45! Wonderful! I could easily do that with all the beauties out there. I ordered 21. As we make more beds over the next year or two, I will order more. I'm most excited about the two tree peonies I ordered only because I've only handled herbaceous and itohs before. I look forward to all of them, though. All the cultivars are new to me. I hope I chose wisely.

One tree peony, Hanakisoi, I've been admiring a while over the internet. It was ordered in the last batch. Yay!

This post was edited by pwin on Sun, Jul 21, 13 at 18:07

So far these have been ordered. I haven't ordered any tree or Itohs for fall, I did get a few of each this spring. I'm particularly looking forward to the unusual blooms (Lord Calvin, Moon Fritters, Rooster Reveille, Quilt Show, Vanilla Raspberry Swirl) and the fern leaf/hybrids. Still have a small list of ones I liked but couldn't find for sale this year, maybe next!

Belleville, Bouquet Perfect, Bowl of Cream, Bride's Dream, Buckeye Belle, Cameo Lullaby, Coral Fay, Do Tell, Dresden Pink, Early Glow, Early Scout, Ellen Cowley, Elsa Sass, Etched Salmon, Fawn, Fern Leaf (red double), Gold Crown, Gold Mine, Henry Bockstoce, Lady Orchid , Leslie Peck, Lord Calvin, Lorelei, Ludovica, Madame Butterfly, Merry Mayshine, Moon Fritters, Mrs Euclid Snow, Nippon Beauty, Officianalis Rosea Plena, Officianalis Rubra Plena, Paeonia Anomola, Prairie Moon, Quilt Show, Raspberry Charm, Red Monarch, Rooster Reveille, Roselette, Roy Pehrson's Best Yellow, Salmon Beauty , Salmon Jazz, Scarlet O'Hara, Silly Sally, Skylark and Vanilla Raspberry Swirl

Wow that is a lot of peonies, Liz. You must have been bitten by the peonies bug bad. That was me last year. I just could not keep from ordering more and more peonies eventhough I had no room for it and had to break new beds. This year I ordered only 6: Salmon Dream, Mackinac Grand, Lorelei, Sublime Yellow, Mother's Choice, and Joseph Rocks Tree Peony.

It is a lot but I haven't ordered more than 4/year over the last 5 years or so, I'd gotten into a rut ordering from the same 3 sites. This forum made me start looking at different varieties and new sites, definitely triggered my peony hording gene!
We put in stone pathways which increased the size of some of my beds last summer, still have bare spots there. I also started a huge new bed this spring for wintersown seedlings which is crying out for more peonies.

Looked at the ones you ordered and LOVE both Salmon Dream and Mackinac Grand! Beautiful! And the Joseph Rocks sounds incredible, too. Found an old post about it on this forum that talks about the size of the blooms and how fragrant they are, sounds like you've made some wonderful choices. I have Mother's Choice, it's my favorite double white, and ordered Lorelie so have some overlap!

I'm going to tell my DH about your 45 because he is gobsmacked that I had ordered 21, but how could I resist? This is my list: Bartzella, Morning Lilac, Scrumdidleumptious, Hanakisoi, Taiyo, Festiva Maxima, Ivory Escort, Mother's Choice, Myrtle Gentry, Nice Gal, Coral Charm, Bess Bockstoce, Mrs. FDR, Gardenia, Sunny Girl, Pink Jitterbug, Pink Vanguard, Green Halo, Therese

If I happen upon a Goldmine along the way, I'm buying it and it's as simple as that! lol Otherwise, I'll buy it next year. I wish I could find someone here who sold Lorelei - and I've tried! Salmon Dream is also on my list for next year, as well as Elsa Sass. The four look like gorgeous plants.

It is really nice to hear that about Mother's Choice. I bought it when it was on sale at a supermarket. The leaves were healthy and abundant.

Ooh, nice pwin--you're getting some pretty Itohs and trees! I had to look several of yours up, haven't come across some of them! I have Coral Charm, love it--have you seen Coral Sunset or Coral Supreme? Color is as pretty as Coral Charm but fuller....all are beautiful.

Oops, I forgot Coral Sunset. I will be getting that, too. It seems I'm only going to have 20!

