They do bloom the following year for me, you can order from Gilbert and Wild, get the ine with 3/5 eyes. They send huge roots. From the website, they are starting to ship Sept 2023.

https://gilberthwild.com/peonies/

That's so sweet of you to think of your aunt's garden. I know I'd be crushed if someone dug up one of my peonies!

If you have the money to invest (and "invest" is the correct term), Champlain Company offers mature "field stock" peonies. These are large, mature plants, not divisions. Each one could be divided into several plants equal to the best 3-5 eye plants you can get most other places. There are at least two more companies I've bought from that sell field stock, but the names escape me. I'll look for the invoices if you're interested.

I'll warn you again, Champlain's field stock are pricey. Prices run around $100. But they are worth it for instant impact: every one I've bought from them has bloomed profusely the next Spring.

Champlain Company (peonies)

Their website says they ship 3/5 eyes bareroot.

I grow quite a few peonies. And about half of them were bought in spring as plants here locally. They all bloomed later the same spring, and some are now pushing 20 years old. I plant them so the soil is at the same level they were growing when in the pot soil. No worries about planting too deeply. I've also planted tubers and tubers taken from very old plants. Diane

Two examples of peonies from already growing plants. Spring planted.

Oops. Sarah here, too. She makes some of my favorite bouquets.

Sarah Bernhardt

Coral Charm

@SoCalGardenNut, (I don't know why I can't @ you???) you have to choose the "field stock" option from the drop down list of each individual peony. "Bareroot" is the default that will show, and those ARE 3-5 eye. But that is NOT the only option. Choose what peony you're interested in, click the arrow in the drop down box under "STYLE". Three choices appear: bareroot (3-5 eye), field stock (mature plants), or potted (which they don't ship). Choose field stock. If it's available as field stock, it will give you the price when you choose that option.

There is a description of their field stock on the page I gave in the link. Scroll down to the last paragraph before the first photos of peonies.

EDIT: just so you know the quality of their peonies, the field stock I've bought have had closer to THIRTY eyes, than the standard 3-5.

Thanks @fig, I bought 3 peonies from Mary’s Garden Patch, the promise was to have 15-20 eyes, it barely bloomed for me. I paid in 2020 for nearly $45 a root. mature plants might not produce anything, but i was a newbie then.

Frances, when I went through my local Home Depot's garden center in the spring, they had a few potted peonies in addition to the usual bagged bulbs. I specifically noticed yellow Bartzella Itoh peonies (blooming) in the GC. I am sure they wouldn't be blooming at this time, so big box GCs probably sent their stock away by now. But there miiiiight be an independent garden center or nursery around that still has potted peonies. I also see some online (like this).

I noticed that your user name says you are in New Jersey, so I searched "New Jersey peony farm" on the Web. This place "Peony's Envy" (ha ha?) looks like a beautiful place, and they offer visiting days in the spring, though they are closed for the year now. And there's another one here at Long Valley Peony Farm. If you live close enough, it might be a fun activity to take Aunt Helen one of those places in the spring. It could give her an extra something to look forward to over the winter.

Fig, I haven't been able to @ somebody here for maybe a month.

Thank you so much, everybody, for the wonderful suggestions! I think my first step will be to browse the local garden centers to see what they might have left in stock. Meanwhile, I'm going to look into the mail order places you all suggest - I don't mind splurging for my aunt's 90th birthday gift! Steve_M, I checked out Peony's Envy, it does look beautiful. And it's a lovely idea to take Aunt Helen there for a little field trip next spring! I'll have to start plotting with my cousins; it could be a really fun day out for all of us (it's a little far from me, but not outrageous). I'll update everybody with what I manage to come up with. Thank you all so very much!

@Feiy (PNWZ8b/9a) Thanks for the info. It seems spectacularly non-intuitive and cumbersome on the part of Houzz. I never had trouble @ - ing people until a few weeks ago... is this new? Anyway, thanks again :-D

Same with me Susan.

susan, Vapor,

Unfortunately it's not new. Houzz automatically matches names based on the letters you type after @, which is a great feature, but it often breaks down and becomes a problem instead. That's why I started researching ways to use @ without fail. *sigh*

Monrovia sells big bud and bloom peonies in the spring at local nurseries. I’d check Lowes or any big local nursery just before local bloom time for them.

Costcos in California also sell amazing big blooming Peony plants at super cheap prices, but I don’t know that their practice extends beyond California.

Ben, Monrovia sells mostly Itoh peonies, i have yet to see herbaceous peonies here.

Socal,

I have seen Monrovia herbaceous peonies every year locally in both Texas and NorCal. Varieties like Bowl of Beauty, Karl Rosenfield, Coral Charm, Shirley Temple. Maybe they’re concerned SoCal doesn’t have the requisite chill hours?

Interesting, good to know.