They're great. Deer won't touch them. I have Karl Rosenfield (double, deep red) and a pink one with double flowers I can't remember the name, which I've divided over the years and planted all around. They do well from distinctly xeric south-side of the house in full winter sun, hiding a concrete foundation, to pretty much 90% shade under a tree.

I'd add that they're surprisingly easy to divide and propagate, do it in mid-september. And a mass planting is pretty spectacular.

Easy care is a BIG understatement! When I moved in here there were three of
them—ALL in the “wrong place!” Two were
in the whisky barrels in the front yard and one was planted thru the landscape
fabric and piles of rock mulch in the backyard!
They were all struggling! I never
grew peonies, but I love them so I wanted to keep them—and help them! Not real sure if
THEY felt like they were getting help in the beginning! The second year I dug them, and, not having
anywhere to replant them (EVERYTHING was landscape fabric and ROCK!) I stuck
them in two gallon pots, temporarily, I thought! They stayed in those pots for TWO
winters! I discovered that rock mulch
and landscape fabric were a lot harder to get rid of than I first thought! One winter the pots filled up with water that
didn’t drain because the soil was already wet and frozen, and when I discovered
the “problem,” the pots—and roots—were, essentially, 2-gallon size ice
cubes! I kept the pots on their sides for
the rest of the winter, but I was SURE the roots would be mush and that they
were dead. The next spring they came up
again! Wonder of wonders! Miracle of miracles! THAT SUMMER I figured I had better get them
in the ground! I REALLY didn’t want to
subject them to anymore Cruel and Unusual Punishment! So one HOT summer afternoon I went out in my
front yard—the sunniest place I have—and started removing ROCK mulch! Got thru that and fought with the landscape
fabric! Then I had to pry a big enough
hole out of the Potter’s Clay!!!
Yes! That’s where they’re
growing! I “improved” the soil, but when
you’re starting with something that bad, how much can you do in “one
sitting!” By the time I got one hole
done I about felt like I was gonna have heat stroke, so ALL three plants went
into the ONE hole! They were all pretty
small—needless to say! And since they
had been in the pots, they were in a commercial mix, so that at least helped
them get started.

And since then—it’s all history! About the only thing I do is to water them
occasionally. They’re planted in the
“rock strip” between me and the neighbor, and that’s where water runs off both
our properties, and since he’s the type that waters “every day,” they generally
get plenty of water! Otherwise I just
clean the old growth off sometime after they die down, and keep them “pulled
into” the peony cage in spring as they grow—and watch them bloom—and SNIFF
until I almost pass out when I go out to get the mail! There IS no care! They LOVE being left alone to do their own
thing!

Here’s a you-have-to-click-on-the-link pic. They were three different varieties—have no
idea what—but there’s a white, a light pink, and a darker pink. If somebody asks, I tell them it’s a Miracle
Plant (which, in some ways, it really is!) and that all three colors grow on
the one plant!!! (This is from 2010 – they’re
much bigger and better now, but I don’t have any more recent pics!)

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/O48WHqJXuObGJMqKx72XE8K0nZGRGfHLEy4-V3DuEj0?feat=directlink

So if somebody wants something that’s VERY easy to take care
of, peonies are IT! And the added
advantage is that the foliage looks good all summer, so after they finish
blooming it looks like you have a “small bush” for the rest of the summer! What more could a guy want???

For anybody who’s “new” to peonies and is deciding to plant
some after reading all this, there’s one thing you NEED to know! When you plant them the “eyes” need to be the
“right” depth or you may not get the beautiful flowers! I’m dealing with Experts here, so I hope I’m
not misspeaking, but from my information the eyes need to be 1-2” below the
surface of the soil. And that theory has
worked well for me. Experts—please
correct me if I’m wrong!

As soon as I post this I’m gonna copy all the errant posts
from the swap thread over to this one, so anybody who’s interested in peonies
can read it all—and will also have all the links that were originally posted.

Easy care – beautiful flowers – fragrant – look good all
summer – wildlife resistant (which I didn’t know)!

Try ‘em, you’ll like ‘em!

Skybird

I'm copying the following posts about peonies from the swap thread--to the discussion here that's actually intended to be about peonies!

Copied from the swap thread!

By Amester:

Liz - my Cytherea has a bud on it! Hurrah! I'm grateful for
your advice, I put it in a spot with good drainage and it seems really happy,
although I'm sure more diligence in my watering would be appreciated...ha ha.

Copied from the swap thread!

By Lizbest:

my Cytherea has a bud on it for the first time ever, 7 years
now and 3 locations before I finally got it right! It hasn't passed the stage
that the bud can dry up and die off yet so I'm probably jinxing myself but I'm
pretty excited!

