The peony is one of the most beautiful flowers in the world, and during the period from spring to summer, it is just one of the best things that you will ever see. The gorgeous foliage lasts virtually the entire summer, and the peony itself is a wonderful flower with beautiful colors.
The peony is a perennial plant that comes back each year to adorn your garden. Many people love the peony flower and use it for entertainment purposes.
Not only is it a gorgeous flower in your garden, but you can also give it as a gift of love to someone if you want. Cut peonies are available from the market, or if you want, you can grow your own as well.
However, if you want lush green peonies all around in your garden, you will want to pay a bit of attention to the way they are grown. If you are a good gardener and know what your peonies want, this shouldn’t be a problem.
However, many people like to keep peonies around their house. When peony season comes around, it only makes sense that you put some gorgeous flowers around your house to improve the aesthetic appeal of the place. Keeping cut peonies inside is the best thing that you can do.
Unfortunately, cut peonies tend to go bad very quickly, and if you are not careful about the plant, it’s really not going to last all that long.
Instead of having to replace the peonies in your vases after every few days, you should follow a few simple tips that will help you make the peonies last a bit longer.
Here are somesimple tips to keep cut peonies fresh for a longer period of time.
1 – Buy Closed Buds
If you are buying the peonies from your local florist, you need to be a bit careful.
When you are in the market and going through different kinds of peonies for sale, you need to look for ones that are only beginning to grow. Look for peonies that have closed buds, or choose ones that are closed as much as can be.
Obviously, it’s much more tempting to buy the pretty peonies that are already in full bloom, but you should know that they are virtually at the end of their life cycle, and won’t last you a long while.
These ones will only last just a few days at your place, so it’s best if you buy the closed buds.
There’s also a chance that the ones that have fully bloomed will get damaged during transit. Closed buds won’t. When you buy the closed buds, you just need to be a little bit patient because it doesn’t take very long before the buds open up and turn into full-grown flowers.
If you want to ensure that the buds arrive at home without any damage, you might want to put them in warm water, both during transit and at home for a bit.
2 – Remove Leaves From the Bottom
Before you place the peony stems in a vase full of water, you might want to take a look at the stems. Make sure that any leaves that are present on the stem are removed before the peony is submerged into the water.
If you don’t remove the leaves, they are only going to succumb to rot over time, and the plant will soon wilt. You don’t want that to happen for a few days at the very least, and this is a pretty effective way of prolonging the life of a cut peony.
3 – Don’t Keep Them Under the Sun
Most people think that peonies should be kept under the sun and in a vase full of water to maximize their life. This might be true for plants that are in soil, but you should know that cut peonies work a bit differently.
The latter part is true; you do need to keep them in a vase full of water, but putting them directly under the sun is a terrible idea.
If you keep the peonies under direct sunlight, you will notice that the flowers will start losing their color within a day. What’s even worse is that the petals will start falling off soon enough, and it won’t be long before the plant wilts completely.
You need to prevent that from happening, and the best way to do that is to keep them away from direct sunlight. For instance, if you are going to create an arrangement, don’t set it up on a windowsill or in a doorway that is going to attract direct sunlight.
Make sure you choose a space that is suitably covered to maximize the life of your peonies.
4 – Keep Them in the Fridge
This might come as a surprise to most people, but you should know that the peonies don’t do well with heat. In fact, heat has a dire impact on the cut peonies.
When you bring them home, you should only keep them in warm water for a bit. Instead, when putting the peonies in the vase, you need to make sure that you use cold water.
More importantly, you should continue replacing the water at regular intervals, or keep it in a place where the water will remain relatively cool at room temperature.
During the night, you should remove the peonies from the vase and put them in your fridge. It’s an excellent way to prolong their life. This will prevent the peonies from opening any further in the night, and you can put them back in the vase in the morning.
Ideally, you should replace the water from the vase after every couple of days. Don’t leave the peonies in the old water because you will notice it turning brown after a day or so.
It’s recommended that you regularly change the water from your vase to ensure that the peonies remain fresh. Also, as mentioned, always use cold water when refilling the vase.
5 – Cutting the Stems
Secondly, you need to cut the stems at an angle, especially the part that is under water, on a regular basis. This will make it easy for the flower to absorb more water on a regular basis, and it will also keep it fresher for a longer period of time.
Obviously, keeping cut peonies fresh requires a considerable amount of work, so it’s important that you make it a routine of sorts. Dedicate at least 10 minutes of your day to your cut peonies, and they are going to remain fresh and healthy for a longer period of time.
The amount of effort required in keeping cut peonies fresh is relatively minimal, but you need to be careful that you do it on a regular basis. For instance, if you fail to keep the peonies in the fridge or in a cool space at night, you will notice that the plant will start to wilt over time.
Finally, you should know that by doing all of these things, you will be able to prolong the life of a cut peony by a few days, and not more. It’s important that you replace the flowers after a while and keep realistic expectations about it.
I have a bachelor’s degree in Film/Video/Media Studies, as well as an associates degree in Communications. I began producing videos and musical recordings nearly 15 years ago. I am a guitarist and bassist in Southwest MI and have been in a few different bands since 2009, and in 2012 I began building custom guitars and basses in my home workshop as well. When I’m home, I love spending time with my three pets (a dog, cat, and snake) and gardening in my backyard.