good luck and let us know how they look in the spring!