Optimum harvesting time of herbaceous peony buds for cutting flowers

Abstract

The herbaceous peony is one of the cut flowers that has become increasingly popular in the international market in recent years. In the study, 11 cultivars of herbaceous peonies suitable for cutting flowers were selected; different harvesting stages (three or four stages) were identified according to bud development observation (bud firmness, bud diameter, sepal angle, petal angle, and color showing). Moreover, flower development and vase life were also recorded in the experiment of vase. Bud development observation shows that there are great differences in optimum harvesting stage between the cultivars, especially between the hybrid peony group and lactiflora group. This implies that bud diameter could not be the only indicator for optimum harvesting stage. Bud description, including sepal opening angle, sepal color, petal color showing, and degree of firmness, is necessary for the determination of the harvesting stage. Among the 11 cultivars, ‘Pink Hawaiian Coral’, ‘Red Charm’, ‘Edulis Superba’, ‘Red Magic’, and ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ should be harvested at stage 1. ‘Duchesse de Nemours’, ‘Taff’, ‘Sorbet’ and ‘Monsieur Jules Elie’ should be harvested at stage 2. ‘Kansas’ should be at stage 3 and ‘Karl Rosenfield’ at stage 4. The determination of optimum harvesting stage for each cultivar is an important element in cut flower production.

Keywords

herbaceous peony / cut flower / harvesting stage / bud maturity

References

[1] Charles W.H., Kathleen B.. Cut flower longevity of peony. Journal of American Society of Horticultural Science, 1986, 111(6): 896-899.

[2] Cheng F., Gao S., Yu Xiaonan.. Stage Identification and Morphological Types of Bud Maturity or Flowering in Paeonia lactiflora Cultivars. Acta Horticulturae Sinica, 2009, 36(4): 611-613.

[3] Eason J., Pinkney T., Heyes J., Brash D., Bycroft B.. Effect of storage temperature and harvest bud maturity on bud opening and vase life of Paeonia lactiflora cultivars. New Zealand Journal of crop and Horticultural Science, 2002, 30: 61-67.

[4] Gao Shuiping.. Studies on Postharvest Preservative Methods of Cut Flowers of Herbaceous Peony. 2006, China: Being Forestry University, 21 23

[5] Gast K., McLaren J., Kampjes R.. Identification of bud maturity indicators for fresh-cut peony flowers. Acta Hort (ISHS), 2001, 543: 317-325.

[6] Martin Page.. The Gardener’s Peony. 2005, Herbaceous and Tree Peonies Portland: Timber Press, 268.

[7] Qin Kuijie.. Peonies. 2004, Beijing: China Forestry Publishing House, 1.

[8] Stevens S., Stevens A.B., Gast K.L.B., O’Mara J.A., Tisserat N.A., Bauernfeind R.. Commercial specialty cut flower production, peonies. 1993, Manhattan, Kansas: Cooperative Extension Service, Kansas State University

[9] Zhao H., Chao Y., Liu Y., Zhao Fei.. The optimum harvesting stage of peony cut flower. Shandong Forestry Technology, 2006, 162: 35-36.