Holy cow, Wendy - this one is expensive - $65 and higher! I grew tree Peonys back in Missouri and thought $30 was a lot for one plant. This one must be rare.

If you're growing herbeceous peonies, it is probably a lot easier to buy the roots, or get them from neighbors because they propagate very easily and are not expensive like tree peonies. Herbeceous peonies do work the same way as tree peonies so even if they are kind of dried up, if you plant them in a garden bed now, some of them might sprout next spring, but bet on more of them coming up in the spring of 2013. You can rush the process by germinating them in a zip lock bag with vermiculate, once they root well, stick them in a fridge to develop buds, and then carefully taking them out and planting them in the spring to get seedlings to sprout. I like planting them straight out into the garden beds because that way, I don't risk losing some due to handling since they do have pretty fragile roots.

Well, I'm not thinking of peonies, I'm thinking of TREE peonies, which are a different plant supposedly, and which are usually rated as good for zones 2 through 9. I talked to one of the growers I was thinking of using today and she said that they bloom as long as you have at least 30 days around 40 degrees. In Austin, we only get about 11 days that low in an average year. I've researched it quite a bit, and a lot of the information is conflicting. Some say that you can grow them just fine in containers in warm areas, I guess because being above ground lets them cool off more than being planted in the ground. Also, I read that the trick is to force them to go dormant in the fall by cutting off all the leaves in November, by which point they would have dropped naturally in most locations. I did ask on the peony board also, but haven't heard, so I was hoping somebody who had actually tried it would be able to chime in. If not, I'll probably try one plant this year and see what results I get. The people at the nurseries around here had never heard of tree peonies, by the way. They are a rare-ish plant, so that could be because they just don't grow here, or because they are so uncommon.

Hi, Liz. It was me that posted about this problem. I separated a tree peony from its herbaceous root in the late spring. Actually, it occurred twice. Glad to report that all survived, herbaceous and tree. They did not bloom this year, but all survived and I expect blooms this upcoming spring. By the way, I have a tree peony that leafed out this week. Way too early, but the cold weather, snow and ice don't seem to bother the new branches. Hope you are having a good winter. Spring will be here soon.