Peonies & Stargazer lilies

[ESMcLane]

Good Morning!

#1 my peonies are getting established and starting to get some buds- but there are so many ants crawling on the peonies already- what can I do to control the ants?

also, I have 2 peony bushes & I bought them at the same place at the same time- one of them is much smaller than the other & there is no difference in soil or the amount of sunlight each gets- we transplanted it a few weeks ago, but would that make a huge difference?

#2 my sweet boyfriend stepped on a lily that was just starting to come up- the very top of the stem fell off & now it doesn't seem like it's growing anymore...what should I do? do I just keep it there & see if it can reestablish itself?

thanks for the help

[rainbowgardener]

Peonies always have ants. It's usually a temporary thing. Apparently the buds exude some nectar that the ants come for. The ants help the peony buds open up (though they are not required and the buds will open on their own). Once the flowers open up most of the ants go away. They are harmless. No need to control them.


Nothing much that you can do for the lily. It only sends up one shoot for the season. You could leave it in the ground to see if it will do anything next year. However, since it won't have leaves to feed it, the bulb will be seriously weakened and may not come back. If it does come back, it likely will still be several years until it gets strong and healthy enough to bloom again. I'd just buy a new one!

[ESMcLane]

yea, I pretty much figured I would have to get a new one- its def. not going to come back- not this year at least.

good to know about the Peonies- I didn't know that about the ants.

thank you for the input!