I was visiting a friend today who has many varieties. The buds were covered with ants. She commented that she needed to spray them with an insecticide. I thought I had read that ants were beneficial to the peonies. Is that correct and if so, just how do they help?
Answer:
Do not try to get rid of the ants on your peonies. This is a natural and temporary activity. It is believed that peonies produce small amounts of nectar and other ant attractants to encourage ants to help in opening the dense double flower buds found in many peonies. The ants may be found covering certain varieties and avoiding others, this is totally normal.
Once the buds have opened the ants will disappear - also normal.
Some people think ants are REQUIRED to open the flowers, but this does not to appear to be true.
It seems a debatable question whether ants are beneficial or harmful. I think they are neutral.
Should you spray a pesticide to get rid of the ants? That is a definite no. Since the ants are not harmful and some pesticide residues are harmful, why endanger yourself, the plants or the peony's pollinator (good insects) with poisonous sprays?
Just don't spray.
Instead just enjoy the unique interaction of ants and peonies; an evolutionary effect thousands of years in the making and posing no problems in the long run.
Not that I had actually considered spraying. The mere sight of an ant doesn't have me running for the chemicals! As I said originally, better on the peonies than in the house! Since the peonies have blossomed the ants haven't moved inside either.
An interesting animal/plant interaction, sort of, explained by the Heartland Peony Society.
There we go.
Have fun
Cheers
m
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