Four days and mine is the first response ?
I am thinking rebar and clad fencing and cable ties (make you own)..
A lot of "pre made" stuff out there is utter junk...particularly the tomato cages.

I use large rings with a grid pattern, and they work pretty well. It's tedious to feed the stalks through the grid when they are first installed, but they do seem to keep the plant supported in a fairly natural shape. Except when it rains and the flowers are blooming they still flop.

Never tried the tomato cages.

This is what I have done for several years. I purchase the largest tomato cage available. I cut it with tin snips just above the last ring. This forms two cages both with legs.
I place them over the eyes when the first show in the Spring. The size is perfect for my peonies. As the stems grow up I guide them through the rings. The rings to not show much after the plant as developed. This is an inexpensive solution.

I have too many peonies to be able to afford cages for them all, and my yard would look like Guantanamo! I have a couple of fairly tall half round things which I use for the peonies (monsters) next to the house. For the hedge, I strung baling twine (posh, I know) in a figure 8 between stakes and peonies this year. It was almost invisible and worked well. Not sure if those peonies (Moonstone, Eden's Perfume and Festiva Maxima) have particularly strong stems, though...

I have used twine for many of my plants, from peonies to yarrow. Not tight, but it keeps things erect. Easy to dispose when done. With twine, you can pull it up the plant as necessary.

Perfect? Nope! In a wind and rain event, the peonies will still bend over, but I can adjust the twine after the storm. It works for me.

Jim

I love the idea of stakes and twine!!!! Such a simple solution to a big problem for me. I definitely will do it next year for peonies, yarrow and delphiniums. How easy it will be to just pull up and store the stakes and toss the twine. Come to think of it, even sticks would work and could just be burned with the twine.

THANKS JIM!!!

Has anyone tried these peony supports from Lee Valley?

http://www.leevalley.com/US/Garden/page.aspx?p=58904&cat=2,43319,33282&ap=1

Those look great but the prices are WAY out of my range. I will try the sticks and twine next year. I have 20 peony plants that will need stakes and the Lee Valley prices are too high for even one IMHO.

Also, I wonder if with just the one support in the middle if it would hold up in a storm?

Ya know, if you are starting your collection from scratch it is just easier to buy landscape worthy peonies. All the big peony growers offer them. :) These are peonies that will stand up without needing to be staked. If you want the older cultivars from the 1800s and so, then, yes, you'll probably need to stake them.

I started looking specifically for the larger flowering plants with statements like "very strong stems" and "no staking required" this year. LOVE the idea of the big, beautiful blooms that don't drag in the mulch after rain or even heavy winds!!
RyseRyse, you can always do kind of a twig tepee and interface twine through the peony and into the twigs as the peony gets bigger. Probably 5 or so 2-3 foot thin branches, maybe something like a willow branch? Just make the top 6-12 inches shorter than the expected height of the peony and use twine mid-way down, you might even be able to put a couple of cross support pieces in to make it as wide in the middle as on the bottom if you can find branches that are supple enough. I think I could do it with some pruned branches from my mockorange shrub and small finishing nails to hold the supports, or even with twine. Might just have to try it this spring, I'll post pictures if it's successful. You'll not hear another peep from me on this subject if I fail!