Peonies that Stand Up – The Little and the Big, Upright Peony Plants

Want peonies that stand up to the wind and rain?

There are so many varieties of peonies grown in the world today, that no one knows how many are actually out there.  One thing for sure, there are peonies for every taste when it comes to color, flower form, fragrance and size.

Our customers often comment in amazement that so many of our peonies are standing up, even after a good rain. They want to know what they can do to get their peonies to stand up. Choose an upright variety – a peony with stems that support their flowers through all kinds of wind and rain. Some have never hit the ground in the fifteen years we have farmed peonies. We call these the upright, or, no stake peonies.  While we choose to grow some of the heavier headed peonies that do benefit from staking, we gravitate toward a large selection of the upright varieties that are no-fuss landscape beauties.

The little, shorter varieties such as Beautiful Senorita, Flame, Green Lotus, Little Dorrit, Joker, Little Red Gem, paeonia Lutea ‘delavayi’, Petite Elegance and Picotee show their flowers off, rain or shine.

Other peony bushes that stand up to our rains, include Bo Peep, Do Tell, Gay Paree, Illini Warrior, Lemon Queen, Lucky, Topeka Garnet and White Sands. The big flowers of Avalanche, Nice Gal, Old Faithful and Serene Pastel stand up superbly.

All of the Itoh peonies (intersectional crosses between bush and tree peonies) never need staking.  These bush peonies are abundant bloomers and most have very pleasant fragrance. We grow a number of these fabulous, upstanding landscape peonies, including:

  • Al’s Choice, yellow with red streaks. Single style flowers.
  • Bartzella, yellow with red center flares. Huge flowers. Semi-double to double.
  • Border Charm, yellow with base flares. Single style flowers.
  • Callie’s Memory, light apricot and cream flowers with maroon flares, Semi-double.
  • Canary Brilliants, semi-double, subdued canary yellow with yellow stamens; faint red flares at petal base.
  • Chief Black Hawk, dark blackish red. Single.
  • Cora Louise, white, semi-double with purple center flares.
  • Garden Treasure, semi-double, deep yellow, red inner flares. Lush dark foliage.
  • Julia Rose, semi-double, red-orange flowers fading to apricot-yellow.
  • Kaleidoscope, single with a kaleidoscope of pinks, cream & sangria.
  • Lemon Dream, a lemon yellow which may sport lilac petals or stippling on yellow petals. Dark green foliage. Semi-double.
  • Lollipop, yellow with burgundy-red candy stripes. Semi-double.
  • Love Affair, a white cup shaped semi- double to double, dark green foliage.
  • Luxuriant, white, semi-double with purple center flares.
  • Morning Lilac, single, medium sized lavender-purple flowers.
  • Old Rose Dandy, single, brick-red with darker flares.
  • Pastel Splendor, large soft pink/white single flowers with red flares.
  • Prairie Charm, muted light yellow semi-double/red flares at base of petals.
  • Scarlet Heaven, single, bright scarlet-red flowers, golden stamens.
  • Singing in the Rain, semi-double with a spectacular color: yellow blended with pink and appears orange upon opening.
  • Watermelon Wine, red-pink, single blossoms, yellow stamens. Gorgeous.
  • Yellow Crown, semi-double, yellow with dark red flares at base of petals.
  • Yellow Dream, semi-double, yellow with dark red flares at base of petals.
  • Yellow Heaven, semi-double, yellow with dark red flares at base of petals. 

We also love many of the peony flowers that do benefit from staking. Don’t be afraid to grow a heavy headed peony – it really only takes a minute to stake or tie up a plant as it starts to grow; and, the awe of looking at those huge flowers, dripping with peony perfume, is so worth it.

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