Peonies Extend the Blooming days with cages or stakes. Can't you just smell the delicate sweet fragrance of this lovely specimen? Subtle hints of pastel undertones are not uncommon. The Peony on the left demonstrates one benefit of a cage. Another benefit is deadheading at bucket level, rather than  from the grass. Unsupported Blooms will fall by their own weight, or that of the next Spring Rain. Here a regular Tomato Cage is used for support, but a cage can be made of wire fencing, or the shoots can be tied to 1 or more stakes . Make sure the shoots mature inside the cage. The Bleeding Hearts don't need a cage  for the minimal weight of their blossoms. Standard Tomato Cages can be altered to wrap around Peonies, which have grown too big to easily slip into a standard Cage. Simply cut the circular wires as shown above, and form Hooks on the cut wire ends with a pliers. Wrap the altered Cages around the Peonies, and hook them back together as shown. For really large plants, two or more Cages can be attached to each other end-to-end.

When you see the first Flower Buds begin to swell, feed them liquid fertilizer according to package instructions. And when the stems wilt and turn brown, cut them off at ground level.