Peonies...Can they be cut and saved, refrigerated?

[headred]

I am using peonies for my daughters wedding and I'm wondering if anyone has had any luck with cutting peonies in bud form or are they able to refrigerate and keep longer? Also, any suggestions on how to rid them of the ants that so dearly love a peony?

 

[journey11]

Oh, I sooo wanted peonies for my wedding, but I didn't know enough at the time to set an earlier date when they would be blooming. Love peonies! They are so elegant and smell nice too.

They will open from bud form, but it has been my experience that the bloom is not as large and full as it would be if left to open. I've cut them early before when they had been blown over by harsh weather. I'm sure refrigeration would help to keep them fresh though. They last maybe a week as a cut flower. As far as the ants go...I would think they would not tolerate refrigeration and maybe leave! They are worst when they are still in tight buds because they are after the sap. I have been told that they do no damage to the bloom.

 

[Rosalind]

Don't pick them until they are well open! The peony actually needs the ants to open properly. The ants eat a sort of sticky glue off the peony bud to help it open. Then refrigerate after they are cut, but they still aren't going to keep for long.

I'm not sure if it helps to singe the stem, like poppies? Never tried.

 

[ducks4you]

Don't pick them until they are well open! The peony actually needs the ants to open properly. The ants eat a sort of sticky glue off the peony bud to help it open. Then refrigerate after they are cut, but they still aren't going to keep for long.

I'm not sure if it helps to singe the stem, like poppies? Never tried.

NO Kidding?!?!? And, here I am, knocking them off!!

 

[Rosalind]

This source says the ants are debatable. I was always told they were required, other sources say only the big fluffy double flowers really need the formic help, other sources say you don't need ants at all and it's an old wives' tale.

I know they tend to bugger off after the flowers are well open, though. Maybe a good shake of a partly-open bloom would be sufficient to dislodge them?

 

[headred]

Thanks for the tips! I had not heard about the flower needing ants, but it sounds good ;-)