When Trader Joe’s brings out their peonies, I immediately start stocking up. At $8 for a bunch, you really cannot beat that price! I once got peony-impatient and bought them at a local farmer’s market for double the price of Trader Joe’s…only to come home and unwrap the bouquet to see that half of the peony stems were ruined + had to be tossed. Lesson learned! 🤦🏼♀️
Once you get peonies, you’re practically counting down to when the bulbs will bloom – and if you have my level of patience (see above), you want those blooms as quickly as possible!
Here are some tips to make your peonies bloom faster:
Remove all extra leaves
First things first, remove all extra leaves. I personally like a little bit of green against the pink blooms so I’ll leave some. But I will remove all leaves that are too low and will touch the water.
Cut the stem at a 45 degree angle
Before I cut any flowers, I place the vase close-ish to the edge of the counter and line the flowers against the countertop. This way I can easily tell where to cut the flowers so that they’ll be the perfect height for the vase.
Cut the peonies’ stems at a sharp 45 degree angle, which allows flowers to absorb as much water as possible and as fast as possible.
Empty plant food packet into vase + fill with room temperature water
Trader Joe’s has little packets of free plant food that you can find in little containers in their flower section. Be sure to grab one! Before I place the flowers into the vase, I empty the plant food packet and fill with room temperature water.
I used to put my flowers into cold water but turns out, that’s not the best idea. Plants are very sensitive to temperatures and water that is too cold (or too hot) can shock them, send them into stress, and cause damage. No bueno. Room temperature water keeps them happy and ready to bloom!
Place in a warm, bright room
Peonies will respond to sunlight! I know, not exactly groundbreaking (like florals for spring) but the combination of room temperature water, plant food, and sunshine hits the trifecta and will work wonders for opening those blooms up quickly.
I swear, I picked up peonies Sunday morning and by that evening, I couldn’t believe how big the blooms had gotten!!
Cut the stems every 2-3 days
To keep the flowers fresh, cut the stems about 1/2 inch every 2-3 days.
I hope these tips help to get you the most Instagrammable peonies!
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