Peonietta peony farm: Tickled pink by blooming success

ITS sheltered position and cool climate make a North-West property perfect for a large-scale grower of peonies, which are harvested this month. KAROLIN MACGREGOR reports.

Perfect spot: Fred and Alison Guilbert among the flowers at Peonietta. The North-West operation is understood to be one of the biggest peony growers in Australia. Pictures: Chris Kidd

NESTLED in the bush at Nietta is one of Tasmania’s most colourful farms.

Each year the Peonietta peony farm produces thousands of bunches of flowers in the lead-up to Christmas.

The business was started by long- time peony enthusiast Peter Botting and his wife Julie, who recognised a gap in the pre-Christmas market for fresh flowers in the early 2000s.

Previously this market had been supplied by imported flowers from New Zealand or less fresh stored blooms.

Each year Mr Botting’s son-in-law Fred Guilbert and daughter Alison help out during the busy harvest season.

The family bought the farm at Nietta in the state’s North-West in 2006 and at the time the property was basically a bush block.

Busy time: Bunching line and quality-control manager Rochelle Guilbert in the cool room at Peonietta

However, Mr Guilbert said the property was in a perfect location thanks to its position sitting 600m above sea level.

Peonies require a chill time of 700 hours below 7C hours each winter, so Nietta’s cold climate is ideal.

The 20ha property is believed to be one of the biggest single peony farms in Australia, possibly in the southern hemisphere.

The farmland is divided into 10 paddocks which have been established nestling among the surrounding native bushland.

Not only does this make the farm quite picturesque, it also provides good shelter from winds.

“It really is a lovely place to work,” Mr Guilbert said.

“The best thing about it is that apart from harvest time the rest of the year there isn’t much to do, so it’s quite easy to manage.”

There are about 85,000 peony plants now planted on the property and these include about 100 different varieties.

The peonies have been planted since 2007 and are at different levels of maturity.

Mr Guilbert said the farm was currently producing about 50,000 bunches of flowers a year.

However, once the peony plants reach maturity in 2024 that figure is set to increase to about 80,000.

The farm is set up for irrigation in each paddock, but Mr Guilbert said the reliable rainfall in the area meant they had not had to use it so far.

The crew on the bunching line ensure the flowers hit the market within a couple of days.

As well as the flowers, scattered around the property are some of Mr Botting’s unique creations, which have been made out of large rocks off the property.

These include his version of Stonehenge and another arrangement called Kelly’s Cannon, named after an excavator driver who helped out with the property’s early development.

The flowering season for peonies is quite short and lasts just a few weeks each year.

Mr Guilbert said a major advantage of the farm’s location was that flowers produced there were generally ready at the tail end of the interstate production season.

However, this year unseasonally hot weather in the past couple of weeks has seen some of the flowers come to bloom earlier than usual.

“Normally we have the pre-Christmas market pretty much to ourselves, but it has started a little bit earlier than normal this season,” Mr Guilbert said.

Peonietta grows about 100 varieties of peonies.

During the picking season the farm employs about 40 people.

Once picked all the flowers go into a chilling area to cool down and are then sorted into bunches according to orders.

Each bunch is put through a cutting machine which trims the stems to the correct length. The bunches are then placed into a plastic sleeves and boxed ready for transport.

Once picked, the flowers are shipped to wholesalers on the mainland that night and are in the market within a couple of days.

Peonies are long-lived plants and have been known to remain productive for decades.

Mr Guilbert said once the harvest was finished and the plants dried out a little they would be cut off and left to grow back for next year.

While the family thoroughly enjoy growing peonies, Mr Botting is planning for retirement so the business is now being offered for sale.

“It is a shame because we all really enjoy, it but it’s the right time,” Mr Guilbert said.