I recently bought a 'Sarah Bernhardt' peony root and quickly planted it, disregarding the ideal time to plant it. Also, the diagram showed the root as being planted horizontally (there were no specific directions as the company chooses to make all their back labels the same on all types of bulbs, roots, corms, etc.), so I assumed to plant it that way. Another thing was that the root didn't even have any eyes, which I hadn't known until later upon research that they were required. Suffice to say, the plant didn't take root.

Anyway, a couple weeks later, I returned to the store to buy more roots--four this time around, as they are so cheap now--and checked for eyes. All had eyes, though one only had two. I put off planting since the ideal time to plant them is early fall.

My main question is this: do these roots have to be planted once bought or is there some way I can store these for September planting? I'm quite certain the roots have been in their bags for quite sometime, but I do not want to compromise viability. Right now, they are inside a paper bag with the original soil (dried now). Also, can a root with two eyes grow?

Thanks for any tips!