It’s the best time of year. The blooms on your plant are bursting with color, and, depending on the variety, releasing a sweet scent into your yard. But certainly, there are a lot of questions once these blooms begin to burst. 

How do you care for them now? When should you harvest them? How should you harvest them? 

Worry not, we have you covered in this blog post. Blooming season, A-Z. 

Early Blooming Season 

For the early bloomers, watch the buds carefully, especially on Herbaceous varieties. Smaller blooms that form on the sides of stems that are about the size of a pea should be snapped off gently. This will redirect the energy towards the main bloom on the stem.

Cutting the Blooms 

If you want to display your blooms indoors, cut them when the buds feel like a firm marshmallow. Gently squeeze each bud before you harvest your blooms. You’ll want to trim them a little longer than the size of your vase, so you can trim them again diagonally under water when you take them inside. This improves water circulation and will make your blooms last a little longer. 

Ants! 

If you’re finding a bunch of black ants on your blooms during bloom season, that’s normal. They’re attracted to the sugary substance that comes off the blooms. They don’t harm the plant, but if you don’t want them inside your house when you harvest your plant, dunk the blooms in water to wash off the substance.

This is also why we harvest our blooms during “firm marshmallow” stage, because that means ants can’t get inside the bloom when you bring them inside. 

Bloom Support 

We sell peony cages for herbaceous peonies – mostly because the blooms on our plants can be large once opened and weigh down the plant. The cage provides extra support to longer stems with big blooms, giving the stem a place to rest. 

To wrap .. 

Blooming season is arguably one of the easiest times of the year to take care of your plant, requiring just a few minutes of maintenance during your typical garden work session. As always, if you have questions or concerns about your plant, feel free to reach out!