Cityncountry, I'm glad you're going to go ahead and try a tree peony. I believe that, like me, you'll be hooked on them in no time. I picked up a 'Feng Dan' on impulse at HD late one season and have been very pleased with it. It is not, so far as I know, a fancy variety, but the blossoms are lovely in early spring and it seems hardy as can be ... with leaf buds often just beginning to unfurl as early as February here along the New Jersey shore. I used to panic and protect it with a tipi of clear solar pool cover (which I'd have to remove during the day, of course, then replace at night) ... even putting some jugs of water in there to help with the temperature. This year that tipi was just too far back in the shed for me to access, so it was do or die for Dan ... and it's fine. Aside from having provided an ever-increasing number of blossoms every spring, this plant, for a small investment, has given me the courage to one day try a more expensive variety. FYI, our soil is very sandy, amended with homemade compost, shredded leaves and mushroom compost. Light conditions are mostly dappled shade with periods of full sun. Good luck and please keep us posted!

Dear Deprived Wife: If you don't mind a somewhat long story, I'll be more than happy to provide you with my recommendations along with helpful reference resources to better come to your own conclusions. Many decades ago, my maternal grandmother gave my mother and father what they refered to as a "Memorial Day" peony before I was a gleam in their eye. True to its name, the nice, fragrant, double blooming red Peony always came into bloom during the week of Memorial Day. When my mother passed away a few years ago, my daughter, Heather, lifted this "heritage" Peony, divided it, and shared the division with her own family, her first cousin, Denise and her family, and the oldest of my two younger sisters. I am pleased to say that each of the divisions has been doing well with my daughter's doing the best of the three - simply because she is a more thoughtful gardener. Am I bragging a bit - yep, but just a little. At the time of this sharing, our now emerging garden was only a figment of my imagination and I decided that I would attempt to obtain this "heritage" peony later. Late last summer, I decided that I would add a few Peonies to our slowly evolving patio garden area and again thought of purchasing a "Memorial Day" peony of my own, since the newly divided divsions were too young to re-divide once again. Unfortunately, I had no idea of the "correct" name of this particular Peony. With a little research - namely through an excellent book, which I will reference later, and several Internet searches, I discovered that there are actually two "Memorial Day" peonies - one is a deep pink and the other is, of course, the deep red one, the one which I knew as a kid. My next researches were geared towards evaluating various Peonies varieties and, especially, the sources from which they can be obtained. As the result of this combined and somewhat lengthy search, I finally decided to place an order with A & D Nursery located in the State of Washington. So I called them up and spoke, I believe, with the owner and was most pleased with his knowledge, his patience (especially - since they were beginning their shipping season) and his responses to my several questions. Within a few days, I placed an order for two "Philippe Revoire's", one "Chestine Gowdy", whose unique form and colorations intrigue me greatly, and one "Florence Nicholls". Unfortunately, "Chestine Gowdy" is not listed as available this year so you cannot "see" her photograph at their web page. Before their arrival, there was a change of my own gardening design intentions. I had originally decided to flank "Florence Nicholls" with the two "Philippe Revoire's", in the front (west) part of the patio garden and place "Chestine Gowdy" off to the side. I then decided that "Chestine Gowdy" should be made the center of attention, a decision which meant that I then had one lone white Peony on just one side of the south side of our patio garden. Since the garden was now "out of balance", - at least in my mind - I decided to add another, but different, white Peony to the north side of our patio garden. So after looking again at the array of "candidates" I placed an order for "Moon Over Barrington", who by the way was hybridized by Klehm of Klehm's Song Sparrow Nursery noted below. Since A & D hadn't "placed" my order in line as yet, I was able to add the "Moon Over Barrington" to my original order and thus cut down on the shipping costs of a full second order. Obviously, I was more than happy that they were able to accomodate me in this manner. There were, of course, several other reasons that I choose to place an order with A & D Nursery. The first and minor reason was that nearly all of their photographs of Peonies were sharp, clear, and distinct. Having been a photographer for many decades, I well appreciate the fact that someone bothered to care enough to place excellent photographs of their offerings. I was extremely pleased with the patience and the reponses given to me by the owner of this nursery when I called with several questions during the beginning of their shipping season. The fact that they were willing to spend a few minutes answering a few questions from a then potential customer impressed me greatly. I was also greatly impressed by the extensive array of Peonies being offered. I may be wrong, but I believe they have one of the largest selections available. Of course, the greatest pleasure and satisfaction came from seeing the actual "proof of the pudding", when I saw the quality of their roots and care of their packing upon opening my order. I have never seen such large, lovely peony roots in my