Martha Just Shared Her Secret to Preventing Peonies From Flopping in Full Bloom

Right now, Martha's Bedford farm is exploding with colorful blooms and lush foliage, especially her herbaceous peony garden.

"Every year, I'm always amazed by the dazzling display of these beautiful flowers. It's definitely one of the most anticipated sights—we all wait patiently for the floral show. Friends and family love the peonies as much as I do and rush to see them in all their splendor," Martha shares in a recent blog post.

She continues, adding, "When I first planted this garden, I knew I wanted many, many peonies in one large area. I chose a location across from my winter house, where there's lots of room and full sun—a perfect spot outside my window."

In April, the peonies begin emerging from the ground. They grow very quickly and need to be supported in order to protect the large, heavy flowers.

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Before the flowers bloomed this year, Martha's gardeners and outdoor grounds crew installed stakes so the peonies are well supported as they grow. Our founder explains that the team used natural twine and metal uprights that she designed specifically for this purpose. "I also make sure the beds are well fed and mulched," she says. "Maintenance is very important."

The metal stakes are inserted every four feet, up and down both sides of each row. Each metal support has two eyes, one at the top and one in the middle, with about a foot of space between them, which is enough room to support the stems at different levels. The stakes are about three feet tall.

Then, twine is laced through the middle eyes of the stakes in a zigzag pattern all the way down the row, allowing support from every direction. Twine is also threaded through all the top holes following the same pattern.

When Martha first planted her peony garden, she focused on pink varieties, planting 11 double rows of 22 peony types, all surrounded by a hedge of rounded boxwood shrubs, making it a focal point on the property. She chose the varieties for their colors, their forms, and their long blooming periods. The ones in her garden include Elsa Sass, Victorian Blush, Fringed Ivory, Martha, Madylone, Lullaby Coos, Vivid Glow, Angel Cheeks, Miss America, and Flying Pink Saucers.

One of the reasons the peonies thrive at her farm is because of the soil. It has a pH of 6.5 to 7.0, which is ideal. It is also amended with superphosphate and azomite, a natural product mined from an ancient mineral deposit in Utah. These natural additives improve root systems and overall plant vigor, resulting in a fantastic profusion of blooms.

Peonies are considered northern flowers since they tolerate and even prefer cold winter temperatures. Ideal for planting in zones 3 through 8, the flowers need more than 400 hours of temperatures below 40 degrees Fahrenheit annually to break dormancy and bloom properly.

According to Martha, the flowers usually take some time to get established, so be patient. And if you happen to see ants crawling on your peonies, don't worry. The insects are attracted to the sugary syrup produced by the buds. Once the flower opens fully, and the sucrose has been finished, the ants disappear.

She says the only disadvantage of peonies, though, is that each field yields one crop of cut flowers for a couple of weeks only once a year, "and then that's it until the next season when they bloom with splendor once again."