I have a preference for semi-doubles and rose doubles, but some singles and bomb-types have made me pause. I've recently seen gorgeous pics of Mr. Ed and Silly Sally on gardenweb.

Where can I find Sublime Yellow? I'm curious. I can't find it in a cursory search.

Hi Liz and pwin. I went nuts and bought a lot of peonies last year, went over my limit of $100 by 6 times. Due to limited funds, I have to scale back a lot this year. Anyway, I found on a peonies forum a Mr. Harold Entsminger who is a hybridizer or peonies grower. He has a lot of peonies for sale at a very reasonable price. So i took a chance and order from him. I do not know the quality of his plants as I have not received them yet. But the Sublime Yellow is registered under his name if you look it up in the Carlsten Burkhardt peonies database under Sublime. It is a cross between Roy Pherson's Best Yellow and Hollingsworth Big Leaf Yellow. It is supposed to be very fertile so I bought it for hybridizing purpose, possibly a hobby in the future. Anyway he offers a lot of the peonies on my wanted list for a really good price, like the Joseph Rocks Peony Tree for only $50. I have wanted this tree for a long time, but could not afford it. If you are interested in looking at his offerings, you can email him at herr_old@yahoo.com with your postal address and he will send you his lists by mail. He does not have a website. I will let you know how my purchase turn outs when I receive the plants this fall.

Regarding both of your peonies selections, they are just awesome. I can hardly wait to see their beautiful photos. Someday in the future, I would most definitely want to add Bess Bockstoce and Hanakisoi, Lady Orchid, and Vanilla Raspberry Swirl.

Thanks for the contact, kousa! That is really cool that you actually found a hybridizer to go to without a middleman, I'll use your info to contact him for a list. I too was wondering about the Sublime Yellow, I ordered several yellows for fall.
I know what you mean about going over budget for peonies--I'll be working a lot of O/T to fit all of mine in. I got some pretty good prices on some of them I think.

pwin, I got the Goldmine from purepeonies.com and the Lorelei from ilovepeonies.com. I'm afraid to go to their sites to see if they're still available, I get too tempted to add to my orders!

I forget you can't see my country of origin. I'm in Canada. I'm willing to buy from across the border, but it will need to be an order that makes up for the cost of providing a phyto certificate, not to mention shipping. Sometimes, those certs are ridiculously expensive, as is shipping :P

There's a nursery not too far away that sells Goldmine online for a reasonable price. I intended to visit them anyway because they are huge, and well, if they still have one of those beauties, I will snatch it up.

Kousa, that is exciting. I hope it all turns out for you. Please, let us know.

Hi! You are welcome, Liz. I hesitate to give out his info because I cannot vouch for him. I will know when I receive the plants in the fall and only know for sure in the spring if he sends me correctly named peonies. Maybe you should just wait until next spring and I will let you know how it turns out for me.

Pwin, thanks. I hope it turns out well for me too. You mention that you like semidouble peonies. I wonder if you have any Saunders peonies? They are really beautiful and very long lasting in a vase. You should check out these:

Alexander Woollcott
Cytherea
Ludovica

They are really wonderful. Liz, I saw that you have Ludovica on you list of peonies order. I think you will like it alot. The only problem with these peonies is they have very little scent.

Hi kousa! I actually have Alexander Woollcott on my want list. I'm trying to keep a list of those that catch my attention to order next year or later rather than getting more this year, so far it's working!
I have Cytherea but it hasn't prospered where it's planted; I have several that need to be moved this fall, failing to thrive for no apparent reason. I'm glad to know you're impressed with Ludovica, have never seen it in person but the pics are beautiful. CO isn't known for its peonies although I don't know why, they grow well in our climate--they're relatively zeric and the deer and rabbits actually leave them alone. Even the Denver Botanical Garden has a very limited variety and the local nurseries all carry the same common types. Don't know what I'd do without internet, but then again I wouldn't know what I was missing, right?
pwin, I know what you mean about the postage going over the border. I started an order at Peonies From the Field, not noticing that they were in Canada and almost fell out of my chair when I saw what the postage was going to be. I'll be finding those peonies elsewhere, too. Good luck with your search!

