I just noticed there was a peony forum. Saw yesterday that they were blooming nicely, they looked a little peachy, but they come out more pink in the photos. It appears they are shaded most of the day, northern exposure with neighboring trees on east and west, amazing they bloom so well, thought there might be some sun on them this am. I'm tempted to knock on the door sometime and ask the people who live there if they know what they are. I'm sure these have to be the same ones I did the color accent photo with. How can they be single then get so double like this? Different possibilities for that, I suppose. Am not making any headway on the red tree peony, went to look at the specimen in front of the cottage, and it's more light pink, bushy, and had finished blooming. They might be able to order some for me for next spring if I take the printout, said they get them bare root, maybe they can't get the same ones or they came from somewhere else after all. Asked at another nursery with my printout, and the lady who might know had just left for the day.

Almost all of the corals are adventitious. Before discarding the tree peony look at the foliage. Is it tree peony or herbaceous. I have found that especially with the Chinese tp's they will have good foliage the first year but that stem will appear to die. The foliage that comes up from below grown with tree peony foliage is the same plant you planted. About the second or third year the plant will start becoming the beauty that it can be. I am aware that this is not what most expect but it is what I see in my garden. If the foliage is from the rootstock wait to see what the bloom looks like. I plant deep as happyday stated and have had only one herbaceous rootstock come up. But it was gorgous. It looked like it was made from a glowing white piece of wax.

It's usually recommended to plant bare roots in fall. But having them in spring, many pot them in a container first and then plant that out in fall. Assuming the roots weren't completely dried out by the time you got them (and the stems were going to die anyway), whenever you see peonies just sitting there doing little or nothing on top, they are busy making fine feeder roots underground - this before they start sending out the bigger roots. When you dug it, you may have severed those fine roots and it'll have to start over. You might want to try potting what you have, give it water when it starts getting a little dry, and see what happens. You may have gotten some rhizome pieces that had only the one eye and it needs to wake up some others, which may take some time.

I've got my peonies mixed in among my perennials and shrubs (it sounds too grandiose to call them my "mixed borders" in my modest suburban yard!). Behind the peonies in one bed I have lilacs, rose of sharon, butterfly bush, and mock orange. Around those peonies('Bo Peep,' 'Philippe Rivoire,' 'Chiffon Clouds,' 'Mischief') I have Siberian iris, daylilies 'Ida Miles,' 'So Lovely,' and 'Sunday Gloves,' malva 'Zebrina' and 'Brave Heart,' nicotiana 'Lime Green,' snapdragon 'Rocket White,' zinnia 'Profusion White' and 'Profusion Pink,' alyssum 'Carpet of Snow,' acidanthera, common garden (cooking) sage, sedum 'Ruby Glow,' TB iris 'Shining Waters,' and chrysanthemum 'Emperor of China,' all underplanted with various crocus and tulips and daffodils for spring color. In short, a little of everything in a cooler color scheme of blue/purple, pink/rose/crimson, white and pale yellow. I treat the peonies somewhat like shrubs, since their foliage is taller and nice into the fall most years (a little tatty this year due to some drought). I'll be adding more peonies to my "hot" garden out back - I just received my Hollingsworth order (nice chunky roots with many eyes) - 'Early Glow,' 'Mahogany,' and 'Amalia Olson.' Those will be mixed with orange/red/yellow daylilies, bronze-leaved cannas, a (very young) lilac, oriental lily 'Avignon,' nasturtium 'Alaska,' zinnia 'Profusion White,' salvia 'Victoria,' nicotiana 'Lime Green,' cosmos 'Sonata White,' aster 'Raydon's Favorite,' rudbeckia 'Goldsturm,' liatris 'Floristan White,' aster 'Bluebird,' Siberian iris, peonies 'Polar King' and 'Couronne d'Or,' oakleaf hydrangea 'PeeWee,' a few dozen different TB and IB irises - in short, another mixed border. It's a very NEW mixed border - the peonies are new this year, but in a few years it should be very full. Elsewhere in my yard I just added a peony ('Port Royale' - a deep crimson purple Japanese form) to a bed containing clematis 'Henryi,' TB iris 'Superstition,' heuchera 'Palace Purple,' some unnamed asters, and alyssum. If the iris, peony, and clematis bloom around the same time, it should be lovely. As long as something enjoys similar cultural conditions as peonies, give it a try. Remember microclimates - my long hot bed is dry at one end (no peonies there) and shady at its other extreme end (no peonies there either), so the peonies are grouped where they like it best (full sun, old vegetable garden area with deep, rich soil and good drainage). As you look along the border, you'll see the peonies, but they're not the main subject. I have too many favorites, so no bed is dedicated to one kind of plant. Laurel