Are Peonies Poisonous Near Vegetables?

Peony Toxicity

• Peonies are gorgeous plants when in bloom, and produce lush, vibrant foliage all summer long. However, the roots and seeds of this plant are mildly poisonous. If the sap contacts your skin, you may experience irritation, such as itching or rash. If these parts are ingested in large quantities, you may experience stomach pain, diarrhea and nausea.

Companion Planting with Peonies

• Peonies are not known to be an allelopathic plant -- a plant that introduces chemicals into the soil that negatively affect other plants to compete for food and nutrients. While plants take up mineral and toxic chemical compounds from the soil, such as lead, arsenic and mercury, the poisons in peony roots will not be released into the soil or taken up by your vegetable plants. According to the Lady Bird Johnston Wildflower Center, plant roots may remove toxins from the soil, but they don’t typically inject poisons into it.

Peony Poisoning Risks

• While some parts of peony plants contain mildly toxic compounds, the flowers are actually edible. It is possible for the sap from peony roots or leaves may touch your vegetables, but if any of this sap remains on the fruit at harvest, the practice of thoroughly washing vegetables and fruit before eating would remove it.

Peony Needs and Considerations

• While peonies like rich, fertile soil, they thrive without a lot of fertilizer. Typically a bit of fertilizer or manure worked into the soil at planting is sufficient for the year. For this reason you may not want to plant peonies with vegetables that require frequent fertilization. Peonies also attract ants, which eat nectar from peonies in exchange for attacking bud pests. Ants are necessary to help peonies bloom, but they may damage your vegetables.