Redd and I ventured into one of our new planted peony fields this morning to check on the mulching. At least for us he said not to remove mulch in our fields. Normally we equate mulch removal to the growth of tulips. Checking our tulip gardens, no sign of life as of yet. When Redd and I checked under the mulch, the ground was still frozen. As a reminder, the reason for mulching first year peonies in zones 2-5 is to prevent heaving of the roots during the freeze/thaw cycles. Of course looking at the thermometer yesterday and today reading 60+ degrees, we are going to leave our mulch on and wait for the tulips to appear. I will update blog once we remove mulch for zone 4B. If you are in zone 5, I’m assuming that your tulips are up so make sure to remove 1/2 the mulch now and 7-10 days later remove and discard the remaining mulch.
Ok so I have to leave you with this picture of Redd and his new found friend, yes a snake, How this guy finds all these friends is beyond me. The snake is doing fine and slithered away into the rock wall. If we could only train him to pull out weeds in the peony fields!