I bought a couple of Japanes tree peonies after being impressed by the
blooms from several herbaceous varieties that I planted two years ago.
The staff member at the nursery advised that I plant the tree peonies
in an acidic soil, and she recommended that I get an azalea mix along
with Miracid.

However, after reading my gardening book, it was indicated that tree
peonies prefer slightly alkaline soils (6.5 to 7.5 ph). We have
extremely hard clay soil where we live and I would like to simply grow
the peonies in pots.

Do I plant them in the azalea mix or should I disregard the advice from
the garden staff and plant the tree peonies in a normal potting mix?

Thank you.

Jeffery

The best peonies I have seen are growing in the middle of healthy
turfgrass. I'd go with pH neutral to slightly alkaline. That range also
keeps more Phosphorus available in the soil.

On 19 May 2006 19:25:57 -0700
"Jeff" <altanotte [at] yahoo.com> wrote:

> I bought a couple of Japanes tree peonies after being impressed by the
> blooms from several herbaceous varieties that I planted two years ago.
> The staff member at the nursery advised that I plant the tree peonies
> in an acidic soil, and she recommended that I get an azalea mix along
> with Miracid.
>
> However, after reading my gardening book, it was indicated that tree
> peonies prefer slightly alkaline soils (6.5 to 7.5 ph). We have
> extremely hard clay soil where we live and I would like to simply grow
> the peonies in pots.
>

Hi Jeffrey,

Trust the book, I'd guess. Lots of info on tree peonies from the
specialist nursery Kelways:

http://www.kelways.co.uk/acatalog/Care_of_your_Tree_Peony.ht ml

Nice place to browse for cultivars too, even if you're not going to order.

-E

--
Emery Davis
You can reply to ibmemeryamazon [at] ebayadelkadell.applecom
by removing the well known companies

Jeff wrote:

> I bought a couple of Japanes tree peonies after being impressed by the
> blooms from several herbaceous varieties that I planted two years ago.
> The staff member at the nursery advised that I plant the tree peonies
> in an acidic soil, and she recommended that I get an azalea mix along
> with Miracid.
>
> However, after reading my gardening book, it was indicated that tree
> peonies prefer slightly alkaline soils (6.5 to 7.5 ph). We have
> extremely hard clay soil where we live and I would like to simply grow
> the peonies in pots.
>
> Do I plant them in the azalea mix or should I disregard the advice from
> the garden staff and plant the tree peonies in a normal potting mix?
>
> Thank you.
>
> Jeffery
>

Jeffery,

Ignore the advice from nursery staff member. I have been growing
Japanese tree peonies for over 25 years and I have never grown them in
anything other than ordinary soil and I have used regular fertilizer.
As you can see from pictures from my web site they do very good without
any special soil or fertilizer: http://members.iglou.com/brosen/s_page3.htm

--
Bill R. (Ohio Valley, U.S.A)

Gardening Since 1969

To see pictures from my garden visit http://members.iglou.com/brosen

Remove NO_WEEDS_ in e-mail address to reply by e-mail

Emery Davis On 19 May 2006 19:25:57 -0700
"Jeff" altanotte [at] yahoo.com wrote:

I bought a couple of Japanes tree peonies after being impressed by
the
blooms from several herbaceous varieties that I planted two years
ago.
The staff member at the nursery advised that I plant the tree peonies
in an acidic soil, and she recommended that I get an azalea mix along
with Miracid.

However, after reading my gardening book, it was indicated that tree
peonies prefer slightly alkaline soils (6.5 to 7.5 ph). We have
extremely hard clay soil where we live and I would like to simply
grow
the peonies in pots.


Hi Jeffrey,

Trust the book, I'd guess. Lots of info on tree peonies from the
specialist nursery Kelways:

http://tinyurl.com/mnfxa

Nice place to browse for cultivars too, even if you're not going to
order.

-E

--
Emery Davis
You can reply to ibmemeryamazon [at] ebayadelkadell.applecom
by removing the well known companies


there is no problem growing the tree peonies in pots as long as u
follow the directions in your plant book. the information that the
person from the garden center gave u is certainly not for tree peonies
geshhh:(.
peonies do prefer a slightly alkaline soil and the biggest secret to
the tree peony is to keep it moist but not soaking do not to let it
stand in water thats the worse thing for it and it also needs about 4
hours of sunlight a day.
good luck, sockiescat.


--
sockiescat

Thank you so much for all of your replies and links. I will definitely
plant the peonies in regular soil as indicated by my book and your
advice.

Thanks,

Jeff