Content
Peony Old Faithful is an amazingly beautiful flower that has been popular among gardeners and landscape designers for many years in a row. This representative of the Dutch selection is unpretentious, it will become a real masterpiece, as it goes well with different garden crops.
Large yellow stamens stand out brightly against the dark background of the petals
Description of herbaceous peony Old Faithful
Peony Old Faithfull is an interspecific hybrid. Back in 1997, he received the gold medal of the American Peony Society. It stands out for its straight, powerful shoots, each of which has many leaves. They are large, dissected, wide, medium green in color. The height of the bush is within 90-100 cm.
Spreading peonies, adult bushes require a large area. This feature should be taken into account when choosing a location. After planting, in the first two years, the bushes grow slowly, as they build up the root system.
The Old Faithful variety is a flower of the sun, the shadow influences it critically, therefore it should be planted in an open, draft-free place. The species is moderately frost-resistant, in the Northern regions you need to cover well for the winter.
A variety of late flowering dates, the buds do not crumble for a long time. No tying required. The Old Faithful peony, according to gardeners, can stand for almost two weeks in a cut.
Flowering features
The hybrid belongs to terry herbaceous plants. The buds are large, reminiscent of a rose. The diameter of the flower is about 20 cm. The petals are wide, purple-red, velvety to the touch. The older the bud, the softer the color becomes. The petals seem to fade.
There are large stamens in the center of the bud. During flowering, a pleasant fruity aroma spreads around. In central Russia, the buds bloom in mid-June.
The petals are so dense that they seem to be plastic
Application in design
The magnificent Old Faithful looks great both in single plantings and in flower beds, mixborders. You need to understand that plants with huge buds should be given a central place.
Peony herbaceous Old Faithful in design:
- Flowers will decorate any lawn with emerald greenery. Peonies in this case are planted in the center or perimeter.
- You can create a composition only from peonies, but they should be contrasting in color to the Old Faithful variety. You just need to pick up plants with close flowering dates.
- Often the peony is planted in a circle, placing tall garden crops in the center, for example, delphiniums.
- If silver fir trees grow in the garden, then the Old Faithful hybrid looks advantageous against their background. Only bushes need to be planted at a distance of at least 1 m.
- Bulbous plants that bloom earlier are planted next to the peonies. It is not difficult to maintain the decorativeness of the flower bed, it is enough to cut off the wilted peduncles.
- The Old Faithful peony will look great next to phlox, clematis or plants with small white flowers.
Mixborders on which Old Faithful peonies are planted are an adornment of any site
Tall hybrids can be planted in pots and grown on balconies, loggias, only in the fall they will have to be attached for the winter. If possible, dig right into the containers.
It is not recommended to plant peony bushes of any varieties or hybrids under trees, as they do not tolerate strong shading.
Reproduction methods
Like other varieties, Old Faithful peony can be propagated in different ways:
- vertical layering;
- dividing the bush;
- stem cuttings;
- seeds.
All methods are good in their own way, but the most convenient one is dividing the bush.
By choosing a mother plant, you can immediately get several full-fledged seedlings
It is also permissible to get seedlings with seeds, but the culture requires additional pollination.
Landing rules
Old Faithful peonies do not respond well to shade, especially in the afternoon. That is why you need to decide in advance on the landing site, especially since they will grow here for more than one year.
Site and soil selection
You can plant peonies in openwork penumbra at a distance of at least 1.5 m from the fence or 2-3 m from the building. The main thing is that the plants should not be bothered by drafts, but at the same time the air should not stagnate. A distance of at least 1-1.5 m should be observed between the bushes so that they do not interfere with each other's growth.
As for the soil, Old Faithful peonies are unpretentious in its composition, they grow even on depleted soils, only the flowering will be weak. Experienced gardeners prefer to plant a crop on rich loam, pre-filled with humus. Heavy soils can be made loose and breathable with sand, compost, peat, or humus. It is with this composition that it is best to fill the Old Faithful peony planting pit.
Preparation of seedlings
Plants are usually planted in the fall. This is the most favorable time. It is better to propagate by divisions:
- The selected mother bush is dug in from all sides so as not to damage the tubers and growth buds.
- Then, with the help of a sharp shovel, the rhizome is cut into pieces, carefully examined. Planting material should have live tubers without blackness and rot.
Only the divider on the left in the picture is great for planting
- Each piece should have from three to five buds, and the length of the roots should be at least 10 cm. Before planting, they must be shortened to stimulate the activity of the plant. Such planting material will take root faster, and the peony will successfully overwinter.
- If the rhizome is not trimmed, then the seedling will not work to create lateral layers, but to form buds.
Landing algorithm
Planting peonies in the ground does not present any particular difficulties. A novice florist can also perform this operation if he follows the rules:
- Dig a large hole: length, width, depth - 80 cm.
- Lay drainage at the bottom of the pit.
Any material can be used: broken brick, pebbles or coarse river sand
- Then fill it up to the middle with soil mixed with superphosphate, potash fertilizer or wood ash.
The top dressing layer must be sprinkled with clean fertile soil so as not to burn the roots
- In the center, make a mound, set the seedling on it slightly obliquely, straighten the roots. Sprinkle with fertile soil.
The kidneys should be at a depth of no more than 2-3 cm
- After planting, gently pat the ground with your palms so as not to break the plant's eyes, and water abundantly.
Follow-up care
If the planting was carried out in accordance with all the rules of agricultural technology, then in the next two years the plants only need to be watered, loosened the soil and mulched, no feeding is required. You need to moisten the bushes moderately, avoiding stagnation of water. Remove weeds throughout the growing season.
In the third year after planting, for lush flowering under the peonies, you need to add food
Bushes are fed several times per season:
- The first - with mineral fertilizers with nitrogen, until shoots appeared.
- The second feeding is carried out before flowering with fertilizers with phosphorus and potassium. You can use organic matter: compost, wood ash.
- In the fall, before preparing for winter.Experienced flower growers sprinkle wood ash on the trunk circle.
Preparing for winter
Since the Old Faithful peony belongs to herbaceous varieties, the stems are cut almost to the ground in the fall.
They are fed with wood ash and humus. This is also a kind of shelter for the winter. In regions with little snow and frost, the layer should be at least 20-25 cm in order to protect the rhizome.
Pests and diseases
Such is the nature of peonies that they rarely get sick (most often it is gray rot). Mainly due to the fact that the cultivation technique is violated. Of the pests, aphids and a peony flea can bother. As a preventive measure, it is recommended to sprinkle the bushes with wood ash. If the insect attack is real, it is better to buy special products and process the plantings.
Conclusion
Peony Old Faithful is a perennial herb that is popular with flower growers. The culture is relatively unpretentious, it can be grown in almost all Russian regions.
