Hi All: A friend planted a tree peony for us in 1996. At that time, it was shaded most of the day by a large Norwegian spruce, which we removed last summer. Today, the topmost leaves are over 6' above ground, and the plant looks bushy and healthy. I pruned it slightly last fall. I also applied a standard fertiliser in the spring. But it doesn't blossom, and never has. Any ideas? Thanks Ken.
Tree peonies require considerable light to flower. Removing the Norway spruce was probably beneficial; however, your fall pruning would certainly have removed any flower buds that were present. If you need to reduce the height, the time to prune is immediately after flowering. This allows the maximum amount of time for growth to mature before bud-set. Rather than tipping the plant, which will create distorted, unnatural looking branching, it is better to renovate them completely. If there are multiple stems from near the base, these can be removed in turn to near the ground (i.e., one stem each year). New growth will emerge from the base and will be stouter and happier with more light. Tree peonies are fussy, however, and chances are, it'll be a few years before you see flowers from any cut stem.
Hi Douglas: All good advice. Over winter, this peony reduced itself to 3 stems with no foliage. I may just leave it completely alone for a few years and watch it. -- now that it gets plenty of light. I do get the feeling that a tree peony is a little more fussy than your average geranium. Thank you for your efforts on my behalf. Much appreciated. Ken.
