I *think* I have a Karl Rosenfeld, it was a mislabel supposed to be Sarah Bernhardt. If that's what it is, the peony I have is quite small and tidy with dark magenta blooms and it supports itself with no cage. I'm happy with it anyway.

Yes, mine is like that too. I have Karl, Festiva Maxima, Sarah Bernhardt, and Mollis (which is about to bloom). Oh, and Dutchess of Nemours, which was planted last year so it hasn't bloomed yet. And now i have two Primavere because i bought one last year, forgot i had it, and ordered another one from Botanus this year. I love peonies, ants and all! :)

I also have Karl but all of my peonies get so tall I have to cage them. Even if they only flower once, I think the beautiful flowers and awesome scent is worth it. As for the ants, I have those in all my beds but not on the peonies, go figure! Marg

There's no special care for peonies is there?

Do I just plant it and voila, peony blooms in a few years?

I have Karl R. and absolutely love that color! No special care, except I do need to stake it because it (like all my peonies) grows so tall here.

No special care needed in zone 3. About the only thing you have to worry about is botrytis, but it's quite rare with our short season.

Make sure the crown is about 1.5 -2 inches below the ground. Any deeper and they will not bloom.

Peonies are one of the most long live perennials. You can find them in the middle of fields where a farm house used to be - that's how tough they are.

Oops! I should have asked this at the same time as my other question.

What looks nice with Karl Rosenfeld peonies? I think Northspruce was the one who had a white peony with allium around it and it looked awesome. However, my new allium are purple so I doubt I want those two together.

I just bought 3 Sem Ash Leaf Spirea. They might contrast and compliment each other. Yes? No?

Can peonies withstand quite a bit of wind?

I live on a farm and it is quite open and windy here at times. Another reason I cage them. I haven't yet planted anything with Karl (except a rock) but I plan to plant white impatience or something that grows a bit taller and flowers after the peony around the base. Whatever I do decide to plant, I don't want something that will take attention away from the peony, I think those beautiful flowers need their own time to shine. Peonies grow fairly fast so I don't think I want to put a perennial in there. On the other hand, I may decide to grow something tall that that will hide the dying peony foliage. Marg

I lucked out on peonies this spring. I had a bulb order that was mixed up and called the owner to let her know. Durning the course of our chat I mentioned how unhappy I was about not being able to get any affordable peonies this year that will ship to Alaska. She said she had some in refridgeration that she was going to sell off at the local market (not her usual thing-just bulbs)so she gave me a good discount and I purchased twelve!
The roots arrived, huge and healthy, best I have ever purchased and are all ready potted up. The vision of what our property could look like just got a big shot in the arm!

You're so lucky freezengirl...I've tried to get mail order peonies in the spring, but everyone wants to mail later in fall than I want to plant. I'm jealous!!!!

My Karl is next to my orange-red Maltese Cross and it looks really bad together. I can think of things it would look nice with but I couldn't promise they would bloom at the same time. I think it would be nice in front of a dark purple or blue delphinium. It would also go well with anything white or yellow.

Karl and Festiva Maxima are close enough in my garden, and they do look nice together. There's a lamiastrum (Herman's Pride)that grows behind Karl and a bit between the two of them. Coincidentally, i was just looking at a spot near them and thinking of digging up the achillea there and replacing it with some delphs. :)

I took a pic of Karl looking awful with Maltese Cross for you NAF. ;0) Honestly I think it would look good with anything that wasn't orange or red. It looks fine with the light pink rose that's just on the other side of the MC.

Oops! Not the best combination of colors I guess Northspruce. I suppose you don't really know until you try something. I must say I'm looking forward to the beautiful colored peony blooms. They look really really nice in your picture.

I haven't found a place to plant it yet. Freezengirl said she potted hers up. I didn't realize I could do that. Probably a bad thing for me to know though. It'll just take me longer to decide where to put it.

Northspruce, is that a mature plant? Is that about how big I can expect it to grow? If so, that's perfect =:)

NS- Perhaps it is the artist in me speaking but I love orange and pink together. I especially love it with red as well! Bright red, hot pink and pumpkin orange. I also love crazy quilting, cottage gardening and traffic lights.:) I have KR in my back garden along with whites and pinks.
But, I do have Kansas planted right in with my orange poppies! both in bloom at the moment and Sarah Bernhart beside firey yellow Stella D'Or daylillies and hot orange pixie lilies. I have over 240 peonies so it's not easy to plant them with contrasting colors. Probably why they are mostly all together.
NAF- I would plant it if I were you. The sooner you get it in the ground (any ground) the sooner you will see those beautiful blooms. Contrary to popular belief, peonies are easy to move, especially when you have a bigger plant, IMO. :)

I'd say it's mature or close to it. It really increased last year. The combination was really an accident, because it was supposed to be Sarah Bernhardt. Anyway the best thing of all is that it doesn't need staking.

Honalee, thanks for the vote of confidence but it really does jangle in person. ;0) I think I'm going to move the Maltese Cross to another bed this fall.

Gillian that looks prefectly fine in my eyes. If I try to colour co-ordinate my flowerbeds they always throw in some unexpected colours to mess up my plans...lol. Last year did move some Renoir lilies away from some Gardenia ones that kind of clashed.
These are my first peonies to bloom..both noids..anyone have a guess?
This one is early,has ruffled petals and is short and tends to fade as it ages