So instead of moving in a few years, we'll be moving in December (surprise we found the perfect house and property).

I had recently planted most of my new peony roots when we found the house, so I dug them immediately and put them in 3-5gal pots. A few are in smaller 2gal pots.

We get possession of the house in 2 weeks. If the ground is not frozen I am hoping to get as many plants (not just peonies, but also roses, perennials) into the ground at the new house as possible and overwinter the rest in the barn.

Looking for suggestions on best way to do this. The peonies are definitely rooted, they were starting to root in the ground so I dug with as much soil and as little 'disturbance' as possible and put them in larger pots than the soil/ball I dug.

Assuming I can do the same thing and get a big enough hole going, is it ok to transplant them again with the whole pot worth of soil in mid November? Or will there not be enough time for them to settle in before the ground freezes. Was thinking by putting the entire pot worth of soil into the ground it would 'buffer' them til the entire hole froze.

If that is too risk, instead I could plant the entire pot in the ground and then dig after (hopeful) flowering in the fall, and replant without the pot, might be a bit more work for next year, so I'd prefer the first option if it's feasible.

Assuming I end up having to overwinter a few peonies in pots in the barn, just keep them from freezing and thawing out is the most important thing right? I assume out of most of my perennials and plants that the peonies would be happiest in the barn vs say roses etc. Do they need light while overwintering or can I entirely cover the pots to keep them a bit warmer?

Thanks so much for the help! I went a bit nuts this year with peonies assuming we'd be here for a few years. My husband said 'just buy new ones?' but that's just too easy!