Starting peony seeds

If you'd like to start sowing your own peony, there are a lot of resources available. For instance: https://www.peonysociety.eu/growing-species-peonies-by-galen-burrell/, https://www.peonysociety.eu/wp-content/uploads/mediapress/members/111/17469/Peonies-From-Seed-APS.pdf.

At first I started seeds mostly indoors, with vermiculite in a plastic bag, 3 months warm, 3 months fridge. The pro is that you can sow anytime you'd like and see the process up close. The con is that there's also quite some risk for fungal disease.

Tip: if you want to try this procedure, and you should give it a go: use vermiculite with maximum 10% water for optimal sprouting. Another tip: please do not scratch/rough up the seed coat; it does not speed up the process and only serves to increase the risk of death of the embryo.

I've also sowed a lot of seeds outdoors in a pot "Bremer-style" (described in the PDF above). In a raised bed you only need to make sure the seeds don't dry out or drown in to much water. You can also enclose the pot in a plastic bag and place the pot in an sheltered spot in the garden. Using the layers inside the pot as prescribed became a bit tiresome for me.

Now I use the procedure described by Irmtraud and Gottlob Rieck in their book Strauchpfingstrosen. No more semi-sterile pampering layer-work, but just plain potting soil.

• In May/June, just soak the seeds for at least two days (up to 4 days is possible, but do refresh the water every day),
• discard the floating (=hollow) seeds,
• using a earthenware pot and regular potting soil, sow the seeds 1 cm under the surface, press the soil firmly,
• place it in a dish of water to moisten the soil from below
• and place the pot in a raised bed, sheltered from too much wind and sun.
• Keep moist but never wet. Seeds need a warm episode (summer/autumn), followed by a cold periode (winter/spring) to germinate.
• So next spring or spring the year after, the seedlings will surface and can be replanted after 6 weeks in a seed bed.