There seems to be so much mystery about planting peonies!!! They are perennials and should be treated like any other perennial when planting out. All perennials have a season that is best for dividing and planting, optimum ph, planting depth, etc. It's tricky but doable to plant out potted peonies in the spring, hard to know the shape the root is in or how deep it is in the pot unless you completely uncover the root and that destroys any tiny capillary roots that have developed to sustain the main root through the stress of the growing season. I can only attest to my growing area but all I've planted in the spring required additional care for the first year. I buy both bare roots in spring and fall and potted ones whenever I find one that strikes my fancy. Spring planted will need more water than one planted even just a few months prior in fall and might benefit from additional shade if you have a very hot, dry summer as well. What works for gardengal48 in PNW with longer winters and cooler summers than mine would not work for me here in arid Colorado at 6800 ft elevation. Constant Gardener, if I were you I'd look at the zones and growing conditions the experienced peony growers here are in, pick the one most like yours and ask questions of them specifically. Give more details of what you experienced and we'll get you on the right peony path!

By not turn out well, I mean that one of them might have caught some kind of disease and started wilting. I think it is dead now. The other got some kind of powdery mildew.

These peonies were 2 gallon sized at most and planted into the ground.

Sorry I didn't mention earlier!

How early in the season did they bite the dust?

If you planted them last season during the summer peonies like all plants will wilt just to protect themselves. Watering will only make things worse with peonies when they do this. Some peonies will start to go dormant early depending on the type. I have some early bloomers that start in late July but most start appearing like the are wilting which is actually going dormant in September. Some will be fine until their leaves freeze but part of going dormant is that the moisture in the leaves start moving back down the stems into the roots.

Expect to have powdery mildew on peonies. At one time I would have said you had a problem with the weather or lack of air circulation but from seeing many plants in the last about 5 years there is a strain of powdery mildew that can effect most soft leafed peonies which includes most garden types. Since it is in the air other than trying cosmetic things after the fact there is really little that you can do to prevent it.

I planted in the Spring.

There is still a small chance that the smaller Karl Rosenfield peony might be still there. But I think the larger Duchesse de Nemours was dead/dying by August.

My mother (who is not a very good gardener!) used to grow a lot of peonies in the front yard and never had problems but then again she always bought mature peonies to plant into the ground. I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

Not really, if the conditions are adequate, it's perfectly possible to grow peonies from seed. It just takes about 7 years. If they didn't live, then either the conditions are unfavorable or the stock was bad.

Sorry, didn't notice you said DdN wilted back in August. It isn't too unusual for a spring planted peony to go dormant that early, especially in a hot, dry summer.

I've been growing peonies for many years - pretty much my entire gardening life - and I have never had issues with them re: diseases or with issues about planting times. Spring planted peonies do perfectly well here and this is an area known for summer droughts. We get virtually NO rain from July through September.

I do agree about the literature that treats growing peonies like it was some sort of mystical process. They are tough and very long lived perennials and can be planted without concern any time you find them for sale and your ground is workable! Really no different at all from planting any other kind of perennial.

Size or maturity of the plant has little to nothing to do with disease resistance. The two most common problems are powdery mildew or botrytis and both can affect very young or very mature plants equally.

I was offered several in the summer...free for the digging.

Dug them up, transported and planted. They bloomed beautifully the next year....

@constant - a lot of good info for you from the other posters here already. I just wanted to say that my peonies sometime look awful from september into the fall. They get the powdery mildew & yucky foliage. I usually cut back the foliage by October. Just to neaten up the garden. My peonies were planted by the previous owners. So it's probably 12 years old now. And it comes up just fine in spring. We live near each other, so just wanted to share my experience. The one you aren't sure about may surprise you come spring.

