We are regularly asked what exactly we do when we are working among the peonies. We are delighted to show you what our work as growers entails! In this blog, we'd love to take you along for a day in our peony field to show you, in words and pictures, the work we do there.
The peonies from our nursery are located on the sandy soils in the north of Limburg. We collaborate with a grower who owns land here and plants our plants here and harvests them in the autumn. Because you cannot cultivate peonies on the same land every year (crop rotation), growers often work together.
Inspecting crops and growth
As perennial growers, monitoring plant growth is, of course, incredibly important. Every year is very different, even if you have been cultivating the same plants for years. For example, this year we had a lot of rain, early warm weather, but also late night frost. In an unprotected peony field, the plants are exposed to the elements, so you perceive the effects of the weather on the plant more quickly than with a plant in a garden.
We inspect each variety and note how it grows and blooms. We also check for any diseases. All kinds of plant diseases can occur, and it is up to us to detect them in time and address them. Sometimes it is as simple as removing a diseased plant from the field so that it does not spread further; sometimes, it takes longer to find a cause and a possible solution. The fact is that healthy, strong plants are less susceptible to diseases and pests. It is important for us to grow strong plants, but also, of course, for the people whose gardens these plants will eventually grace.
Taking photos and videos for the website
For our webshop, this is the time of year when we can take photos and videos of our peonies. We photograph new varieties that we can sell in the webshop, take photos to use on Instagram and other social media, and also cut various types of peonies to take home and photograph in a vase. The best part is that the plants you see in the photo could end up in your garden this autumn.
All photos are taken by Iris herself, but this year we also had the opportunity to collaborate with a professional photographer for beautiful portrait photos, flower photos, and even drone photos!
Removing incorrect peonies
No matter how careful we are, it often happens that a peony plant ends up among the wrong variety in the field. When the peonies are in bloom, you can clearly see if there's an incorrect plant among them. A white flower, for instance, stands out significantly among pink peonies. It's important to remove these plants from the field to ensure that when the plants are harvested in autumn and sold, you receive the correct peony variety.
Deadheading peonies
Deadheading flowers is a time-consuming task on an entire field with hundreds of plants. It's not necessary for every species, but for peonies, it can be a smart move to deadhead the flowers. For example, there has been a lot of rain recently, causing many blooming peonies in the field to droop. When these flowers droop so much that they touch the ground, they can start to rot. This can be dangerous because sometimes this rot can spread into the plant itself, and we would have to discard the entire plant. That would, of course, be a shame, so we deadhead these plants by cutting the flowers from the plant.
Do you also have a question about our work?
Do you have an in-depth question about our work as perennial growers? Feel free to ask! We'd love to give you an insight into our work on Instagram and here on the website, and who knows, your question might appear here on our blog next time!
