Peonies Not Blooming? You May Be Making One of These 6 Common Mistakes That Kill Flowers Before They Ever Open

Peonies not blooming is one of the biggest disappointments a gardener can face. The peony is known its huge, fragrant blooms that enliven the late spring garden. So when one doesn't bloom, it leaves a big hole in the landscape.

Understanding the basics of peony care is vital to ensuring good blooming every year. Generally, these plants are easy-care perennials. In fact, when given the proper conditions peonies can grow for 70 years or more. But if not, they may refuse to give you flowers.

Peonies not blooming one year doesn't mean they'll never bloom again. Sometimes it's just a simple care mistake that's preventing flowers from forming. Let's take a look at the most common mistakes that lead to peony plants with no flowers and how to get these gorgeous perennials to bloom reliably every spring.

1. Planting Peonies in the Shade

Most peonies need full sun to produce blooms, however there are peonies for sun or shade. Unless you have a type that can handle shade, this is one of the most common reasons for peonies not blooming.

Perhaps your plant got enough sun in early spring to generate buds, but a nearby tree leafed out and now blocks too much sunlight. This can cause buds to die since the plant no longer gets enough sun to support blooming.

Always check the sunlight in your garden during the different parts of the day before choosing a location for your peonies. Transplanting peonies after the fact is not ideal and can cause a loss of blooms for several year as well. So think carefully about the ideal location for your peonies before planting.

2. Not Fertilizing Peonies

If your peony is unable to bring up enough nutrients from the soil, it may not be able to produce blooms. Figuring out how to fertilize peonies can be difficult, since they don't like you to disturb their roots or bury them too deeply under layers of compost.

However, peonies do respond well to compost. You just have to be careful not to pile it too deep or hurt plants' roots when mixing it into the existing soil. Making either of these mistakes can lead to a reduction in blooms as well.

Instead, a better option is to apply a liquid fertilizer like compost tea or seaweed emulsion that will seep into the soil and roots without disturbing them or burying them deeper. This organic liquid bloom-boosting fertilizer from Espoma is a great option as well.

3. Moving Established Peonies

These long-lived perennials don't like to be moved. It can take years after moving established peonies for plants to recover. If you planted or moved your peony in the past four years, it may still be experiencing transplant shock.

Plants will ultimately recover, but it just takes a few years. To help speed along their recovery, always transplant peonies in the fall and give plants a little extra love after moving.

A good way to give peonies some TLC is to spread a layer of composted cow manure around the base of plants in either early spring or late fall. Be sure not to add too much compost to the plant's root zone, however, or you may run into the next reason for no blooms.

4. Planting Peonies Too Deep

As mentioned before, peonies do not like to be planted too deep. When planting peonies, the eyes of the tubers should be no more than 2 inches (5 cm) below ground level.

If your peonies are planted too deep, the first course of action is to gently remove some soil or mulch from around the base of the plant. If this is not enough to get your peony to bloom, you will need to replant it. Though this will likely delay blooming further, it's better to wait a few years for a peony to flower than to have one that never will.

5. Overprotecting Peonies in Winter

If you live in a warmer climate, your peony may not get enough cold during the winter months. Peonies need a certain amount of cold weather, also known as chill hours, in order to set buds and to flower. Your peony may be getting just enough cold weather to produce the buds but not enough to make it the last bit to flowering.

If you suspect this is your problem, make sure to create an environment that will provide more peony chill hours. Do not mulch or add any extra protection when getting your peonies ready for winter. Try to remove any barriers that block the wind from your garden bed in the winter.

While this may seem counterintuitive, if you live in area that barely receives the required chill hours, your peony needs any extra cold it can get.

6. Letting Diseases Take Hold

Is your peony budding, but not blooming? This is a common problem known as peony bud blast. If your peony develops buds that suddenly turn brown and shrivel up, this is likely the cause.

Many a peony grower's hopes have been dashed this way. The good news is that the same reasons that cause a peonies not to produce blooms are the same causes of bud blast. Make sure your peony receives enough sunlight, fertilizer, and cold. Check your peony is planted at the proper depth and make sure it has had time to become established.

Another common peony disease that presents in a similar way is botrytis blight. In fact, expert used to think bud blast was caused by botrytis blight. It causes stems and leaves to develop dark blotches and makes buds turn brown, shrivel up, and stems twist. I had severely diminished peony blooms for a couple years when I was fighting this disease in my garden.

The best way to fight botrytis blight on peonies is to spray plants with a fungicide, like this one from Bonide, as stems appear in spring. Continue application once every week or two if you had fungal problems with your peonies last year, it's a particularly wet spring, or you've seen signs of botrytis blight on plants.