On a side note about buying larger plants instead of smaller ones. I no longer want to waste extra time waiting for a plant to fill in or get a bloom in 2 years. Life is too short and our climate is harsh enough to not waste a season. I suppose if I had a large property to garden in I would do more small starts to be cost effective in certain areas. Or a longer season to have things grow quicker. But if a plant costs a bit more to get it in a larger size, I do not mind paying the difference. I also have better luck planting things in spring than fall. I have moved plants in fall that didn't survive a sudden november freeze. Many times it's because the plants are not close to being dormant when the weather changes.

I totally agree Blondie. I am moving away from the family home for university soon anyway and don't want to wait too long to see a big plant in the garden!

@gardengal Thanks for letting me know. I always thought in general, older more mature plants were stronger than younger ones. Are older plants at least harder to kill and more forgiving when it comes to making mistakes?

GardenGal, you are the exception, not the rule.

Peonies, in my experience, are not happy being moved and may not bloom the first year or two. You might buy a plant in bud or flower, so you might get flowers that first season you put it in the ground, but maybe won't get flowers the next year. Some years the peonies foliage gets that black, fungal yuck on them--cut them down and throw the that stuff in the garbage. Not the best idea to throw any kind of diseased stuff on the compost pile. Fungus this year will not kill the plant. It will come up the following year, but maybe get fungus after it blooms again. The good news is that you generally get the flowers before the fungus moves in.

You're absolutely right violetsnapdragon that peonies spend a year or two making up for being moved. That's why moving when dormant is most advantageous, but it still takes recovery time. As a rule, they're very hardy though.

And cruddy foliage in late summer isn't really a problem.

- Disease has nothing to do with plant size. It has more to do with the health of the plant when you bought it from the vendor and cultural practices. Buying from reputable vendors will help with the first. Dave’s Garden website has a page called Garden Watchdog which has gardeners’ evaluations of mail order sources. There is a place on the left margin to type in a company’s name.

https://davesgarden.com/products/gwd/

If you got yours locally, talk to other gardeners about plant quality and what nurseries they like. As far as cultural practices, I always clean up and dispose of peony (and phlox) foliage after frost to reduce the amount of disease spores that winter over. Be sure your plants have enough sun and water and good air movement. You may still get some disease, but good cultural practices will help. In my garden, humid air and dry soil in combination are most likely to create mildewed foliage.

- Gardening tends to be a lesson in patience for me. You are remembering your mom’s established plants and comparing them to new transplants. I wouldn’t give up on the one that died back early. Unless it had some kind of root rot, it may well return. As GG48 said, you can buy smaller plants and develop patience, or you can buy large perennials and see a larger impact sooner, but you will pay considerably more for larger plants. IME of more than 40 years gardening, many plants don’t do what I want when I want, and there isn’t much I can do about that. I give them the conditions that experience and gardening resources tell me they want, but them I need to respect that they are living organisms and will grow and bloom on their own schedule. Sometimes this is a pleasant surprise, such as when a plant blooms sooner or for a longer season than expected, but sometimes a plant is slow to establish ansd start growing; it isn’t unusual for a perennial to take a couple of years to get fully settled and happy. FWIW I have planted and moved peonies at various times of year depending on when they were available, including bareroot in July. It may have taken them longer to establish, IDK, but they all survived and so I have some of my grandparents’ peonies in my own garden.

"GardenGal, you are the exception, not the rule."

LOL! I seriously doubt that. Peonies are not hard plants to grow. I really have trouble with all the fuss about them. And as a professional garden consultant, I encounter them frequently in client's gardens as well as use them in many of my designs so I am exposed to them in a lot of different settings and at different times of the year....it is all good. If they were that tricky to grow successfully, plant or move easily or so disease prone, then they wouldn't be that popular or so widely planted.

Really, the only cautions I would offer anyone growing peonies is to make sure you are getting healthy stock to begin with, do not plant too deeply or in too much shade and prepare to skip a season or two of bloom if you divide then or relocate them.

i was mulling this yesterday ... is planting depth a very import variable with peony ???

I've never had this issue, but apparently if planted too deeply they won't bloom?

Yes, planted too deep they will not bloom. Here the eyes should be 1" - 2" below soil level. I split the difference and plant at 1 1/2".

