Peonies should be planted in the fall if possible. The reason for that is when cool weather starts small, at first white, feeder roots develop and are sent out. During the winter they will harden into what roots are expected to look like. When planting at other times of the year those roots will wait until cool weather to emerge. Without those roots being established the plant must feed from the root that you planted. Like most things it is cannibalizing the root to survive. The lack of being able to provide additional nutrients is why you only had small surface growth.

Thanks! So are they garbage now, or can they be salvaged?

Not the two that have foliage. Maybe, maybe not for the third. Only time will tell. My post was to tell you why your two did not grow as expected and why the third may still not come up until next year. It may never come up but that is why gardeners must have patience. Right now you can not do anything but wait. If you dug up now and it was still alive you would destroy any roots it has made. Wait until fall to did up if you must or wait another year to see if it survives.

I plant peonies in spring and fall every year--the flowers are too pretty and I just can't control myself! Maifleur is 100% correct about fall being the best time to plant bare roots. The big box stores that sell the tiny bagged roots do a disservice to peonies--people get the impression that they're hard to grow and fussy when they're not at all. When planted at in the optimum season in a good location (full sun, decent soil and no standing water) they're incredibly worry free plants.

Maifleur is also correct about the chances of your plants surviving. The 2 that grew this year will get bigger and better every year as long as they were planted in that good location I mentioned above. There is a better than even chance that the third one will pop its head up next spring as well. I certainly wouldn't give up on it until at least next summer.

If your roots were from a big box store bag it'll probably be another year or two before they bloom. Most of the time those roots have a single or maybe 2 eyes max, sometimes not even 1. Optimum for bare root peonies to bloom 1st spring after fall planting is 3-5 eyes and a nice sized feeder root to support.

I don't have a picture of one of the little bagged roots for comparison but the one below is from a reputable online seller for a herbaceous peony. This is the size of root that is pretty much the minimum that will bloom 1st spring after being planted in the fall. The stake beside the root is 8" long for comparison. I didn't post the root pic to make anyone not buy the bagged roots, just to give a visual on why they take so much longer to bloom.

Thank you! Would you be willing to share the name of the online dealer?

There are several that are really good (IMO). Hollingsworths http://hollingsworthpeonies.com/  , Adelmans peonyparadise.com/ , Solaris http://www.solarisfarms.com/ , Fina http://finagardenspeonies.com/ , Klehms http://www.songsparrow.com/   and Hidden Springs http://www.hiddenspringsflowerfarm.com/ are always consistent and have never had issues with sending the wrong root--or they discover it and issue a refund. Fina by far has sent the biggest roots over the last several years, don't know if bigger automatically means better for planting, though. Lots of time you can divide the root they send into 2 pieces with 3-5 eyes, their slightly higher prices might be justified by the bigger roots. Hollingsworths has sent bonus roots every year but I make pretty large orders.

Another place I'd recommend if you're good with ordering from an individual instead of a company is http://garden.org/thread/view/51598/Peonies-for-Sale/  This lady is a member of this forum as well. I'm in the middle of a trade with her, got the roots she sent last fall and they were every bit as good as those I'd ordered from the big growers. The varieties she has left are really nice and you certainly won't beat the price for the named roots/size from any big grower. Move fast on this one if you're interested, she's down to the last few. Good luck in your pursuit of peonies!

I have 2 peonies both start coming uo great in spring one stops at bout 5 in the other gets big n blooms ....first one never gets any bigger than 5 inches whats up they are bout 6 inches from eachother

HU for starters 6 inches from each other is way too close. It should be about 30 inches. Without knowing what type they are it is hard to say why one only reaches 5 inches but there are some like Thumbelina that max out around that height.

I planted three peony’s this spring and non of them come out, tho I did everything exactly as directed on the card. What I can do?should I dig a whole again and plant them in next spring or it’s too late now?

Peony's need time. They are not something that you plant and expect to grow and flower in one season. Spring was just one month ago assuming by Spring is any time between March and Middle of May. I was in Iowa this weekend and one plant I placed there was just starting to emerge. Leave any that were planted this year alone but do not expect them to bloom until the roots can feed both the roots and flowers. Unless the roots planted were large it may be three or more years before the blooms are established.

I’m having a similar problem. i planted my Peony Root in March and it started growing really well with 1 main stem and 2 small. Then suddenly stopped growing and one stem died and the other 2 haven’t changed in the last 2 months. They havent died but seem to be dormant. does this happen in their first year? It’s planted in full sun - im in the UK but weather has been quite nice for the past few months.

Planted tubers in fall. Spring all came up but nothing else since. Is this normal? I'm in area 9b.

I’m glad i read this i thought they were dead some of mine just peaked out of the soil … i was going to dig them up! im in wisconsin i planted them late fall