I’m here in the Pac NW too. I began buying/ pot planting fruit trees about 7 years ago, using the pot up method. I usually buy 2 new fruit trees each year. Switched over to Smart-pots / Air Pots 3 seasons ago for my new purchases. The air pots/smart pots have worked out 150% better than regular/old school potting. The rooting/root ball issue doesn’t occur in air pots. Also, it self prunes and keeps my tree sizes in check. I can’t be trying to bring in certain trees in the winter if they have grow to 8‘ , 10’ , plus. If you are ok with full size maturity than fine. But in my situation, I want to be able to harvest fruit easily (low hanging) and basic maintenance is easier done with a smaller dwarf tree that has been kept in check. Btw, my dwarf fuji & dwarf honeycrisp apple trees were switched over to air pots and they fit under the roof overhang. By keeping them in the air pots and by pruning the main stem during dormancy period, I keep them under 8’ and they can get protected from too much rain and frost through the winter. My dwarf meyer lemon tree is only in a 3 gallon smart pot. I can easily move it into my house in late fall. If I had gone the pot up method, I would’ve eventually had to move a pretty heavy pot into the house. I bought a Leprechaun Dwarf Nectarine tree 3 years ago that is frost tolerant so that sits outside all year, here in the Pac NW. It sits in a 20 liter air pot which I think is slightly larger than a Home Depot orange bucket. Since it self prunes/roots, I‘ve never had to do anything. I do basic branch pruning after harvest and I get boatloads of nectarines that I usually give away half of what I harvest away. When it comes to Dwarf Fruit trees, IMHO, air pots/smart pots are the only way to go. Now with my vegetables garden, other than my kratky portion of my plants, the rest I do use the root pouches too and they work great. IMHO, since veggies are seasonal and I grow a lot, the root pouches are a perfect way to go, but for fruit trees since most people aren’t buying a ton of trees, spend a few bucks for a few air pots / smart pots, i think is the better route to go. Best of luck

I looked up a 30 year lows weather report on WA and I used to set them out under tunnels April 15 but the temp difference with April 1 was only 2-3 degrees, from around 32 to 29 F, so I have set them out as early as April 1. They have survived even with snow and frosts. I used to only put out cold-tolerant or early varieties but have experimented with long season varieties and it gives them enough of an early start to make it possible to grow them and get more ripe fruit. As for the 55* F, it hardly makes it above that all summer here. Without the tunnels you would have to wait until June, May is possible but is too cold to get much growth. Tunnels are also great for cucumbers and squash, they develope so much faster. The only problems I have had is that the tunnel dries out the soil underneath so I have to water even if it is raining, and I have forgotten to check often enough and keep them watered. This feature is great for our rainy springs as I use the tunnels to dry out the soil in beds so I can plant on a dry day even in rainy weather with storm after storm. So far this season I have 30-40 plants outside. I have to wait for them to reach the lights indoors so the fastest varieties to grow get set out first. And slugs like the plastic so I use snail bait around plants when I set them out. I have cut some tunnels and they still work, but the part between ribs hangs down to close off the end of the tunnel so you lose a little length. My first set that is still in use I worried about plants getting too hot so I cut vertical slits in the sides but my newer ones I just push the sides up on the ribs or remove them if there is a heat wave. I put them away during summer so they get less UV damage and they have lasted really well, way past my expectations. It's also possible to make your own tunnels using arcs of wire or pvc pipe and using clips to hold plastic sheeting on them. I think I've seen supplies in the Johnny's and Territorial catalogs.

I interplant mine with shrubs and spring bulbs. One small protected bed has two peonies in it which are overrun with hyacinths and crocus, and everything gets along fine. Peonies do well with deciduous shrubs such as old roses: the peonies make their growth and flower while the roses are still leafing out, then the old roses bloom after the peonies. Meanwhile you can let small annuals fill up the space for more green and variety. With such an arrangement you get spring bulbs, then peonies, then roses, then perhaps a rest in summer (or lilies, Japanese anemones, late blooming herbaceous flowers). Also Heather's suggestion of irises as companion plants is good for the contrast of foliage. This is with my zone 8 flowering times. Also we have a stiff nourishing soil and very warm, sunny dry summers, so I can afford to crowd my plants rather so that they protect each other from the eccessive solar rays. An additional note: I'm a big fan of planting for succession of bloom. Nature does this: on my walks through the countryside here I see flowers in March, different flowers in April, and still different flowers in May, all from trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, bulbs, coexisting in perfect happiness. Yesterday I passed white anemones growing with late pale violets, and a wood populated with a colony of poet's narcissus. And in the poor rocky places saponaria and globularia, both invisible two weeks ago. Mother Nature is still the great garden designer.

I would start with a tree peony rather than an herbaceous. You will need to provide some protection this winter both arround the pot and plant. Contrary to what the article states peonies can be quite happy in partial shade. In some areas where the sun is very intense such as in the mountains shade is necessary. Red flowered peony blooms will last longer in partial shade vs full sunlight since the red coloration holds the heat speeding the flower from open to loss of petals. There are natural dwarf peonies both tree and herbaceous. I have seen a tree peony shown as bonzai but it did not have flowers. Look at Klehm's for rock garden peonies. Alice Harding is a natural dwarf tree peony. Some plants sold as Alice are not. If your Alice grows more than 2 inches a year it is unlikely you have her.