I like these Saunder peonies because the colors hold true until the petals fall and the stems are very strong. They held up well in the rain and winds this past spring without any support. The only drawback is they are rather compact and foliage is not as nice as other peonies. Above is A. Woollcott. The color is a lot brighter and redder than shown on the photo. I do not have a very good camera for taking red color flowers.

That is gorgeous, kousa. I'm leery of getting a red (although, I did get a red tree peony at the end) because I had a red at my first house, a few plants of the same cultivar, and they smelled ~horrible~. They were also tall and floppy, lying all over the ground. I told them that next year I was pulling them out. They were saved when I moved. :P I recently smelled a very pretty red at a nursery and it wasn't the worst scent, but certainly not the best. I'd love to get a beautiful, deliciously fragrant red eventually, but I'd have to see it in person to make sure I liked it.

As Liz has, I made a mega list of potentials for next year and Cytherea is on it. Ludovica is exactly the sort of peony I would get, but it's not common here. I may have only seen it on US sites. I'll be getting a bunch of whites next year, but I hate having to wait another two years to see them!

Kousa, Alexander Woollcott is absolutely beautiful, it's going to the top of my list. I know I have a couple of Saunders peonies, Cytherer which has never had a bloom and Paladin, wasn't very impressive this spring but what was here? Our crazy spring weather blighted even some that were extremely good bloomers the year before. Do any of the Saunders have a good scent?

Pwin, is it just crazy expensive to ship from a business or is it the same person to person? I ordered from Select Plus Peonies several years ago, I think that one is in Canada, I don't remember the cost being any more than ordering in the US for shipping. Has it changed in the last couple of years?

Thanks, Liz. I was very pleasantly surprised that it gave me 3 gorgeous blooms this spring as it was only planted last fall. It bloomed earlier than Red Charm too so that was nice. No, i did not detect any scent from any of the Saunders I have, I heard that these hybrids need to be in a very well drained spot. If they are exposed to any waterlog, they will die. So I put them in a raised bed and they seem happy so far.

Liz, it is like in the US. Some businesses charge a flat rate and some determine it according to quantity or amount spent. I can't guess at Int'l shipping. Select Plus says it ships from the US, so that must be why it wasn't pricey. Would you mind if I message you about your experience with them? Phyto certs from Canada are generally inexpensive (around 15$). US certs can cost from 40$ up to 100$ - that hurts.

Pwin, absolutely you can message me, not a problem at all. I actually talked about some Itoh's I got from them several years ago on another string I started this spring, something about 1st Itoh blooms. I was completely inexperienced with peonies that were barely rooted (almost non-existent) at the time so probably created most of my own problem.
I guess that sounds about right for the shipping from Canada, the site I was looking at said $50 shipping for 3 roots. The site was peoniesfromthefield.com, they had some pretty plants. I particularly liked Pink Tutti Frutti and I can't find it anywhere in the states, it's on my want list for next year!

Kousa, that's probably the issue with my Cytherea, it's in a area that's on a slope but close to the bottom so it stays damp in the winter. I'm definitely moving it this fall before I lose it completely, thanks for the information. The bed I made this spring is raised so it's going there in the highest area.

Hi everyone, I'm a lurker on this forum. It has been great to read about all of your choices and places to purchase. Not to hijack the thread, but as I was reading about all the new purchases I couldn't help but think about staking.
I have a decent amount of peonies in the gardens, but at times have tried to buy singles (which fortunately I do like) to cut down on staking, although would love to add more fuller varieties.

What are your methods for staking that you can keep up with all of these peonies looking fresh/not flopping while they're blooming. I tend to mix them in beds and have extensive gardens with other garden chores, but I do love peonies and you all have me thinking more, more, more!!! But I need help with the most efficient way to stake. If you help with that, you will be wonderful enablers for the purchase of more beautiful peonies! Thank you for any info.

You're not hijacking at all! Good on you for joining in. I can't help you about staking as my garden is new and I don't have peonies in it yet. There are semi-doubles and doubles with very strong stems, though. I know Coral Charm stands straight up. As for the rest, the more experienced gardeners will have to distinguish them for you.

