Pruning peonies?

can you prune peonies? my bushes were all in bloom, and then it rained and they started to droop. i thought they would spring back up but they just stayed drooped and the flowers started to wilt. the stems look healthy but the flowers just look unattractive. the bush keeps the same height and they look healthy, but the stems are really long.





if i can prune them, how would i do it so that it can encourage more growth? do i prune them like roses?

Pruning peonies?
You can't really prune them. If you cut the stems short you remove the flower buds. Then they won't have flowers. So the best thing to do is to use stakes or tomato cages to prop them up to keep the flowers off the ground.


The flowers tend to die when they are bashed into the ground by rain storms and wind. So keeping them off the ground enhances their life.


To ensure optimium health cut off the flowers to the next lower leaf after they begin to wilt and die. This will conserve plant energy by not making seeds. Also there can be additional flowers lower on the stem. So cutting off the dead flowers will allow them to bloom.


Also if the peonies are too bushy, it maybe time to divide them and give some to a friend or plant elsewhere.