I have customers ask me every year about cutting back their peony plants. You can cut the foliage down after blooming...however, leaving the foliage intact will allow the plant to photosynthesize and send carbohydrate reserves to its roots, which ensures plenty of flowers the following season. The foliage also adds fall color interest as the leaves turn a beautiful shade of russet red.
Peony plants definitely need to be cut back before winter so they do not get peony botrytis blight which is a fungal disease that causes new shoots to mold and disfigures the flowers when foliage is left intact over the winter. Cutting these plants back after the first frost is a good rule of thumb. Spring is coming...I can almost smell peony blossoms while writing this...THINK SPRING!
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