I probably wouldn't divide specific peonies in the spring
but I'd certainly do it if they were big enough for the fall trade. The peonies
I'll bring to the spring trade will be those that are just starting to grow now
that pop up from moves/divisions over the last couple of years. I'll put the
names out here when I dig next weekend. I think they'll all be singles, though,
rather than the more widely available double blooms, based on what I divided
the last 2 years.

Copied from the swap thread!

By Skybird:

I didn’t know what a Cytherea was so I did some exploring!
Very pretty! If either of you have any questions about peonies, here’s a good
place to look for answers.

http://www.songsparrow.com/catalog/plantinformation.cfm?plantinfotype=plantinfo&id=8

The Klehm family has been growing and hybridizing peonies
since before I was born! I grew up about half a mile down the road from them.
And I just discovered the company is still in the family! For you peony lovers,
if you’d be interested in some Eye Candy, check out their selection! Just don’t
drool all over your keyboard! I LOVE Lemon Chiffon—and it’s only $150! And I
could definitely live with a Moon River, which is SO soft—and I loved the movie
and the song Way Back When!

http://www.songsparrow.com/catalog/plantlist.cfm?type=PEONY,&subtype=all&startrow=0

I’m gonna try to get over to the “bringing” thread later
today and will post at least a couple of the things I know for sure I’ll be
bringing.

Skybird

Copied from the swap thread!

By Lizbest:

I have both of those, Skybird! Funny
that you grew up so close to Klehm's facility, I'd love to see it. I order from
Song Sparrow often, they're actually hybridizers as well as growers and sellers
of both historic and modern varieties from other hybridizers. Klehm brought out
a lot of the new "cactus dahlia" bloom type with botches and streaks
of color and curled petals. I think I actually had one of theirs in the spring
swap a few years ago, had it marked at Mother's Choice then realized later that
I was wrong--that it was actually Circus Circus. Hope it grew for whoever ended
up with it; it's one of my favorites--such a cheerful looking little flower!

Copied from the swap thread!

By Skybird:

You have a $150 Lemon Chiffon? For real????? Now THAT’S a
True Peony Lover!

Klehm’s are in Wisconsin somewhere now I think. When I “knew
them” they were in Arlington Heights, IL, the town I grew up in. My one brother
was best friends with “Chuck” (Carl Klehm junior!), and Chuck was supposed
to be the one to take over the business, but he got sick and died quite young,
and his next-younger brother, Roy, took the place over. I think he was still in
charge till just a few years ago, and not sure who “the next generation” is
now. But they were a “good” company back then, and when I saw they were still
owned by the family, I figure they still sell a good product. That’s just who
they were! Back then—50s—they were mostly retail, but looking at their site it
looks like they’re virtually all mail order now.

I wish you could “see” it as it originally was! If you look
at their history page you’ll see pics with a “big pink barn!” That’s pretty
much how they were known locally! People would talk about “going to the Big
Pink Barn” to buy something, rather than saying they were “going to Klehm’s!”
They were a “Landmark!”

I’m not big on buying plants mail order, but if anybody here
is looking for peonies (which is how Klehm’s started), or any of the other
things they now carry, I’m sure you’d get good plants from them.

We were one (country) block down the road, and we sold “the
other” perennials, and later my parents got into garden mums big time and had
one of the largest mail order mum cuttings companies in the country at the
time. GREEN is in my blood! And I LIKE it that way!

OT again! Been doing that a lot lately! Guess I need some
rehab!

Skybird

Copied from the swap thread!

By Lizbest:

I can say from experience that they are a good mail order
peony supplier, I've never had any that they sent fail. Most bloom the first
spring after planting in the fall. And yes, I am an addict--Lemon Chiffon isn't
my most pricy peony....check out Pastelegance
http://peonyparadise.com/pastelegance.aspx and Sonoma Halo.....
http://peonyparadise.com/sonomahalo.aspx An ungodly amount of overtime and self
justification went into the purchase of those! I think my favorite that Klehm
hybridized is Pink TuttiFrutti http://www.songsparrow.com/catalog/plantdetails.cfm?ID=1610&type=PEONY,&pagetype=plantdetails&plant_name='Pink%20Tutti%20Frutti'
I waited 4 years before that one became available in the states!

Copied from the swap thread!

By Lizbest:

I love mums, too, haven't had a lot of success with them
except for the tiny bloom ones. Especially like the big spider mums....and
anything that blooms that late in the summer is a keeper!

Copied from the swap thread!

By Skybird:

THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS for a peony????????? I could
EAT for three months on that!

I LOVE that yellow one! It’s just that yellow is such an
unusual color for peonies! (I love white marigolds too!) And my favorites are
the fully double ones.

I have decided! YOU must have a swap at your house some
year! In Spring—when we can all see your peonies in bloom! It must be
spectacular!

