How do I get a peony to bloom?

Question

The clippin came from a big bush a couple years ago. It grows a little more each year but it hasn't bloomed.

Answer 1

Depending on your location, they can sometimes need some 'good' winter chilling in order to initiate flowering.  

Overall, they don't like to be disturbed, and will be happy in one place for decades.   Potassium is the nutrient that plants need in order to flower, so I would supplement your plant with something like Sulphate of Potash - which is Potassium Sulphate.   As your plant is fairly young, I'd be giving it a slow release fertiliser anyway, and then supplementing with Potassium, to ensure it gets the best nudge you can give it towards flowering.

Ensure that your spot is sunny,  potentially moving other overhanging plants etc.  Add plenty of humous to the soil, such as well rotted compost, or completely rotted animal manure.  They're generally trouble free plants,  and flower well once they're settled in,  and happy.  My friends in the south keep them planted fairly shallowly, so that they feel the winter easily, rather than being cocooned under the soil.     This will in part depend on where you're located, say from Florida/Souther California up to New York or northern Europe etc.    If you get extremely cold winters,  planting 2 or 3 inches down will help protect your plant,  as well as giving this a boost on top with some rotted compost too.

Hope this helps.  Good luck!  Rob

Answer 2

Is it a tree peony?  They need plenty of sun and don't cut it back in the fall. The peony that has a fleshy tuber type root should not be planted too deeply (just a couple of inches below soil) in order to bloom.  They do not need ants to make the flowers open!

Answer 3

Sometimes it can take 3 to 4 years for a peony to get large enough to bloom.  Even then it could be only one or two flowers for a couple more years.

They like full sun to very light shade, organically rich well drained soil, and not to dry out. Peonies are almost pest free, too.  

I love how they are really undemanding once established, they just are slow at getting there.

Answer 4

Peoies need a good  deal of sun, and once they bud out, they need ants to eat the nectar off the buds so they will bloom.

Answer 5

I don't know about clippings as I separate a plant by the fleshy roots. However, as "Chicken in Black" said ( love that name), It will take a couple, three years for the plant to start blooming. I had one bloom the next season for me. Another thing that keeps peonies from blooming is planting them too deep. 1 or 2 inches deep should be sufficient. If you live in zone 4 or below you can cover with mulch after the shoots are a few inches tall but push it back in the late winter or very early spring. Some varieties of peony are so wimpy in the stems that when they do flower they fall over and you need some means of support.....like a tomato cage or something. Just a little info for when yours does get buds. Good luck.