The size of the peony plant you choose is important, as it says a lot about the plant's maturity, when you can expect flowers, and how likely the plant is to thrive in your garden. There is a wide range of plants available online, but how do you assess the maturity of a plant when you can't hold it in your hands? And how can you compare plants on different websites? Find out in this blog!
With a healthy, mature peony plant, you have the best chance that the plant will thrive in your garden and that you will see flowers within one or two years. You can assess this well yourself by looking at a rootstock.
Roots and growing eyes on the rootstock
The size of a peony plant can be determined by the number and size of its roots. A mature peony plant needs two or three older, thicker roots, as well as many thinner, younger roots to establish itself well in the ground.
Additionally, the number of growing eyes indicates the plant's maturity. Over the years, a peony plant produces more growing eyes. These growing eyes eventually develop into stems with flowers. The more growing eyes your plant has when planted, the greater the chance of it producing a flower. The size of the growing eye doesn't say much about the size of the flower and varies greatly by variety. So this doesn't indicate the plant's maturity.
Comparing sizes
If you can't see an example of the rootstock online, you will always find the size of the plant. This way, you can also assess its maturity. Sizes you might encounter are 1/2, 2/3, 3/5, or 5+. These numbers represent the number of growing eyes a plant has. 1/2 means the plant has 1 or 2 growing eyes.
Sometimes the sizes are also expressed in pot sizes; p9, p13, p17, p19, p23. In this case, the number indicates the diameter of the pot. A p9 pot has a diameter of 9 centimeters. Now, this does not directly tell you about the number of growing eyes on the plant, but you can use this overview to see what you are most likely dealing with:
P9 = 1/2 growing eyes
P13 = 2/3 growing eyes
P17/p19 = 3/5 growing eyes
P21/23 is 5+ growing eyes
Peony plant sizes at Clay & Roots
Online, you'll mostly find plants of P9 size, with 1-2 growing eyes in the case of peonies. This is a small amount and already indicates that you are buying a very small plant. If the plant establishes well, it's still uncertain when you can expect flowers on your plant. At Clay & Roots, we prefer to work with somewhat larger plant sizes because they are of better quality, establish more easily, and often produce flowers in the first year. That's why you'll primarily find peonies with 3-5 growing eyes with us.
Discover our entire range of Peonies here.
Do you have any questions about our plants? Feel free to ask, we are happy to help!
