A peony without support is like a celebrity without an agent, a total catastrophe. Come spring, they crave attention, nutrients, and a bit of firm discipline. Feed them, prop them up, and hope they forgive your intrusion as they chase their moment of glory.

Here are the eight tasks I do on my peonies each spring because I’ve noticed they make a huge difference.

Don’t Let Them Flop

 

Quick note: these spring tasks are best tackled once your peonies start emerging and the soil is workable. If your season runs later, just wait until your plants are actively growing before you get started.

1. The Spring Cleanup

Leaving those dead stalks in place is just asking for fungal trouble, and not the fun kind.

I cut back the dead growth on herbaceous peonies once spring gets going, especially if I didn’t get to it in fall. There’s no use babying the plants, just clear the old mess out of there.

Keep the crown area clear so the air moves around the plant. Peonies need to breathe, not sit in a pile of last year’s mistakes.

Quick tip: If you live somewhere damp or you spotted disease last year, toss the debris in the bin. Avoid composting it. No need to risk those problems showing up again.

 

2. Get the Support In

Peony stems are not nearly as sturdy as they look. If you wait too long to add support, you will spend your morning wrestling a leafy octopus and trying not to snap off buds in the process.

I put the hoops in before the shoots hit about six inches tall.

If you live in the Midwest, where the spring storms can turn everything to mush, buy the heavy-duty steel stuff that can handle the weight.

Quick tip: I would not trust flimsy bamboo stakes for heavy peonies. They will fail, your peonies will hit the mud, and you will just look foolish.

3. Food for the Hungry

These things want real food but don’t overdo the fertilizer! I scratch a little fertilizer into the dirt around the drip line, not the center. You can say goodb-eye to the season if you burn their ‘eyes’.

For peonies, a light hand usually works better than overdoing it, and good soil does a lot of the heavy lifting. The goal is to feed the plant without smothering it in fertilizer.

Quick tip: I avoid anything too heavy on nitrogen because that just grows a big, boring bush.

 

4. Let the Ants Be

Everyone freaks out when they see ants on the buds. Get over it. The ants are there for the sugary sap. They are not eating your flowers. They are mostly harmless, and your peonies do not need spraying over a few ants.

It is a trade of sorts. They get a snack and your peonies keep doing what peonies do. There is no need to spray just because ants showed up, and the buds do not need them to open.

Let them patrol the buds in peace. They are mostly just there for the sugar anyway.

5. Water the Roots

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