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.

Looking for the best companion plants for peonies? Discover expert-recommended peony pairings — from spring bulbs like daffodils and tulips to summer bloomers like lavender, coneflowers, and hydrangeas — plus beautiful ground covers to keep your garden colorful, layered, and low-maintenance all season long.

AI-generated peony scams are flooding the internet with fake “black” and “blue” peony varieties—often sold as seeds with promises of rare colors that do not exist. In reality, true black and blue peonies are genetically impossible, and legitimate named peony varieties are propagated by root division, not seed. Learn how to spot red flags, avoid seed scams, and safely buy authentic bare root peonies from trusted growers.

Fern peonies are rare, early-blooming peonies known for their delicate fern-like foliage, compact 12–18 inch size, and true species heritage. Slower growing and more valuable than most peonies, they thrive in well-drained soil, prefer drier conditions once established, go dormant in late summer, and bring timeless beauty and nostalgic charm to spring gardens.

What we love most about Garden Candy® Itohs:

• Bright, saturated colors that pop in the landscape

• Heavy bud counts, giving you weeks of bloom instead of days

• Compact, well-shaped plants perfect for modern gardens

• Strong performance in northern climates, including right here in Minnesota

Identifying peony varieties can be challenging due to thousands of cultivars, unnamed heirloom plants, and overlapping bloom times—making most peony identification efforts educated guesses rather than exact matches.

Peony bloom dates—also known as bloom weeks—help gardeners predict exactly when different peony varieties will flower. Based on research from the American Peony Society, this system classifies peonies into a seven- to eight-week bloom period, allowing gardeners to extend the peony season or plan for a stunning mass bloom. Learn how peony bloom dates work and how to choose the best peonies for your garden.