Whether a longtime North Texan gardener, or someone new to the pleasure a garden brings, you need to add Peonies to your plant watchlist.
Yes, watchlist, not crazy Reddit stock picks here, (although there is a great flower called stock), but rather a plant to fall in love with and figure out where the heck it will fit in your garden.
Peonies delight all. There are two types of peonies and both grow well here in Texas. There is the tree peony and the herbaceous one. The velvet petals, the vibrant colors, and their vitality wins gardeners over. Who doesn't covet the Festiva Maxima? They have multiple, lovely white petals with ruby red traces of color! Tree peony can come in a buttery yellow with single saucer petals.
Team Alanis has been successfully growing Peonies in Texas for about 7 years now, but there are a few guidelines. First, peonies require a lot of sun, even in our hot summers. Second, they require lots of nutrient-rich soil. Our team has a number of fixes for our clay soil, so don't worry there. And they do require even watering.
Yet once these beauties establish in your garden, get ready to Wow your friends and neighbors with this English garden mainstay!