Best Peonies for Cut Flowers
Peonies are often wed to celebrate special days of our lives to remember, and what better way is there than to upgrade your bouquet to another level by using fragrant and colorful peonies to accentuate love and passion! Pure Whites are always a winner combined with fragrant scented silky smooth pinks, corals, yellows and reds in all shades.
Of course, roses and peonies are the perfect companions, whether as cut flowers in a vase or in the garden next to a range of foliage plants that are perfect for creating different arrangements of bouquets throughout the seasons. But when planning on growing your own cut flowers, you should consider growing a range of other flowers and foliage too that will bloom at the same time. See our companion planting list. By planting with these recommended plants in mind, you get to create a heaven of floral masterpieces to have on hand in the same season. This of course is not limited and can be worked on depending on your location, further south in England, Flowers tend to bloom a few weeks earlier than up here in Scotland, this means that there will be some plants that will be perfect to have in your garden that will flower in the same time frame.
Caring for your cut flowers
Now as we all know, when cutting flowers from the garden, the best time to do this is during the early hours of the day when the temperature is still nice and cool and evaporation is at a minimum. Make sure to use clean, sanitized tools for the job. Choose your desired flowers and cut back the bottom parts of foliage to prevent them from being submerged in the water. To ensure the peony flowers are enjoyed much longer, cut the stems when the flower is still in the bud, with just some colour showing, cut them when the buds are firm, yet soft as a marshmallow. There should be some sort of retraction in the bud after you squeezed it. Keep in mind that with each flower form comes different textures too. While single petal flowers are usually cut while the bud is still a bit hard. As with double, semi-double, bomb and Japanese flower forms, keep in mind the amount of layers within each bud, this will result in a much softer plump bud.
Make sure the bottom parts of the stems do not dry out too much as this will cause air pockets within the structure of the stem, leading to unsuccessful water uptake when placing in water. If this does occur, ensure that you re-cut the bottom tips from the stems and place them in the water immediately to prevent the air pockets to restrict water uptake later on. Once you are done with the selection of your flowers, place them in a cool location out of direct sunlight to enjoy the flowers for longer. You can prolong the life of cut flowers by placing them in cold water also by replacing the water daily to prevent any bacteria from flourishing in the water and by placing a half teaspoon of sugar in the water to keep them all happy.
Listed Below are some of the Peonies best for Cut Flowers
Doctor Alexander Fleming
Alice Harding
Amelia Olson
Angel Cheeks
Avalanche
Barbara
Baroness Schroeder
Big Ben
Bouquet perfect
Bowl of Cream
Bridal Gown
Bridal Icing
Bunker Hill
Catharine Fontyn
Charlie's White
Chippewa
Clair Dubois
Coral Charm
Coral Sunset
Coral Supreme
Cytherea
Dinner Plate
Duchess de Nemours
Edulis Superba
Elsa Sass
Etched Salmon
Felix Supreme
Festiva Maxima
Flame
Gardenia
Gay Paree
Henry Bostoce
Hermoine
Jacorma
James Pillow
Jan van Leeuwen
Kansas
Karl Rosenfeld
Lady Alexandra Duff
Lancaster imp
Lemon Chiffon
Maestro
Mighty Mo
Miss America
Mons. Jules Elie
Mothers Choice
Mr Ed
Mrs Franklin D Rosenvelt
My Love
My Pal Rudy
Myrtle Gentry
Nancy Nora
Nick Shaylor
Old Faithful
Paul M. Wild
Paula Fay
Pillow Talk
Pink Dawn
Pink Parfait
Postilion
Raspberry Sundae
Red Charm
Reine Hortense
Salmon Dream
Sarah Bernhardt
Scarlet O’Hara
Sea Shell
Shirley Temple
Solange
Violet Dawson
Vogue
White Cap
