Nancy, that was one tough peony! The potted ones are so expensive, so I gave the bareroot a try. I thought I'd be happy if I had 50% survival. It's surprising to get 100%!

I think they will do great in your garden, posierosie. It is going to take them awhile to get to blooming so be a bit patient. Do you know what varieties they are?

Hi Karen, I got a "mix', so it will be a surprise. They should be in the pink spectrum. I've got nothing but time so it will be interesting to see what happens in 2 years or so.

If you were taking bets on what they'll be, I'd say you'll have at least a couple of Sarah Bernhardt's in the mix. It's a very nice pink and fragrant.

That would be lovely.

I got a festiva maxima in a bag from a big box store and had zero luck. It never did anything and I ended up tossing it.

Ruth, I know what you are talking about. I tried bareroot host a twice - what a disaster. That's why I was thinking I would be lucky if half of the peonies came up.

The roots sold in bags in the big box stores are certainly not fresh, bare roots from an online grower are much more dependable. That said, I've always had luck with the impulse buys of bagged roots, I typically soak them for 30 min or so before planting to plump them up. It takes several years for roots that size to get to blooming size, though. Those sold by the big growers typically bloom first or 2nd spring and are typically shipped/planted in the fall. Most of the time peonies sold in nurseries with buds on them won't bloom the next spring after they're planted as they settle in but are back good as 1st spring afterward.

One peony bloomed this year from the bareroots planted in 2016. I can clearly see I planted them too close now they have filled in just slightly so I might move them this fall.

Lovely!