Now is the time to cut back your peonies! Learn when to cut back herbaceous and Itoh peonies, why you should wait until the foliage begins to fade, and why tree peonies should never be cut back to the ground. Proper fall peony care helps plants transition into dormancy, protects your garden from disease, and prepares your peonies for healthy growth next spring.

When summer starts to wind down and the garden begins to slow its pace, it’s easy to think that planting season is coming to an end. But for gardeners, fall is actually one of the best times of year to plant!

Cooler temperatures, warm soil and more consistent moisture create ideal conditions for plants to establish their roots before winter. While we especially love fall for planting peonies, it’s also an excellent time to plant many other perennials, trees and shrubs.

A customer recently wrote to me after her husband sprayed grass around her peonies with an herbicide. He carefully placed cardboard around the plants, but she was concerned that some of the spray may have reached the peony foliage.

The good news is that there’s no need to panic or immediately dig up your peonies. What you should do depends largely on how much herbicide reached the plant and what type of herbicide was used.

Many gardeners assume that peonies cannot be grown in clay soil, but that simply isn't true. In fact, peonies can thrive in clay if the soil is managed properly. Clay soil presents some unique challenges, but with a few adjustments, gardeners can enjoy healthy plants and beautiful blooms for decades.

Wondering which peonies gardeners are adding to their gardens this fall? Based on orders placed so far this season, these are the five most popular bare root peonies at Hidden Springs Peony Farm.

If you've never purchased a peony before, you may be surprised to discover that the best way to buy one doesn't involve a potted plant at all. Instead, experienced gardeners and commercial peony growers overwhelmingly prefer bare root peonies for fall planting.

What's Happening Underground Right Now with Your Peonies

By late July, your peonies may not look like much. The spectacular blooms are long gone, and the foliage may even be showing signs of summer wear. It can be tempting to think your peony is simply waiting for next spring.

In reality, the exact opposite is happening.

Right now, your peony is hard at work beneath the soil, preparing next year's flowers.

A little attention now can make a big difference next spring. Deep watering during the hottest weeks of summer helps ensure your peonies have the moisture they need to develop strong roots—and the beautiful flower buds that will reward you next year.

As summer heat, heavy dews, and humid weather settle in, July and August become prime time for fungal diseases on peonies. By now the flowers are gone, but the foliage is still hard at work producing energy that will fuel next year's blooms. Keeping those leaves healthy now means stronger, healthier plants next spring.

The three fungal diseases gardeners are most likely to encounter are powdery mildew, botrytis, and peony measles (also known as peony blotch, leaf blotch, or red spot).

If you're looking to make your garden more welcoming to bees and other beneficial insects, consider planting single and semi-double peonies. While every peony brings beauty to the landscape, these flower forms offer an important advantage—they provide easy access to pollen.

One of the most common questions we hear from gardeners is, “Do my peonies need fertilizer?”

The answer is… technically, no. But the right fertilizer, applied at the right time, can help your peonies become bigger, healthier, and more productive plants.

The ideal spacing for peonies is 36 inches on center from one plant to the next. This means measuring 36 inches from the center of one peony plant to the center of the next. This spacing allows each plant to develop into a mature, full-sized clump without competing with its neighbors.

Peonies are often called the "queen of the perennial garden" for good reason. A healthy peony can live for decades, produce hundreds of blooms over its lifetime, and become the centerpiece of a garden. Whether you're adding a few peonies to an existing landscape or designing an entirely new garden bed, a little planning goes a long way.

For most gardeners, deadheading peonies offers several benefits. The most obvious is appearance. Removing spent blooms helps keep plants looking neat and attractive throughout the summer. When cutting, remove the stem just above a leaf node to help conceal the cut and maintain the plant’s natural shape.

At Hidden Springs Peony Farm, each season tells a different story. After three absolutely beautiful peony seasons in a row, this year has reminded us just how much farming depends on the weather.

While potted peonies can remain in their containers for a short time, they will establish best when planted promptly. If you are unable to plant soon, keep the pot outdoors in a partly shaded location and water as needed to prevent the soil from drying out completely. Avoid leaving pots sitting in standing water.

Here on the farm, we have peonies just poking out of the ground. That puts us in stage two of the peony growth cycle. Of course there are still plenty of varieties that haven’t shown up yet and are still in stage one.

There are seven stages all together that take us through the season from development underground to the big and beautiful blooms.

We’re excited to share the brand-new 2026 Hidden Springs Peony Farm t-shirt design—and we think you’re going to love it!

To celebrate, we’re giving one away to our email subscribers.

Spring peony care tip: remove winter mulch from your peonies to help new shoots emerge. Only newly planted peonies need winter protection—established plants thrive uncovered. Learn when and how to safely uncover your peonies for a healthy, blooming season.

Experience spring at Hidden Springs Peony Farm in Spring Grove, Minnesota, where migrating robins, soaring eagles, bluebirds, hummingbirds, and vibrant songbirds join breathtaking peony blooms for unforgettable bird watching and flower-filled farm visits in Southeast Minnesota.