Constant Gardener peonies are very reliably tough plants, you will probably be very pleasantly surprised come spring.

the reason i mention it ... is that someone above suggested not to bare root the plants ... but i have seen peony in larger pots ... planted very deep in the pot ... and if you dont check ... you might end up planting them too deep ... and then later.. the media wears out.. and the plant ends up even deeper ...

also .. in my near beach sand ... i have to remove as much of the peat media as possible.. and plant in native soil ... else.. in the heat of high summer ... the sand will wick the moisture out of the peat ... and the plants can dry rot ... and you find out in spring.. when it doesnt come up.. and then you wonder when and what the actual problem is/was .... [sometimes.. once peat goes dry.. its very hard to rewet the product.. in the ground ....]

ken

Two things. Actually three.

First if you can buy the healthiest roots/plants from reputable growers but you cannot stop diseases from attacking even the healthiest peonies when the conditions are right for many of the diseases which simply are caused by virus and fungi that are in the air and soil. A wet season will help botrytis attack more plants than in a dry season. Nematodes are in every soil some will attack and kill or injure plants but are more prevalent in sandy soils. While buying from a reputable grower is good it never addresses what happens after you plant the root.

Second. While depth is important depth for planting varies depending on where you are located. In areas where there are fewer chill hours it is best to plant near the surface even allowing the eyes to show immediately after planting. In colder areas it is best to plant deeper. However roots do grow downward for most peonies. Some will grow outward but when you dig a peony you will normally find buds that can be 4-6 inches below the crown that have erupted and produced flowers. I have dug a peony from a trash dump that showed successive layers of growth as it attempted to reach the surface. When I dug it was 12+ inches below the soil surface. I agree with Ken as I have seen nursery crews planting pots of peonies in the fall. They simply covered the bottom of the pot with perhaps an inch of mix. Dropped in the root, Covered the root. Based on that and having purchased potted peonies while some nurseries will try to plant the pot correctly the staff simply does it the quickest way they can.

The third thing. Removing the potting mix is very important beyond the wicking of moisture. If you have ever unpotted a plant, any plant, that has been in a container you may have found the roots a twisted mass. Unless you straighten or remove the twisted portion the roots will either not move into the surrounding soil or will simply grow larger strangling the rest of the roots until the plant dies.

During May, it is hard to miss the exuberant bunches of paeonia which seem to spring up in everyone's garden except mine...because most of these fulsome plantings are growing in gardens which are frequently ignored for most (if not all) of the year. And herein lies one of the necessities for paeony success - a willingness to leave well alone. Also, the reason why, in the last decade, I have had successful blooms twice...because I am an inveterate meddler, poking around, digging, moving, transplanting. True, at least a few of the fail years have been due to circumstances beyond my control (digging pups, a large scaffold foot placed directly on top of my dormant, but shallow rooted plants)...but there are few instances of cognitive dissonance so upsetting at seeing vast healthy clumps of leafage, with numerous, fat-budded stems, emerging from underneath some enormous weedy buddleja (my daughter's 'garden'), without a smidgeon of human effort... while my few plants are (as usual) languishing in discontent...which they will be doing again this year, since I have had horrible issues with rose suckers, requiring intensive spade-work.

Camps, perhaps you have put your finger on why I find peonies easy; I am bone lazy and rarely move plants, so my peonies remain undisturbed.

Perhaps growing peonies is just easier in northern gardens. Maifleur talks about rot and nematodes, things I have never encountered with peonies in any of 4 gardens in the Great Lakes and New England. I rarely have powdery mildew and otherwise they have been fully healthy, regardless of soil type from clay to rocky to loamy to sandy, so I think that they like the more northern growing conditions. Particular cultivar choice may matter some as well, IDK. At least here they are easy, but require patience as so many things in gardening do. I have also found that in my vole-infested garden they seem to be undisturbed. Any plant that the voles don’t eat from below ground is a win in my world.

