Do Peony flowers require ants to bloom?

Why do you usually see ants on the bud?

Do Peony flowers require ants to bloom?
"The presence of ants on peony blossoms is neither beneficial nor harmful to the plant. Ants are simply attracted to the sugary liquid secreted by flower buds." link 1.





"Why are ants always on my peonies?


They are hungry!





The ants visit your peonies because the flower buds secrete a sweet substance that the ants like to eat. The good news is that the ants are not harmful to your peonies! The ants don't eat the actual plant and contrary to popular belief, the ants are not required to open the buds.





A small trick if you want to cut some of your peony flowers but don't want to bring the ants into the house… Try cutting the flowers before they open and the ants get inside. Cut the flowers when the colour is showing and the bud feels like a marshmallow. At this stage it is easy to remove the ants and the buds will open nicely for you inside within a couple of days." Link 2





If you do a google searh for "ants peony" you'll find this mentioned on thousnads of sites.
Reply:The ants have probably found some aphids or mites that are producing honeydew (excrement) that the ants are harvesting for their nests. With peonies, the flower bud scales secrete sap that is also rich in carbohydrates that the ants can use as a food source. It was thought that ants were necessary for peony flowers to open. That theory is not true, according to research. Without any ant activity, the flowers still open.
Reply:Yes, they do. If you spray your peonies with pesticide to rid them of the ants, they will not bloom. We had two rows of peonies, both pink %26amp; white, in the front of our garden. Beautiful smell, aren't they?
Reply:Peonies don't require that ants are a part of their life cycle. However ants are a common user of these decorative and beautiful plants. We always have a small number of ants roaming the buds and stems of our peonies. I think the ants are simply feeding on the sweet exudations that surface on and around the buds. Ants exploit and utilize alot of plants and even other insects, such as aphid populations that the ants will manage and farm on the leaves and stems of all sorts of plants and trees such as appletrees, cherrietrees and herbs like catnip. Most insects that aid plants in fruit production and visit during flowering are pollinators, taking pollen from one flower pistol to another accomplishing cross pollination and the mixing of the genes, these critters are generally fliers like bees and other particular species of flies and butterflies, not crawlers like ants.
Reply:PAEONIA peony... once and for all, there is no horticultural relationship whatever between ants (or any other insect ) and the peony and it bloom. Period! End of story! Void another myth! An ant free peony will bloom just as well as an ant free peony. Old wives tale from the days when we thought the earth was flat as Jimmy Carter's personality. they do not need to be pollinated be wind, bees, a brother or sister plant living up-wind, nor man or beast. I made the mistake of suggesting just such a relationship to a prof of parasitology during my post graduate studies. he became so angry he chased me from the building. he wouldn't even acknowledge i was a me member of his class for many months after. when he did, he addressed me as "mr peony". it was only when i completed a six month, field study on the subject (on my own time) and filled my 118 page research study with the head of the plant science dept, was the sir name peony dropped from his vocabulary. the dear professor had been dealing with that very myth for over thirty years. i just happened to bring the matter up on the very day ..."he could stanz zit no more!" I taught plant science for several years. every year there was at least one mr peony in every class. old myths seem never to die. so please help put this one to rest. ANTS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH CAUSING A PEONY TO BLOOM! PERIOD! class dismissed.