How to grow peonies from seed
Most peonies are sold as either potted plants or bare roots. There are two reasons why.
The first is that peonies grown from seed are not true to their parent, meaning they don’t end up being the same flower as the plant they came from.
And two, it takes a little more time and a lot more effort for a peony planted from seed to produce a bloom.
Last week we talked about deadheading your peonies so they can put more energy into root development rather than seed production.
Today’s follow up answers a customer question I was emailed a short while ago:
What should I do with my seeds?
-Becky
Not all varieties produce seeds. Itoh and intersectional peonies along with Lutea hybrid woody peonies are not generally fertile. But if you have other varieties that do have pods and you let your peony seed heads develop and ripen, you can grow new peonies from those seeds! Here’s how:
Harvest your peony seeds when the seed heads first break open (like the picture above). Then you’ll want to get the seeds planted soon after for the best germination speed. Preferably, you’ll get them in the ground before they’ve dried out.
Choose a protected planting location that has partial sun with well-drained soil. Your baby peony plants will live here for the first two to three years of their life.
Till the soil for a fine texture. It should be moist but not soggy.
Press the peony seeds into the soil surface about one to two inches apart. They do not need to be covered with soil.
Cover the seeded bed with about an inch of fine wood chips or shavings.
Then cover the entire seed bed with a sheet of clear plastic, taking care to either bury or secure the edges so it doesn’t blow away on a windy day.
Leave the plastic on all winter and remove it in very early spring.
Then you’ll watch for some young seedlings will emerge in that first spring, although some seeds will take two or even three years to germinate. The new peonies will only grow a single leaf that first year.
Take care to keep the seed bed weeded and watered.
After two to three years your seedlings can be transplanted (do this in the fall) to their permanent location. Some may produce a bloom in year three. Many will bloom in year four. But some may test your patience and not bloom until year seven!
These instructions were adapted from the American Peony Society. Click here for the full instructions for starting peony seeds outdoors. Or click here to read how to start peony seeds with the indoor method.
The Fine Print:
When you grow a peony from seed, it will not be the same peony that produced the seed.
Rather, the plants you grow will be brand new peony varieties, unique to only you. The flowers and plants will have attributes of that parent plant and others that were involved in the seed production. Genetics from up to four different peonies could be present in that seed.
No one else in the world will have this exact peony. That’s pretty cool!