Peony Wisdom

June 3, 2025
Larry Hurley
Perennial Plants
0 Comments

Peony season is here in Wisconsin, although I believe it is past in Maryland. Usually, I recommend you shop at your local garden center, but for peonies, I suggest you also look at mail order for bare root crowns to ship in the fall. This is to broaden your selection.

Especially if you are shopping at big box stores, your selection will be limited to a dozen or two cultivars of old-fashioned peonies. The classic large-flowered ones that are top heavy. So heavy that the stems bend and you need a peony ring to keep them upright. Usually, just at peak bloom time you get a thunderstorm and it beats them to the ground. The crowns for these, at least when I was buying for Behnke production, are imported from the Netherlands. They are good quality and inexpensive. When we were growing peonies we grew these Dutch varieties to have a lower price point for some cultivars, but as the guy who determined what perennials we would grow, I was also able to buy from a US wholesaler, Song Sparrow Farm, which went out of business in 2020. We grew around 80 cultivars of peonies each year, most of which came from Song Sparrow.

There is an early, mid-season, and late season variation between cultivars, although the overall season is short. Also short, medium and tall cultivars. Variations in flower type–single, double, anemone-flowered… and variations in color–pink, white, red, coral. I made a spreadsheet grid, so I would offer one cultivar that was short, single and red, and two that were tall, double and pink, and so on. Altogether we would sell around 1,200 peonies each spring.

There has been a lot of breeding of peonies to improve color, stem strength, and fragrance, with much of the breeding done here in the USA. The pictured red peony in my garden was planted in the fall of 2022. It’s named ‘The Mackinac Grand,’ bred in 1992. It really stands out with its intense red color, and strong stems require no staking. Fragrance isn’t one of its attributes. Since peonies are long-lived and expensive, it’s worth it to take the time to buy one that you don’t have to fuss with. So, be aware that there are many more options available than you are likely to see on retail display.

Larry Hurley

Larry Hurley worked at Behnke Nurseries from 1984 until the business was composted in 2019, primarily with the perennial department in growing, buying and sales.

Before landing at Behnke’s, he worked as a technician in a tissue culture lab, a houseplant “expert” at a florist shop, and inventory controller at a wholesale nursery in Dallas. With this and that, ten years passed.

When his wife Carolyn accepted a position at Georgetown University, Larry was hired at Behnke’s for the perennial growing department and garden center at Behnke’s Largo location.

In 2021, Larry and Carolyn moved back to Wisconsin to be closer to family and further from traffic. After 37 years in a shaded yard in Maryland, he is happy to have a sunny lot where he can grow all sorts of new perennials, if only he can keep the rabbits at bay. He also enjoys cooking, traveling, and the snowblower.