Peony buds do not fully develop

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Author Message   Garlichead  Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 12:05 pm EST :    I have a peony which forms small buds which do not swell and develop into flowers. There is no visual evidence of Botrytis. It's planted on the south side of the house in great, well-drained soil where all the other perennials thrive. The plant does have elbow room. Any ideas? FYI, I garden organically but do not use high N fertilizer. Garlichead - PA, Zone "5"   Zephirine  Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 12:34 pm EST :    Could it be thrips infection, then? The symptoms are similar to botrytis (according to my books), but without the "dust". Preventive spray is the only solution, if this is your problem! Zephirine France zone 8   Garlichead  Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 12:59 pm EST :    The foliage on my peony looks great, no discoloration or spots. The buds never swell, remaining perhaps 1/8-inch in diameter. Garlichead - PA, Zone "5"   Galanthophile  My Favorite Photo My Garden Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007 - 02:42 pm EST :    Do you have any flowers or do all of the buds do this? On my peonies I notice that some buds just don't go on to form flowers as if the plant is saying I've produced enough for this year. Galanthophile - Ann (Northern England), Zone "8"   Garlichead  Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 12:39 pm EST :    There are zero flowers. All the buds stay very small and just dry up. For this year, I think I'll add a bit of potash and maybe keep an eye out for late frosts, protecting the plant if that happens. Make sense? Garlichead - PA, Zone "5"   Gardenfiend  My Weather My Garden Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 12:51 pm EST :    This may be completely silly, but can't hurt to try. How about copious watering. I know peonies are said not to need much water, but I have been successful in getting them to open all their buds by watering them a lot (at least I think that was the reason). I also have one that did what yours is doing one year. The following year I watered it a lot and the buds grew and opened. That could have been a coincidence, of course. Gardenfiend - Germany, Zone "7a"   Karma  My Garden Posted on Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 01:15 pm EST :    Or it could be a cold snap causing this? Karma - PNW, Zone "Z-Denial "   Garlichead  Posted on Friday, April 27, 2007 - 07:49 am EST :    Karma: Late frost is something I thought about, also. I'm going to keep an eye out for that and protect the plant if a May frost is imminent. It does happen! Gardenfiend: Watering sounds like it may have merit also. Typically I only water young transplants but I'll pay closer attention to the peony. The soil in that bed is very well-drained. Thanks! Garlichead - PA, Zone "5"   Hankeat  Posted on Tuesday, May 08, 2007 - 04:45 am EST :    Garlichead, when did you plant it? Peony won’t bloom in the first and sometimes the second year too. Two peonies of mine, which I bought last June, have small buds too. I think they’re still too young, so I’ve to be patient. Hankeat - Berlin, Zone "7a"   Garlichead  Posted on Monday, May 14, 2007 - 11:54 pm EST :    It's been a while since I checked back...sorry. Yes, I'm aware of the time it takes a transplanted peony to bloom. Mine's been in its current site for about five years. To bring you all up to speed this season, I've fertilized with low N organic fertilizer, watered the plant a few times in dry spells, and covered it a couple times when a frost was predicted (though that did not happen). A local garden center was adamant that the problem is fungus (regardless of visible indicators) and I bought a fungicide. When I read the label I chickened out though...goes against my organic grower's grain. The good news is that at this time the plant is healthy and the buds are approximately 1/4-inch in diameter. So far, so good, maybe this will be the break-through year! Garlichead - PA, Zone "5"

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