Harvesting Peonies 

 for a Lasting Cut Flower 



KAREN CAST 



Years ago, herbaceous 

 peonies were com 

 mon as seasonal cut 

 flowers. They were used 

 often for weddings and fu- 

 nerals and other early sum- 

 mer occasions. Before hor- 

 ticulturists could manipu- 

 late growing conditions to 

 produce crops "out-of-sea- 

 son", fresh cut-flower con- 

 sumers were limited to 

 what was "in-season". As 

 we discovered how to grow 

 crops out-of-season, we 

 ended up with those for 

 which flowering could be 

 most easily induced. Cus- 

 tomers forgot about the 



seasonal flowers, including peonies, which fell out of 

 favor. They got relegated to the backyard landscape 

 and were harvested only to decorate family graves for 

 Memorial Day. 



In the heyday for peonies, before World War II, 

 trainloads of fresh-cut flower buds were shipped out of 

 Kansas and southern Indiana and Missouri into Chi- 

 cago and other large metropolitan areas. Peonies did 

 so well in transport because they can be harvested in 

 the soft bud stage, which travels much better than an 

 open flower, and can be stored reliably on cold tem- 

 peratures (32-36F) for up to four weeks. Even with 

 these great attributes, their seasonality caused them to 



PIONIA 

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 di'x in medicinis poniturcum rcpen'tur in rccepti's 

 cligenda eft illa qux nigra cxiftit continua non per 

 forata.ac in hycmc coliigitur 8f per annum fcrua^. 

 Vircutem habet occultam contra cpilenuam 8C fuy 

 fpcnfam coUo praefcruat ab cpilcntiarteftantc Galie 

 no experto de quodaj puero cuius coUo talis radix 

 appeia erac K non patuba^:radice.n,fubcra(fla (la/ 



"The first know printed picture of the peony, 

 from Uerbarius of Arnoldus de Villanova, published 



lose favor in the market- 

 place. 



Several thousand culti- 

 vars of herbaceous peonies 

 are out there somewhere. 

 Most are not in the trade 

 and a lot do not make 

 good cut flowers. A good 

 cut flower must have 

 strong, long stems; the 

 harvested flower buds 

 must open off the plant 

 and open quickly, in less 

 than a day; the petal color 

 must be stable; and the 

 opened flower must have a 

 vase life of at least five 

 days. Being fragrant is 

 good, but not as impor- 

 tant. There are many shades of pink and red, as well 

 as white, from which to choose. 



Harvesting peony buds at the best stage is a skill 

 that takes practice and can be done during only the 

 harvest season, so practice time is limited to a short 

 period once a year. After four years, I am still learning 

 new cultivars and have to renew my skill every year. 

 In general, the bud should be marshmallow-soft when 

 you press on it with your fingers. I prefer to place the 

 stem between my first two fingers and then use my 

 thumb to press down on the flower. This helps me 

 determine the hardness of the center of the bud. Most 

 buds will not open if the center is still hard. Other 



1484. 



22 



The Planlsman 



