Peonies are one of the most beloved flowers. Their beautiful blossoms are a welcome site in any garden, and it is so tempting to cut peonies to bring inside and enjoy. Unfortunately, as many gardeners know, peonies don’t necessarily last well as a cut flower. Luckily, Amy Fahmy, Fine Gardening contributor, knows a better way to keep cut peonies around longer. In this video, you’ll see Amy’s tips for preserving your peonies.

How to Save Peonies for Later On

Follow the below instructions to learn how to keep your peonies for a rainy day.

Materials needed:

• Clippers or pruners
• Paper towels
• Water
• Gallon plastic bags

Instructions:

1. Identify the peony buds you would like to bring inside. These should be about to blossom, but they shouldn’t have unfurled any of their petals quite yet.
2. Using your pruners, cut your peony bloom off at the base of the plant.
3. You’ll want to quickly set your flower aside, and rip off a couple of paper towels.
4. Dig or douse the paper towels in a decent amount of water so that they are sopping wet.
5. Wrap the paper towels around the base of the peony, and then place the whole stem into a large plastic bag. This is to help keep your peony from wilting or dying before you can get it to safety.
6. Bring your cut peonies inside to a refrigerator. Before you put them inside, take it out of the plastic bag and remove the wet cloth at the bottom of the stem.
7. Wrap the entire stem in a protective sheath of paper towels or tissue paper, and then you can place it inside the refridgerator.
8. As needed, pull out one of your peony buds, and place it in a vase of water. Enjoy as your peonies bloom inside.

More info:

Learn more about growing peonies here.

How to Plant Peonies

How to Divide Peonies

Learn more about the genus Paeonia