life and so well packed. I was so impressed with their products and service that I posted my comments at the "Garden Watchdog", whose site is listed below. Link to the site below and then scroll down to read the comments. I'm "wharrison". Obviously, A & D Nursery isn't the only high quality peony source available to you. There are several others with whom I was also impressed - particularly "Song Sparrow Nursery" (formerly "Klehm's" Nursery in Illinois). "Klehm's" was or still is an extensive and very well known hybridizer of Peonies. I am certain that other readers of this forum will provide you with their own set of additional recommendations. The main reason that I didn't place an order with Klehm's was that I wanted "Chestine Gowdy" and didn't wish to incur shipping costs of placing two orders from two different firms. By the way, I just searched their site and made a comparison of the photographs of "Philippe Revoir". The A & D Nursery is sharp at the point of focus and becomes blurry due to depth of field, while the photograph of the same peony isn't sharp at any point at Klehm's. Minor differences - perhaps - for many peony lovers - and I suspect that some folks might think - wrongly - that I am a "nit-picker", - however if you looking for bloom, leaf, bark, or overall plant detail, which might be necessary for the selection of plants to be chosen or truly identified - these minor attributes can become important in making one's decision. My wasn't that a mouthful of a paragraph. ;>) I was also surprised that Klehm's doesnt' offer one of their own creations - namely "Moon Over Barrington" - referring, I think to the town of Barrington, IL in north eastern Illinois near where they were originally located. It's a beautifully formed white Peony!! About the issue of "prices". Since Peonies last for a few hundred years and since we will enjoy their beauty and fragrance for nearly half or more of that time, the payment of $20.00 to $30.00 per Peony seems like a mere drop in the bucket. I am - to make use of one of Mark Twain's comments - reaching the "threshold of old age" and will be 65 in September. While I don't suspect I'll be enjoying my peonies for the next hundred years, I do plan to fully enjoy their beauty until I embark up a final project. Of course, I will admit that the purchase of five Peonies at one time came to a small chunk of change and put a small dent in our pocket book. Nevertheless, what is a small dent when compared to many years of enjoyment. Not much! So a little patience, planning, and budgeting will go a long way in the creation and beautification of one's emerging/evolving garden. This is one of the reasons why our garden is still evolving - one due to the available budget and two to the overall design of the place. Most likely, I will purchase a few more Peonies over the next few years, but the ones I did purchase did fill in a much needed gap and I am anxiously looking forward to their bloom within the next few weeks. Can't wait - hardly!! Oh yes, I will eventually purchase a "Memorial Day" peony and perhaps a few others in the near future, when the current "gaps" in the garden become filled with beauty. Now that you have my recommendations, here are a few links for you to enjoy and reference. A & D Nursery" Klehm's Song Sparrow In addition to your online searches, you may also wish to read and enjoy one of the best books on the subject of Peonies. It's written by Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall and the title is "Peonies". I have her book in my personal library and concur with the Amazon reader who said: "If you are a peony lover, you will treasure this book. Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall not only knows her peonies and traces their fascinating history through the imperial courts of China and Japan, but she interweaves this with a history of how peonies have been used in paintings and porcelain. The beautiful pictures included not only show the various peony cultivars, but show the peony as it is used in Asian porcelains, paintings and European paintings. This book and its photographs are so lovely, that I expected to pay much more for it. It's a bargain, if you are a peony lover. Al Rogers "Peonies" is a bit more explicit about growing and cultivation, but this book compliments his, because of the romance it brings to the peony. It is also practical, listing the cultivars, showing many pictures, and recommending the more successful cultivars. If you love peonies and want to know more about their place in history, I heartily recommend Jane Fearnley-Whittingstall's "Peonies."" Here's a link: Peonies Copies are also available through or at your local public library and through either one of the two bookseller sources noted below. abe.com or alibris.com Finally, if you still in the process of making your decision(s) as to which Peony to add to your garden, my final recommendation is to make use of the excellent resource - "PlantFinder - within the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis and use this excellent resource in conjunction with various other resources. If you have the chance, please do stop by and plan to spend to spend the minium of 1.5 exploring this sumptuous garden complete with indoor and outdoor, restaurant areas, a gift, book, and plant shop, exhibition halls, tours, etc. A "virtual tour" can be found at this link and the one below it. Garden Virtual Tour More Detailed Garden Tour Missouri Botanical Garden Here the direct link to one of the white peonies I once considered for my garden. Once you link to this particular page, you will note a link to "Search Participating Nurseries and Garden Centers" near the top center of the page. Paeonia lactiflora 'Duchesse de Nemours' And here's the link to their superb "Search" tool. Enjoy your online explorations!! PlantFinder Search Well, I do believe that this is more than enough information to get you started. Best wishes in your gardening endeavors. Bill William Harrison Here is a link that might be useful: The Garden Watchdog - A & D Nursery

