Dividing or moving peonies late

by Dorothy E. Rich
(Manakin Sabot, VA)

October is the best time to divide peonies in my zone 7 garden, and I have done so successfully in the past. I missed this 'window of opportunity' and have several peonies that I want to at least move because of changing the garden design. Can I divide them now, providing some cover/protection to the new plantings? Or, can I lift the entire plant and move it without dividing it?

Doug says that you "can" do anything in the garden. The question is are you willing to live with the consequences of "maybe" having the plant not perform the way you want it to.

In my garden, the window is around the end of September and I know survival goes down. Not all plants die - not all plants do poorly. But if I were moving 100 plants of the same variety (like I used to do in the nursery) I'd get 98% survival in September but if I waited a month, I might only get 50% survival. It's the difference between the 98% and the 50% that you have to decide.

And that's where I can't help you. If we're only talking about a few days - not likely a problem. If we're talking about a month - hmmm, more of a problem If the plant is rare or valuable - more of a problem because you "might" lose one or two.

If you have lots of them - no problem to lose one or two. If you only have one and you had to put a mortgage on your eldest child to buy it - big problem. :-)

So - my problem is in telling you "yes" or "no". Survival rates go down the further outside of the window you go. The question is whether you're willing to take the risk with the weather (a cold season might do you in - a warm season will be fine) or not.

Boy - that wasn't too helpful in giving you a definitive answer was it? :-)

The only good thing I can tell you is that the peony is one of toughest plants and handles a ton of cold better than almost any other perennial and if I were in a gambling mood - this would be a good bet. (Along with iris of course that you can simply lay on the ground and they'll survive darn near anything) :-) And moving is better than dividing (take as many roots as you can).

Let me know how it works if you do it