The BIG spider mums and football mums are tropicals. Without
a greenhouse you’re never gonna get those to grow. When I was a kid my uncle,
right next door, had a bunch of commercial greenhouses and he grew, among other
floral flowers, the “specialty” mums, mostly the huge “football” mums. Since
mums bloom by length of day, every nite they (entire, LONG benches) had to be
covered with black fabric, and every morning uncovered again—for about a month
I think is was, till they started to bud. But there are some smaller hardy
spiders—and quills—and spoons, that are VERY cool. They can be hard to find,
and expensive when you do find them! That’s why I’m really hoping I’m able to
get that one lavender quill back some day! My parents and brother hybridized
mums for a bunch of years too! That’s all gone now! (I picked my wedding flowers
from our display gardens! Happily divorced for 35 years now—but the flowers
sure were pretty!)

Copied from the swap thread!

By Lizbest:

I didn't really think I'd like the yellow ones, Skybird, but
I went to the American Peony Society convention last year and saw them in
person, WOW. The display blooms for Sonoma Halo were about the size of a
volleyball and gorgeous. All of the blooms were bigger and much more perfect
than those you'd see in a normal garden but I fell in love with Sonoma Halo and
Pastelegance, had to have them. Managed to score a couple more yellow Itohs in
a trade last fall, too, much more cost efficient as all I had to spend was
postage on the ones I sent to him!

Too bad about the huge mums, wish they would grow here. I'll
keep an eye out for the hardy spiders and quills.

I'd certainly be willing to have anyone interested out to
see my peonies when they start blooming but you'd probably not want to hold a spring
swap as late as even the early peony blooms open in Elizabeth, won't be seeing
them until mid to late June and the later ones well into July. Pastelegance is
only a couple of inches high right now but has 2 buds on it already, Sonoma
Halo looks like an rotting potato right now with just some swollen eyes! Quite
a few haven't even gotten as far as SH yet while others have stems a foot or so
high now. Are your peonies further along? I know I visited the Denver Botanical
Garden late last spring, the peonies there were almost completely gone while
mine had just started blooming....

Copied from the swap thread!

By Skybird:

Wow, mine are past the top of a standard "peony
cage" already, about 2' tall--and budding! I definitely know, because just
before the snow started I was out cutting out last year's old growth--because I
had been too lazy to get it done over winter--and is it ever a pain to do that
when the new growth is BIG already! Is there a Pox on Elizabeth??? Are you THAT
much colder out there???

Skybird

Copied from the swap thread!

By Mstywoods:

Uh oh - I think I'm getting hooked on Peonies after all your
posts and links, although I've never even tried to grow them!! They sound
fairly maintenance free from what I've found online - would you agree?! 'course
I don't expect I'll ever be buying any of the expensive ones, although I'd
surely be tempted ;) So you use cages because they tend to flop over?

Think I know what will be on my want list for swaps (hint, hint)!!

Marj

Copied from the swap thread!

By Lizbest:

I'm taking this to a new string so this
one can be dedicated to spring swap! I'm so sorry to have hijacked it for a
while....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WOW! There was more there than I realized! But this sure is an easy way to get a LONG thread--FAST!

Discussion ON about peonies!!!

Back for one more post!

Liz, I'd LOVE to have another peony! I picked a "pastel" one of yours at one of the last swaps (?spring '14?) and it wound up being a Sad Story! I'll tell you about it at the swap! But Amester also wanted the one I picked--and she just might beat me up when SHE hears the story! Girl fight! Of the two you're considering, I like the Circus Circus best--like the softer color a little bit more, and like that it's a little bit fuller. It looks like a pretty, fluffy candy cane! But I'll be happy with either one of them--and Thank You very much for offering me one!

Skybird

Love your "miracle plant", Skybird! Even I was amazed at what your plants lived through and I've been growing them for years! They certainly like what you're doing with them now, you'll have to update the picture this year so we can see how much bigger they are after 5 years.

You got it, Skybird, 1 Circus Circus coming up! I'll pot it up next weekend along with any other stragglers I find.

I bought some distressed peonies "blaze" on discount last year at echters and potted them into a raised bed full of cow manure and peat in "partial" sun. They both appeared to give up the ghost very quickly and I moved the one with any foliage left on it to full sun when it appeared the other was a goner. The moved peony lasted another few weeks but also appeared to quit on me before any sign of frost.

Sure enough they're both the first plants out of the gate this year, the full sun location is loaded with buds and the shady location has a few small buds even.

Gotta love a plant with that kind of will to grow!

Let's remember that my Cytherea only got a single bud that first year, and is looking like that's all it will get this year too at this point...I'll take it, but I'd sure like to see these guys take off. Do I just need to be patient? Give 'em a little organic fertilizer? Sacrifice a rubber chicken under a full moon?

