There is an old-timey saying that if you don’t have ants on your peony bushes, they won’t bloom. Truthfully, peonies don’t need ants to open the blooms. However, peonies do emit a sweet sap that attracts ants. For us, ants and peonies just go together!  Like baseball and hot dogs, you can have one with out the other, but they just seem right paired up. 

To get rid of the ants, avoid insecticides. Carry the blooms upside down from the garden, shake gently, and dip in a bowl of cool water. Nothing says summer is arriving like a mason jar full of homegrown peonies– and daisies, and chamomile and………….. ants!.