The Long Game: Growing Woodland Peonies From Seed

Once upon a time I belonged to a British plant society that had an annual seed exchange where they would gather seed from members, catalog the seed then distribute the seed list to members who could request seed for a ridiculously small cost.

One year I noticed seed being offered for a very rare peony. The regimen to get the seed to germinate was pretty complicated as it involved alternating periods of warmth and cold. Very cold. I wondered if I could just plant the seed in pots and put it into my cold frame where I presumed it got cold enough in the winter and warm enough in the summer. Then I forgot about this little project.

Three years later while cleaning out the cold frame in the spring I rediscovered the pots. And, in this case my negligence paid off. The seed had germinated, and I now had a small collection of this rare peony. I presume the plants are now in someone’s East End garden as we sold the seedlings at a local plant sale, but the point here is that not all seed goes into the ground or flat and germinates in just days or weeks. Some seeds are easy. Some are very complicated. And of course, the more complicated seeds often result in some of the rarest and most stunning plants. Up to the challenge?

This week, we’re off for a journey. Could I interest you in a plant that will grow in your woods or woodland garden? I might also add that this plant is deer proof, rabbit proof and insect proof. Looking for an interesting plant that grows in the shade and has interesting but simple white flowers that open in May then puts on a curious and strangely colorful show during the summer? Ah, have I got a plant for you. And of all things it’s a peony. The challenge? To grow it from seed.

That’s right, this is the only peony that will grow in the shade, and just one single root will set you back $50 — just for the root. And you’ll want lots and lots of them. If you’ve got some time, as in years, I can teach you how to grow this wonderful plant, Paeonia japonica, or the Japanese woods peony, and after an investment of $50 and some of your precious time, in maybe six years you can have hundreds of them.

Native to several islands in northern Japan, the plant is somewhat compact and softer than our traditional garden peonies. The plants grow about 18 inches tall and retain their foliage into the fall but they are deciduous. The blooms are simple, single and white, and the plant is related to (but not the same as) P. obavata, which is another woodland species native to Siberia and China. Some texts consider the plants to be the same and you can find references to Paeonia obovata var. japonica.

The Japanese peony (Paeonia japonica) is the only peony that grows in shade. In May it has a single white flower the center of which is adorned with standout yellow stamens with a striking touch of red. Each plant will be very stingy with these flowers at first, only giving you one, with more as the plant matures in the following years. Want 100 of them? With shipping, the roots for those 100 peonies will set you back $5,500, and yet if you buy just three and are willing to wait five or six years and follow these directions you can have those 100 woodland peonies for just the price of the few roots that you can plant now. Plantdelights.com has the roots available, but sadly peonysenvy.com is sold out. These are the only two vendors whose quality I trust in this area.

This plant is not for those in a hurry. Even if you buy the roots, it can take two to three years to get your first flowers, and even then they’re stingy. But your patience will certainly be rewarded. I bought my first six roots back in 2017, and my notes indicate that they first flowered three years later. I grow them up at our house in the Catskills, and due to our late frosts the flowers were toasted more than once, but this won’t happen here on the East End.

As the flowers fade, the seed pods begin to slowly develop since local bees will inevitably pollinate them. There are usually three pods on the stem once the flower fades and these 2-inch-long triangular pods mature during the summer. Once mostly ripe, the pod splits up the middle and begins to open revealing the exocarp, or seed covering, which is a brilliant red. Over a period of weeks the red fades to reveal a very dark purple to nearly black seed that’s firmly held in the pod.

It’s a challenge to know just when the seed is right for harvesting, but when most of the red is gone and before the pod totally ripens and drops the seed you can begin harvesting. The harvest can start in August and last into September. Some of the seed will easily drop into your hand, but many will need to be teased out of the pod with a pencil point or piece of fine wire. Make sure you have a cup or other means of catching the seed as it falls or as you extract it.

The seed harvest can go on for 10 days to two weeks or longer so any harvested seed should be kept in a cool spot indoors in an uncovered container, not refrigerated. Once you’ve collected the seed, it’s time for sowing. Fresh seed does much better than stored seed. Figure out how many seeds you have and plan on planting them in a block or nursery, allowing for one inch between the seeds. We did a 2-foot square and were able to fill it with the seeds in straight rows with a seed placed every inch.

There are various directions on how to do this, and after reading up we decided to plant in a 2-foot square block. The nursery block was in a lightly shaded spot in the woodland area that gets some dappled sun. The top inch of soil was removed and set aside as the seed was placed. Once done, the soil was added back on top and the area lightly watered. We gathered fallen, browned crinkly maple leaves from the area and ground the leaves up in our hands then used the ground leaf litter as a light mulch (a half inch or so) over the planting bed.

Each corner of the block was staked so we could find the nursery in the months (and years) to come. Germination may take place into the fall, but most likely the bulk of the seed will germinate next year. Then it takes another two to three years to have seedlings that can be dug and planted out into the garden. From what I’ve read from other gardeners’ experiences, these seedlings may begin to flower in the third year and that would certainly bring a smile to my face.

There are stories from others who have bought seed from clueless suppliers and the results were nonexistent to terrible germination. Those who planted their own home-grown seed had much better results. Maybe you’re lucky and you’ve got some mature plants that are seed bearing, so you’ve got a jump on this. For others this can be a very long-term project, but I absolutely guarantee that when your first woodland peony that you’ve grown from seed flowers in 2028 or later you will have one big smile on your face as well as an incredible sense of accomplishment.

The plants you end up with will do best in well-drained woodland soil in dappled sun. Never, ever plant these in full sun. Our forested land out here seems perfect for this plant. Honeybees and wild bees will be attracted to them as they are a very early source of pollen.

Remember, patience. I had several of my original roots take several years to flower while others flowered in the third year from planting. And if you’re very lucky a gardening friend may have these plants in their woodland garden and be able to offer you some seed. Keep growing.