{"id":18560,"date":"2022-01-21T15:01:15","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T20:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/?p=18560"},"modified":"2022-01-21T15:13:36","modified_gmt":"2022-01-21T20:13:36","slug":"black-areas-on-peonies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/01\/21\/black-areas-on-peonies\/","title":{"rendered":"What to do about black areas on peonies?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Question:<\/h3>\n<p><strong>In September 2021, I transplanted peony plants to a bed on the west side of our new home. They all came up, a couple even had flowers, but as time went on black areas (not spots) were seen on many of the plants. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture. I cut them down in the fall and discarded the plant material. I am now wondering what to do for them for this growing season? Is it late, cold periods or a disease? Do they need to be protected?<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3>Answer:<\/h3>\n<p><em>Abi Griffith, Horticulture Community Education Assistant<\/em><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p>Without a photo or a sample, a good place to start could be checking out the Extension&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/ipm\/ipddl\/plant-disease-images\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/ipm\/ipddl\/plant-disease-images\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1642871648419000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1cOqCzKPjeogphEw1dRe47\">Plant Disease Images<\/a>\u00a0page and scroll down to peonies to see if any of these look familiar. You may want to start with\u00a0looking into Botrytis, which can cause darkening of leaves and stems and can be a common problem with peonies.\u00a0 Managing any potential fungal problems with peonies includes\u00a0avoiding overhead watering or damp areas or damp, thick mulch. Also, to do exactly what you already did, which was to remove those plant parts and dispose of them out of your garden (don&#8217;t compost). You may have to wait until this next season to get a better idea of what you are dealing with, and get a photo or\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/ipm\/plant-disease\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/ipm\/plant-disease\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1642871648419000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1KhBQCVWfICKL54Q9QJ4Sy\">submit a sample<\/a>\u00a0to the UMaine Extension Plant Disease Diagnostic Laboratory, to properly identify the problem and give you management recommendations.<\/p>\n<p>If you haven&#8217;t already, it could be a good idea to submit a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/publications\/2286e\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/publications\/2286e\/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1642871648419000&amp;usg=AOvVaw19qdnpQz3deAI_s7F7oA98\">standard soil test<\/a>, to the UMaine Extension.\u00a0 This test will assess nutrient levels, pH, and organic matter content and\u00a0offers gardeners important \u201cnext steps\u201d to create the conditions for optimal plant health. A healthy plant is more resilient in the face of disease pressures.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Question: In September 2021, I transplanted peony plants to a bed on the west side of our new home. They all came up, a couple even had flowers, but as time went on black areas (not spots) were seen on many of the plants. Unfortunately, I did not take a picture. I cut them down [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[199],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What to do about black areas on peonies? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/gardening\/2022\/01\/21\/black-areas-on-peonies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What to do about black areas on peonies? - Cooperative Extension: Garden and Yard - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Question: In September 2021, I transplanted peony plants to a bed on the west side of our new home. 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