Peonies ARE easy to grow (in gardens which do not bake all summer...and even then, there are potential species which do well in the south). They are robust, long-lived and, even though mine are likely to sulk (again) they are far from endangered. They are not especially sensitive to soil ph or drainage and are troubled by few pests or disease...but, as with every living thing under the sun, they do have (minimal) needs. The growth eyes must be triggered by daylight length...so deep planting is problematic. They do not like being disturbed - those fleshy roots are fragile, easily broken and will require some time to rebuild vigour if damaged, and they generally prefer at least 4hours of reasonable light but for most of us in temperate gardens, they are easy-going plants which will repay us with decades of enjoyment.

I admit, I do not grow costly interspecies hybrids (Itoh) but do have some herbaceous types (Miss America, Felix Crousse, De Fonteyn, Chocolate Soldier - nothing special) and a couple of rather large tree paeonies.

Inclined to agree with GG - it is a bit presumptuous, Graycrna4U, to make statements regarding GG's competence as a pro, based on a few (misread) posts on a forum. Catch yourself on.

Actually Itoh have a reputation for being easier, though with my drainage (or lack thereof) at current house, I haven't grown any. I've seen very lovely tree peonies here too (they tend to like the South). But even so, yes, peonies were in everyone's grandmother's garden and they flourished with essentially no care.

Since you are leaving soon, why not buy a mature peony, pot it into a bigger pot and then just bury the pot in the soil (for winter protection) for 2 years and then take it with you when you move? I have done that with roses, I would think it would work with peonies. Just make sure your potting soil drains well and you plant it at the right height. I think I have peonies die in the ground from poor drainage.

Agree that peonies like alkaline. I use Dolomitic line because it has magnesium too. Also I read that peonies like bone meal In the planting hole so I did that with mine.

I don’t dispute that the peonies like alkaline soil but they don’t require it. Mine grow happily in soils that grow wild blueberries and other acid loving heath family plants.

No WONDER peonies do so well in my yard! That is some consolation for the fact that blueberries and lilacs do miserably in my alkaline soil. I digress. What I meant to say is that peonies that you buy in flower are no indicator of future blooms--they may take a couple of years to bloom after being planted in the ground and depth is very important. I have some glossy abelia and a prostrate sumac that were in bud/bloom when I bought them, never to flower again in my garden <sigh>. The nursery grown plants were raised in optimum conditions--your yard could be a whole different ballgame for a variety of reasons.

I'm not sure where the notion came from that peonies like or prefer alkaline soil conditions. While they will tolerate them, that is not their preferred condition. Read the literature.....virtually all authorative peony websites will indicate a preference for slightly acidic to neutral soils (6.5-7.0)....as will virtually any other plant you grow, aside from the Ericaceae or acid-loving plants.

As long as they are still alive, just give them a few years and of course good care and water. My coral sunset peony was a mere stump of a plant 6 years ago - literally, a piece of root that was about one inch by three inches with a single eye. The first year it grew about three inches tall. The second year it was about 8 inches tall. The third year I think it made it past a foot and had 2 or three branches...

What I am saying here is don't kill or give up on the ones you do have. Buying bigger plants may speed up the process, but the ones you have now are far from hopeless.

This is my coral sunset peony now (as in, right now, April 26th, 2019):

Nothing more beautiful or rewarding than a giant clump of heavenly fragrance. My parents had peonies that were probably 50 years old and bloomed with little help every year. Vases of them filled the house every spring. The people who bought their house, idiots that they were, built a deck over them.

Jtz58, do you know the name of your peony? I have a weakness for the whites. So pretty.

This was my pride and joy, a tree peony, that i had for almost 20 years. It succumbed to a very bad winter last year and split apart. Sorry, no name.

Be patient and do not disturb the area. If it was planted deeply enough there is still a chance that the root is alive and it might regrow. Between the harsh winter and the deer deciding to use a couple of tree peonies to remove their velvet I have several that are coming up from what appeared to be bare ground.

