I disagree with the idea of using lots of compost although you will see the practice recommended almost every where. My reasoning is that compost will continue to compost which will lower the amount of soil surrounding the plant. If you are doing this plan on doing a partially raised bed. When the instructions state to plant peonies at a certain depth it means have the eyes/buds at a certain level not the whole roots. As far as years to flower that depends on the maturity of the roots. Blooming buds on most peonies formed about three years ago. A large division should be more mature than a small one except for few cultivars. If there is a slope plant in the middle of the slope.

I've found that those planted more shallow in my area tend to come up too fast, making them more apt to get frost damaged during late bad weather. The 2" thing is a good guide but is just that, a guide. There will be eyes at various places over your root, just position it so that the majority are pointed up and the majority are around 2"deep--doesn't have to be exact. And unless your ground is really, really dry the only reason to water them at planting is to ensure that the soil is nice and tamped down around the roots to avoid air pockets. If they look really dry before planting you can soak them in lukewarm water for 30-60 minutes. They'll probably be really dusty so you'll be able to see where all of the eyes are after the soaking as well.

The issue maifleur01 mentioned about the compost is a valid one--I lost a couple of peonies this year because they settled further into the ground than I anticipated and water pooled around the roots as a consequence. Another forum member suggested planting the roots with the eyes at or just below ground level and then mounding to the proper level. Think I'll be doing that this fall....

The reason for planting them further apart is to allow air flow--lessens the probability of moisture related issues that peonies can be prone to. Make sure that they are watered at ground level if supplemental watering is necessary in your area. If you mulch push it away from the stems as they emerge in the spring.

The divisions that Hollingsworth's send are typically mature enough to bloom first spring. I'm not sure how robust Mrs. FDR is--mine gets frost damaged every year and has never bloomed, hopefully yours will give you at least a bloom or two next spring.

I normally sprinkle a handful of bone meal around each plant. Just be careful if you have dogs or other rodents that like to dig. What I normally do when planting my peonies is to plant the eyes no more than 2 inches below the soil. The reason for this is because peonies need to get a proper winter chill in order to bloom. In the springtime when I start seeing the eyes push through the soil, I will sweep away some of the soil to unearth them. I've planted many peonies and like lizbest said, it really depends on whether or not the root is mature. You can figure this out by looking at the eyes (pointy pink spots). Each eye will turn into a stem. If you only have 1 or 2 eyes, it will take at least 3 years. But if you have a tuber with lots of eyes, it can take as little as a year. One more thing, tubers that are planted in the fall fare better and flower sooner than ones planted in the spring. I've experimented with many of my tubers and the ones that I've planted in October always flower while the ones from spring lag a year behind.

Thanks for the responses.

The reason to add compost is that the soil has a lot of clay and it appears that Peonies like well drain soil. The trick would be to dig out the area and mixed in some compost to loosen it up. I would need to dig out a larger area because if I just dig out a hole for the plant, it would end up being like a clay bowl that rot the root.

When the root arrive in fall, I will try to keep it at exactly 2 inches and further apart. Liz talked about frost damage, but I am not sure where she lives. I live near Chicago area in Zone 5a (away from the lake effect). Hopefully, I am at a zone where this won't happen.

Paul

You can make radial cuts in the outside edges and sprinkle some of the growing area mixture in these cuts. If you use a curved shovel the back side will compress the soil but the inside of the curve will leave the soil less compacted. Doing this should allow the roots when they start to spread to enter the cuts minimizing the bowl effect. I would not worry too much about being exactly two inches because not all of the eyes will be level. I will not be posting for a while, probably snow time, so everyone have fun.