I only have a few that I stake and just use the peony rings. The ones I have a around 18 inches tall, have 4 legs and have a single, large ring appx 24 inches in diameter. I push the legs into the ground and guide the stems up through. I don't think the ones I have would work very well with a very large shrub but does fine with the smaller ones.

I also read a post either last fall or very early this spring about what seemed to be an ingenious method, place chicken wire or wire with fairly large openings cut just a bit larger than the area of the peony over the stems when they first appear, the stems are supposed to grow throught the wire and raise it as they get large, supposed to hold them well. I thought it sounded neat, was going to try it but lost track of time and didn't get it done. If anyone has tried that method please respond about how it worked!

Tomato cages cut in half seem to be popular, too.

I've deliberately bought doubles that claim to have strong stems so they don't have to be staked. If any of them actually deliver on that promise I'll make sure to pass it on!

Thanks for the info. My older peonies have outgrown the rings I've used in the past, but a 24" ring should be large enough. I'll have to look around for that style. Interesting idea on the other style to guide the stems through. Thanks again!

I just ordered a bunch of peonies: Nova, Minnie Shaylor, Krinkled White, Mother's Choice from Gilbert Wild and two peonie rockii trees. Hong Xian Nu and Hui Die off Ebay. These 3-5 yrs old trees supposedly come directly from China. Hopefully they are good quality plants. I will let you all know how they turn out.

Word of caution on importing tree peonies older than 3 years from overseas. Unless there has been a change plants older than 3 years are not eligible for import without special permission. If they send 3 year plants you should receive but older than that they may not get past customs and USDA>

I ordered Calypso earlier this year. But the fall HPS sale is coming up so I am getting an area of a peony bed cleared.

You know... There is a thin line that separates hobby and mental illness. I am not sure which side of the line some of us are standing on.

I know I'm firmly on the obsession side! Kousa, please post a pic of your tree peonies when you get them! Hope everything goes well with your order. I'm still waiting for the ones I ordered from KvB, I'm sure they'll be tiny for the price but they'll be nice some day.....

Peonyman, you are right! Although I would try to deny it, the realilty is I am borderine insanity with regards to adding peonies to my garden. I know my DH thinks so! Can one have too many peonies? Liz, what do you think?
Well, I am excited about my purchases particularly the Rockii peonies. Although the plants will be shipped from China, they are going through a US broker before they are shipped to me. If I don't get my plants, I am covered by the Ebay Protection policy, at least that is my understanding. The shipping charge for these plants is high. It is higher than the costs of the plants! I will post photos of the plants when they arrive and next spring if they survive and grow.

Here in the Midwest the conditions are similar to the indigenous area of Rockii peonies and I thought they would grow nicely here. I have not had that experience. I am still trying to learn what is lacking here to get Rock peonies to thrive. The Japanese tree peonies seem to flourish here the best. Chinese tree peonies will grow well but bloom is generally damaged by late frost.

I understand that the pH of the soil in the area where Rockii peonies are found is very alkaline. My soil is on the alkaline side but not as much as in Gansu. I have seen Rockii peonies growing well in soil that is acidic. What is up with this?

Peonyman, did you say that you grow Rockii peonies? What problems did you encounter with growing them? Can you tell me? This is the first time I am growing these peonies. I do not know how they will like the climate down here as it is hot and humid in the summer.

Hi Kousa! Any update on your peonies from last year'order?

Hi Kousa! Any update on your peonies from last year'order?

Hi amberdim. Thanks for asking! My peonies from last year's order are doing great! All the peonies that I ordered from Mr. Entsminger are showing buds except for Lorelei which right now is too small to tell. The ones that I ordered from Gilbert Wild are doing well too. Right now, Nova is showing 2 buds. The tree peonies that I got from Ebay are also growing nicely but I do not expect to have any blooms from them this year or the next because they are very small grafted plants. I am really happy with Mr. Entsminger plants. He sent large blooming size roots. However, this year his offering is very limited. I guess he must have sold out a lot of his stock last year. I will post photos of flowers of all these new plants when they bloom.

Looking forward to see the pics...