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Q: My peony has strange yellow rings on the leaves of one side of the plant. Is this serious? Would it help to remove these leaves?
A: It's a virus, probably called tobacco rattle virus. It was formerly called peony, or peony mosaic virus, which is very descriptive of the problem. There are some other possible viruses, but to positively identify the virus you have, you must send a sample to a laboratory. Treatment options will probably not be changed.
The TRV has been identified for the first time in tobacco, but it can affect 400 types of plants, from chickweed tulips. Many of these plants show no effect of the virus and only remain in the roots. In others, this can also appear in the leaves. Potatoes may have black spots on the tuber. This does not affect peony flowers, but sometimes the plant may be delayed or not grow well.
Although only a part of your plant has symptoms, the whole plant is affected, so removing the yellow parts will not help. The symptoms are more apparent in cold weather, but the virus is still present even though the leaves look beautiful. You can see the same symptoms next year or not, but there is no cure.
The TRV is transmitted by nematodes. They feed on the roots of an infected plant and then transmit the virus when they move on to the next plant. Since many plants we consider as weeds are vectors, it is useful to remove them. Shovels and other tools that touch the roots of plants must be disinfected.
If the plant is otherwise healthy, no treatment is necessary. In fact, the leaves can look very cool. However, if you have potatoes or valuable plants nearby, you can remove them to prevent the virus from spreading. You can immediately plant something new, even another peony, because the virus does not live in the soil, but in the roots of the plant. However, if there are still plants harboring the virus nearby, it will likely be transmitted again by these pesky nematodes.
Written by the Master Gardeners of the University of Manitoba Extension in St. Louis County.
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