I have several Peonies that I transplanted into raised beds, and all except one of those is surviving the transplant in good shape. One of the Peonies has very wilted leaves. I have put up some shades to keep that wilting plant out of direct sun, and I am keeping it hydrated. It is in well-draining bark soil. What else can I do to help this plant recover?

The first photo shows the affected plant and the second photo shows one of the other Peonies that came through in good health.

I would cut it back, and fertilize it. In zone 0b, you are definitely done for the season. Wait and see what comes up in the spring. Peonies are very resilient.

I see you have drip irrigation in the pot.

Did you stick your fingers in to see if the potting medium is too wet? Plants will wilt when they are over watered.

I take it that these were potted peonies?
Perhaps it would be an idea to defer planting in ground until cooler weather comes?

I never water any of the garden peony's and just enough to dampen the potted peony's. In winter they get rain and snow… that's all. They like drier conditions - insitsu.
Giving the wilted plant time is a good way to go…you also may want to remove the top leaf growth not to stress the roots out any more. The plant is telling the gardener it doesn't have enough roots to support the foliage.

graycrna4u said: I would cut it back, and fertilize it. In zone 0b, you are definitely done for the season. Wait and see what comes up in the spring. Peonies are very resilient.

I am in zone 9b not zero. I will probably start to cut back soon.

Mieko2 said: I see you have drip irrigation in the pot.

Did you stick your fingers in to see if the potting medium is too wet? Plants will wilt when they are over watered.

That particular soil mix is extremely well drained. It is similar to Tapla's 5-1-1. The soil is moist but airy, not wet.

CarolineScott said: I take it that these were potted peonies?
Perhaps it would be an idea to defer planting in ground until cooler weather comes?

These Peonies came as rhizomes unrooted. I grew them for a few months in a pot made of the same soil. The final destination here is in a raised bed, so the roots now have access to the underlying native clay loam soil.

bumplbea said: I never water any of the garden peony's and just enough to dampen the potted peony's. In winter they get rain and snow… that's all. They like drier conditions - insitsu.
Giving the wilted plant time is a good way to go…you also may want to remove the top leaf growth not to stress the roots out any more. The plant is telling the gardener it doesn't have enough roots to support the foliage.

Would you try to just cut one stem at a time and see if the plant responds? Is there an optimal place to cut the stem?

pone31 said: Would you try to just cut one stem at a time and see if the plant responds? Is there an optimal place to cut the stem?

Just remove a few top leaves from each stem. Or just cut the stem down a few inches . The idea is so more energy will go to the roots to help the plant recover from transplanting.
This is also a good time of year to take stem cuttings and propagate the plant.
https://www.grootgroot.com/new...

Wow I did not think you could do peonies by cuttings???
Have any of you done this with herbaceous or Itoh peonies?
I was always under the understanding that you could take cuttings of tree peonies but not the others?

I am flummoxed as well, have never seen anything to indicate that any peony could be grown from straight stem cuttings. Air layering for woodies, yes, but not just a stem cutting.

Back to the original question—there could be lots of reasons for shocky looking foliage but most likely the root is just not able to keep up with foliage demands. Actually those don't look bad at all for being planted as bare roots late in the season. Basically you planted a storage root. It grew foliage as it's programmed to do in warm soil, put out as much growth as it could but I'm sure it's not grown any feeder roots to resupply the main root—those normally only grow in cooler soil in early spring and fall. The storage roots could be tapped out for the season, hopefully it'll start some below soil growth as your temps drop and recover to put out more growth next spring. I'd just put it in a cool, shady spot, maybe some sun in the morning only, until it goes dormant.

LizinElizabeth said: I'd just put it in a cool, shady spot, maybe some sun in the morning only, until it goes dormant.

In dormancy, how would the leaves look on a healthy Peony? I am in zone 9b and we usually do not go below freezing.

Sorry, somehow missed this question!! If your peony doesn't lose its foliage naturally I'd still cut it back as your temps drop a month or so before your traditional coldest weather month. With the shorter day length the cooling temps should be enough to make it go dormant.