How to plant and care for Peony (Sarah Bernhardt)

Paeonia lactiflora

🌸 Flower 🔁 Perennial

Huge, ruffled, fragrant pale-pink blooms in early summer. Long-lived — plant it once and enjoy it for decades.

Growing Peony (Sarah Bernhardt): what it needs

Light: Full sun · 6+ hours a day
Watering: Water well until established, then in dry spells
Soil: Fertile, well-drained soil
Spacing: 90 cm
Height: 90 cm
In pots: Best in the ground
Feeding: Balanced feed in spring
Hardiness: USDA zones 3–8

Step by step

On planting day
Plant
Plant with the pink buds ("eyes") no more than 3–5 cm below the soil surface — planting too deep stops it flowering.
0–1 days after “Plant”
Water In Well
Give a full can of water, then keep moist for the first few weeks while roots establish.
7–14 days after “Water In Well”
Mulch Around the Base
Spread 5 cm of compost or bark around the plant, keeping it off the stems.

Every year

March
Spring Feed
Scatter a general fertiliser around the plant as shoots emerge.
April
Add Support
Put a ring support over the plant before the heavy flowers open.
June
Deadhead
Remove faded flowers back to a leaf. Enjoy — and photograph — the blooms first!
October
Cut Down Foliage
Cut stems to ground level once leaves turn brown, and clear them away to reduce disease.

More flowers to grow

Wisteria (Chinese)Flower · perennial

Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)Flower · perennial

Marigold (African)Flower

Hydrangea (Mophead)Flower · perennial

Windflower (Anemone blanda)Flower · perennial

Californian PoppyFlower

Photo: Kor!An (Андрей Корзун) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)