Abstract: The growth of flower buds of plants is closely related to the endogenous hormones. This paper examined the buds of Paeonia cultivar Da Fugui in the period of dormancy. The content variation of the GA3， IAA， ZT， ABA in different periods of dormant bud development of Chinese herbaceous peony were measured by using the liquid chromatography technique. The results showed that ABA content started to increase on November 20th， reached the peak on December 10th; GA3 content increased obviously on December 10th and decreased on December 30th; ZT content had a similar trend to that of GA3. However， the IAA content was relatively low with little fluctuation in the dormant period. GA3/ABA and ZT/ABA values decreased with the deepening of dormancy and increased after the release of dormancy. The study indicated that GA3 and ZT can promote the release of dormancy， which has the theoretical guiding significance for the release of dormancy with the application of exogenous hormones.

Key words: Paeonia lactiflora, dormant buds, endogenous hormones