Peony Care
Peony 101
Your beautiful box of grower’s choice peonies has arrived but before you start unwrapping them, there are a few things we’ll need to get you up to speed on. First, we’re breaking down a few general FAQs on how our peonies are shipped and what you can expect from your blooms!
- Waterless delivery! You may notice that your peonies were shipped without water. This is intentional, we promise! We want you to be able to enjoy the full (brief, but oh so beautiful!) bloom life of your peonies and if we shipped them with a water source they would open up (in the box!) on their way to you. Shipping peonies without water doesn’t damage the bloom in any way, but it does mean your peonies will need a tall drink of water after their long trip!
- Lollipop, lollipop! We ship out our peonies in bud form (we like to call them lollipops!) form so that you’ll get to witness every minute of their blooming magic!
- Wilty as charged! Peony foliage often arrives looking wilty. This is totally normal! While leaving the leaves on for transit is important for flower health, it’s best to remove most of the foliage once you receive your peonies because thirsty leaves can rob the blossoms of water. Take care to leave the bottom petals and leaves at the top of the flower to help feed and support the heavy heads of the peonies!
Troubleshooting
Of all the flowers we work with, we get the most care questions about peonies like, “what can I do to make my peonies last longer?” or “I’ve had my peonies for two days and they still haven’t opened.” Fret not! Before we dive into more general care tips, we’re here to answer all your burning questions about these finicky flowers.
Short bloomers! Peonies have notoriously short bloom lives, typically between 3-5 days. To enjoy these blooming beauties ALAP (that’s as long as possible), we have a few recommendations:
- Make sure to refresh your vase water daily to prevent bacterial growth.
- Peonies are extremely sensitive to temperature, which you can use to your advantage when trying to speed or slow down the blooming process. To help your flowers live their best (and longest!) life, keep your blooms in a cool place, *very* far from any heat source or window. You can even add ice to the water!
- If you order your flowers ahead of an event and want to keep them as is for longer, store them in a refrigerator.
- Make sure to add the packet of flower food (or home hack! Try a splash of Sprite or sugar) to the vase water to enjoy them longer!
Bloom, baby, bloom! If you’re eager to get your buds blooming (or need to encourage any stubborn buds to get going!) try these tried and true tips:
- Gently peel away any tough, outer green leaves on the buds to help give the bud room to bloom!
- Gently massage the bud on the palm of your hand or underneath your chin. It sounds silly, and may make you giggle, but it does encourage the buds to bloom!
- If the massage doesn’t help, give the stems a fresh trim and place them in a cup of warm water in a sunny place in your home for an hour or two. Since peonies are extremely heat-sensitive make sure you don’t overdo it!
- When ordering for a special event, keep in mind that it may take a few days for the flowers to open up so plan ahead!
Fresh Cut
Start your peonies off on the right foot with a quick trim! Find a pair of scissors, kitchen shears or even a sharp kitchen knife and trim at least 1/2" off each stem.
Pro Tip: aim for a 45° angle. This provides more surface area for the flowers to drink from and prevents the stems from sitting flush to the bottom of the vase (where bacteria can build up). Daily stem trims (or as often as you can remember) will also help to ensure your stems can get a fresh drink as they age!
Don’t forget! When processing the leaves of the peonies (which can sometimes arrive looking a little wilted) make sure to leave the bottom petals and leaves at the top of the flower to help feed and support the heavy heads of the peonies. Any leaves below the water should be removed to prevent bacteria growth.
H2-WHOA!
As previously mentioned, you peonies are going to be thirsty after their trip to you, so fill a large vase with room temperature water (use enough water so that ¾ of the de-leafed stems will be submerged) and pop in your peonies! Once you get them in the vase, change the vase water daily (or as often as you can possibly remember!) This helps reduce the growth of bacteria in the vase water which will help you to get more bloom life from your bouquet. Extra care is required to get the most out of these petal packet stems!