It's important when planting the herbaceous peonies not to plant the roots too deep. if you do, they will take years to flower. When planting, you should be able to see part of the root just under the stem of the plant. Usually, the roots are kind of long and knobby. Bury the end of the root at an angle so that the part next to the stem is just visible.

Tree peonies are a little different and should be planted with the crown just at ground level. The position in the garden is important too. Morning sun is best with filtered shade in the hot afternoon. The blossoms don't last long so put them close to a window or walk where you can enjoy them while they are there.

I'm not sure if the "roots above the ground" is good advice or not. Mine bloom fine and the roots are beneath the surface. You wouldn't know it was there in the winter until the new leaves emerge. I think it also keeps the roots safe from critters that may not search further than the grounds surface and also keeps them from the ravages of the weather and prospective diseases. Don't get me wrong... it may work out that the plant blooms quicker, but at what cost? Many plants do bloom and fruit better when they are under stressful conditions, much like driving a spade into the roots of a tomato plant during the fall to get it to over-perform in its final days. I think that in the case of peonies though, it may get them to bloom more, but not necessarily promote the overall health of the plant.

Sorry, not trying to argue, just putting out the other side of the coin. I think the sunlight and the window suggestions are great advice though.

radiantpoppy planting them at the depth you suggest is fine in certain parts of the country but in others such as in the southern states planting them very sallow and or with the eyes above ground may be the only way for the roots to receive the chill hours necessary for them to bloom. If you have ever looked at older peonies that have been in the ground for 30 or more years you should have seen that many have the eyes exposed. Having rescued plants over the years some peony roots will grow to where they are most comfortable not where humans tell them they should be.

I do my gardening in Michigan and can only relay my experience with peonies in that state.

Yes. As shallow as possible is good. I just hadn't heard of the above the ground method before. Interesting. I wonder if mine will gradually creep above the surface. Is it erosion or some action of the plant, I wonder?

radiant I think it is the action of the plant. The one I mentioned above was in a dump area that a church I walked my dogs near. I spotted it the second time when they had pulled machinery in to pave the area. When I dug it was quite deep and showed several layers of growth where it had attempted to reach the surface. I had seen it the previous year and had forgotten about it.

Huh. That's really neat and very curious. I like it though. Maybe I will try my next one above the ground. Not a lot above the ground, but I may keep a sliver of it above ground and if something seems wrong, I'll just bury the bugger.

I bought a mega collection of peonies from Gilbert Wild and Son in fall 2016. Some of them bloomed last year but this year is the first year I got a really nice display. I planted about half of the roots in my yard which has clay soil and about half of the roots in my mother’s yard which has very sandy soil and is probably Zone 7b or 8a. Mine seem to be doing better. This year I hope to order from some of the peony specialty nurseries to get some more variety. These might be a little too crowded.

I also have Itoh peonies that I bought as boxed roots from Lowe’s a few years ago. They have done really well, blooming in the third year I think.

I'd like to correct an impression that some commentators have had from my comment that "it's important not to bury the roots too deep". The very next commentator talked about "roots above ground". That would not be a good idea and I wasn't suggesting that.

Interesting thread. Thanks for all the informative advice!

elurie some areas of the US like parts of California and Texas the only way to receive the necessary chill hours is to plant so that the roots are barely below the surface of the ground. Eventually if the plant lives the crown where most of the eyes are located will be above ground and will grow upward until they are. While it may not sound like a good idea it works and in low chill areas is the only way to have blooming plants.

If you visit gardens around the US during the winter before the spring mulching you will see eyes and sections of root above ground in warmer areas. It is the plants method to reproduce via seeds to do this.

Well you all are right. The peonies I thought I killed last year came back :)

Tough little things.

Wonderful! I love happy endings!

A few years ago I dug up and divided a large, established peony in the fall. There were a few root sections that didn't look promising, so I tossed those down a brushy hill where I sometimes leave small amounts of plant debris. Next summer I happened to take a look at that hill, and found a small peony growing where one of the root sections had apparently landed and been able to establish. Tough things.

Glad to hear yours came through!