Garden

[MarnieRez3]

It is peony season right now - the wedding flower, the frothy pink blossoms with a million tiny petals and the most delicate smell.

I adore them - and while I realize they are only readily available during the months of May and June, WHY are they so expensive as cut flowers?
Are there only a few peony farms in the country?

In California, at our most reasonably-priced grocery store, ONE peony stem with about three buds is $16.99. REALLY?? Really!!

I am hugely envious of any of you that have garden peonies in your yard - buying them as cut flowers is legal extortion!

[Carmie]

They bloom around Memorial Day where I live.  They are popular around here and many people have them.

i have never had to buy any cut flowers, but I do know that they take a few years to mature before you get a lot of blooms on them.  They only bloom for a very short time and only once a season. If we get a hard rain, the petals will fall off and the flowers will be ruined.

They are easy to grow and are hardy bushes.  We have three of them...fushia, light pink and white with pink tips.  I can't wait until they bloom.  My neighbor has two yellow peonies.  Never saw that color before she panted them.

Maybe they are expensive because they are short lived flowers...or maybe supply and demand.

[MarnieRez3]

@Carmie
Thanks for your reply...I am so jealous that you have them in your YARD...and THREE bushes at that! You are so lucky...enjoy them.
I have never seen YELLOW peonies!!!! Wow.
I have seen a bright coral color in a bouquet at Trader Joe's ONCE but they sold out the next day. Those peonies are in demand!

[Carmie]

@MarnieRez3   can you grow them where you live  or do you not get freezing in your area?

If they don't grow in your area, then they have to be imported from other parts of the country.  You might be  paying for their transportation costs.

[Foxxee]

I have some in my yard...always a delight to cut for the house.

The following might explain why peonies are expensive.

http://www.dvflora.com/index.php/2018/05/21/understanding-the-price-of-peonies/

[JustJazzmom]

The yellow peonies are a relatively new variety (a cross between the herbaceous & the tree peonies). As far as I know there aren’t any yellow herbaceous peonies, yet.

The yellow peonies are a variety called ‘Bartzella’, it is yellow with red streaks in the center, it is an ITOH peony named after the hybridizer who created these peonies.

They look like herbaceous peonies (you cut the stems down in the fall) but instead of a center bud with 2 sidebuds, they have a single bud like their parent, the tree peony.

I have ‘Pink Hawaiian Coral’ which starts to bloom about a week before the others (around Memorial Day by us). 

Peonies are very long lived perennials — they could outlive you!

[ahoymate]

Peonies are certainly beautiful and this is the reason why they are expensive too. Their price varies though. The peak season is April, May & June. During these months, the cost of this flower goes really high (up to $15 to $20 each).

Supply & demand.

[x Hedge]

    why?

when peonies are both planted and cared for correctly they'll continue to increase and produce delightfully fragrant blooms every year for 100 years or more.

I'm caring for the peonies I grew up loving, which my parents planted in the early1940s, long before I was born.   

    These are last year's blooms.

  

[Skyegirl21]

That is crazy! Buy a plant and grow them- They grow and spread like crazy over the years and they can be split, dug and moved... 

[millieshops]

@Skyegirl21That assumes one lives in a climate where they would thrive.  That's highly unlikely in the tropical zones of southern Florida.

When I was little in PA, we had a row of 5 lush peonies, white with lots of pink streakings.  The only thing I remember disliking about them was that the ants loved them as much as my mother did.

N9w I own expensive silk peonies, also gorgeous.  They've lived with me for about 27 years now -  I think each stem cost about what one fresh stem would cost today.  Except for their having no aroma, I guess they've been a great bargain.