The following are what I remember receiving so far. Sure I'm missing a few. I've received doubles of several. And a few more I expect to receive. I haven't received Bakers Creek although I placed a large order with them again. As of 2-3 years ago I had ordered either seeds or gardening supplies from over 30 different sources and that number would be some higher now. Some are online only. Overall I've had good results. The few exceptions have been: Sandhill Preservation Center - I placed 3 orders with them and none were ever completed and I never received any refunds. I even checked their site the last 2 times to make sure it showed the items in stock and some items remained on the list showing available the whole season. I usually state I won't accept substitutions as my climate is very challenging and I do a lot of research before I order a variety. So haven't ordered from them in several years so not sure if they have corrected these issues or not. Johnny's - Overall very satisfied. But this year I noticed their shipping was high. I decided to go ahead and place a large order. When shipping was figured at check out it was around twice as high as it stated in the catalog and online what it should be. My first order included several trays and inserts. I thought they might be the cause. So removed them and the order was just under 100 dollars. Again it entered shipping considerably higher than the already high price quoted in both sources. They were the only source I could find for a few items I wanted. So cut the order down to those items only. The order was 36 dollars and the high shipping in the book and online matched what was entered at check out. I will only order from them in the future if I can't find an item elsewhere unless they bring their shipping in line with that of other companies. The rest I have had good results with. I watch the shipping costs and only order from those that charge higher amounts when they are the only source for a product. Jay Bountiful Gardens Burpee Dixondale's Fedco Harris Seeds John Scheepers Johnny's Seeds Park Seed Pinetree R.H. Shumway catalog along with other Shumway company catalogs. Jung Seeds, HPS, Totally Tomatoes and Vermont Bean Southern Seed Exposure Twilley I

This is a really old post but I’m going to chime in for future readers. Be careful what cultivar you choose - I suggest researching not only disease resistance (they are rated in four categories; fire blight, apple scab, powdery mildew and cedar apple rust), but also their appeal in terms of food for birds. Birds don‘t like the berries of every cultivar out there. I am planting a McIntosh appletree here in zone 5 wisconsin (the tree is sterile) and I need a pollinator tree nearby (McIntosh has white flowers so I will also want a white flowering crabapple as a pollinator tree). My neighbor can’t figure out why his appletree produces no fruit. Now that I’ve planted crabapple he will probably see some apples on his tree! Not all crabapples will be pollinators for my apple tree, but Firebird is one that will be a pollinator. Unfortunately, the birds leave the fruit of the Firebird alone - I did not know this at the time of purchase so I was disappointed after doing more research, however, it was an impulse clearance purchase so I’m ok with it. It‘s a very pretty ornamental tree that the Robins love to nest in as the foliage gives them lots of cover. 2 years in a row now they’ve successfully brooded there. So for disease resistance, Adirondack crabapple rates highly in all 4 categories. But I don’t think it’s a pollinator for my apple tree. ? I wanted it more for its tidy growth habit for a narrow space alongside my house. But the birds will feast on the fruit after it turns mushy after a freeze and thaw, I think. Your local reputable nurseries will will most likely sell the cultivars that are successful in your zone. My favorite nursery in Milwaukee is Minors Garden Center. I’ve been going there for years. Sargent crabapple also has excellent disease resistance and will also act as a pollinator for my apple tree, AND the Birds enjoy its fruit. If I had room I would plant a Golden Raindrops cultivar (susceptible to fireblight however). Birds love the berries. This is not a dwarf variety. Another dwarf variety I will be planting for ornamental purposes, with two flanking my front porch is Cinderella aka Cinzam cultivar. White flowering, and birds love the berries! Adams, Donald Wyman and Red Jewel are three cultivars I’ve read that birds do not eat the fruit, in addition to Firebird as mentioned earlier. Cultivars that fruit and flower only on alternate years are “Bob White," "Evelyn" and "David”. “Spring Snow" and "Prairie Rose“ flower but produce no fruit. Whitnall Park near Franklin / Hales Corners has an abundance of Crabapple varieties and the park has so many wonderful nooks and crannies to explore between the botanical gardens and the Wehr Nature Center (I grew up nearby and explored every part of that park as a kid and fell in love with it).... it’s great for hiking on prairie trails, woodland trails, marshlands, etc., and is spectacular for bird watching with stations in various areas of the marshland trails ... there are streams and waterfalls and I know where to find wild Concord grapes ...it’s just a lovely park overall. If you wanted to see some mature crabapples to get an idea of their overall form and size and growth habit, I would suggest planning a weekend visit there. You wont be disappointed.