I'm so sorry yours didn't take, Skybird, that I won't even come to blows over it. :) Liz is so ridiculously generous, I was prostrate with gratitude just to pick up the several that I did! And Liz, I've been dying over 'Pink Tutti Frutti' since I saw it mentioned in the Klehm catalog a couple of years back - but your 'Pastelegance' is unbelievable. I'm not even a pastel person and that thing has me DROOLING.... :-)~

Amester, those Saunders' hybrids seem to be the slowest increasing thing out there! Don't know what the deal is with it--just glad to have a bud this year. Most herbaceous peonies increase dramatically year to year but not Cytherea. That one might just be not intended for CO growing! I have a few more that are that bad, Green Halo and Green Lotus still have never bloomed. They were in a very shady area for several years, I moved them last fall so hopefully I'll have more luck this spring. Pink TuttiFrutti is only a couple of inches tall so far, don't know if it'll bloom this year or not. I'm pretty excited about it. Pastelegance has 2 buds on it and I think they'll make it to flower.

Yay! That's so cool. :) You have a great level of dedication. And I will be patient - I just love the singles so I'm excited for Cytherea to get going. And I haven't even seen the others bloom yet - it's like Christmas but without the stress, just pure, beautiful anticipation....

I think the other one you ended up with was Victoire de la Marne, that one starts later than the others but is a pretty vigorous grower once it gets going. I didn't have blooms last year from the plant I divided for the swap, bet we both have plenty of flowers from it this year, though.

That Circus Circus is a beauty! I love peonies but I don't seem to be very talented at growing them. I think they just don't like me. But I love them!

Here is a tree peony I bought a couple years ago. I am waiting for it to bloom again. I have five tree peonies and maybe seven regular peonies. Two of them were from the swap two years ago. I will post pictures once they start blooming.

Popmama, peonies are a bit picky about water--they'll rot if they're planted in an area that isn't well draining. They need to be planted so most of the eyes are pointed up and around an inch or so below the soil line if they're mulched, closer to 2 inches below soil line if they're not here in CO. The only other thing is that they don't like to be crowded by other roots. Tree peonies are typically grafted and sold when the herbaceous roots are still their primary energy source so those need to be planted quite a bit deeper than others, otherwise the donor root will sometimes sprout and revert back to herbaceous and the graft will fail. Some of the hybrid and species peonies are a bit harder to work with but the vast majority are pretty easy to grow.

Gardenchloe, your blooms are beautiful. I think it's amazing that they can support that size of flower when they're still fairly small shrubs. I didn't even know there was such a plant as a tree peony until around 5 years ago! I actually bought 3 single white tree peonies from Michigan Bulb, the pics in their catalog were the first ones I ever saw and I thought all of them were plain and white--boy was I wrong! I've planted several since then but none have been big enough to bloom until this year, hopefully I'll have one or two.

All,

There is a yellow single herbaceous peony called Paeonia mlokosewitschii (otherwise known as Molly the Witch) that is available for reasonable price - if you have to have a yellow peony but don't have $350 to spend (gulp...). Here is a link:

http://www.hillsidenursery.biz/wildflowers-for-fall/paeonia-mlokosewitschii-pr117.php

They have a few specimens of this plant at the Denver Botanic Gardens, so will do well here.

Julia

There are quite a few of the Itohs that are yellow that have come down in price significantly in the last few years. I was told that Home Depot sometimes carries the bagged roots. I've seen posts on the Peony Forum in the past about people acquiring Bartzella and Garden Treasure that way. Also Costco carries them in some areas. Think the prices I saw on the forum were around $40 from both of those sources. Tagawa carries several Itohs but they're around $90 each. I think they're mainly sold blooming so you'll know what you're getting! Yumi is an absolutely gorgeous yellow that blooms prolifically and is one that Tagawa carries. Other nurseries carry them in CO, Tagawa is just the one that I've seen them at. That series is limited distribution locally, though. Bartzella is probably the most popular and commonly available yellow Itoh. It's amazing when seen as an established shrub.

Getting P. Mlokosewitschii from Hillside is a very good source for a good price, just keep in mind these are grown from seed so could possibly end up blooming a different color. Molly sold blooming size that has a proven color is significantly more expensive. I have 2 seedlings that I got last year, they come in a 3-4 inch pot, probably around 6" long. Both came up this year but probably won't bloom for another 2-3 years. I think they came from Hillside. All of the species peonies that I've seen are very wet sensitive, need to be planted in a very well draining area and a bit shallower than lactifloras here in CO.

Ok, I am now definitely sold on becoming a Peony grower!! I'll be on the lookout, swap or retail, for some to add to my garden :) In the meantime, I'll have to decide where I'd like to plant some and make sure the soil is amended as we have quite a bit of clay (as most people do in this area).

Thanks for this great topic and all the great info!! Love the pics!!!

Marj