Jeff wrote:

I bought a couple of Japanes tree peonies after being impressed by the
blooms from several herbaceous varieties that I planted two years ago.
The staff member at the nursery advised that I plant the tree peonies
in an acidic soil, and she recommended that I get an azalea mix along
with Miracid.

However, after reading my gardening book, it was indicated that tree
peonies prefer slightly alkaline soils (6.5 to 7.5 ph). We have
extremely hard clay soil where we live and I would like to simply grow
the peonies in pots.

Do I plant them in the azalea mix or should I disregard the advice from
the garden staff and plant the tree peonies in a normal potting mix?

Thank you.

Jeffery


Jeffery,

Ignore the advice from nursery staff member. I have been growing
Japanese tree peonies for over 25 years and I have never grown them in
anything other than ordinary soil and I have used regular fertilizer.
As you can see from pictures from my web site they do very good without
any special soil or fertilizer: http://members.iglou.com/brosen/s_page3.htm

--
Bill R. (Ohio Valley, U.S.A)

Gardening Since 1969

To see pictures from my garden visit http://members.iglou.com/brosen

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