Hello - I bought my first peonies and can't wait for my first bloom. I am trying out different varieties but looks like the herbaceous variety does not do well in Zone 10. However I bought a itoh Duchess de Lorraine and it has buds! How long will it take for the buds to bloom?

Just a few days....

@Paul2032 thanks! The bud has been this size for a little more than a week. I had buds on a couple of herbaceous varieties that sadly did not bloom so I am excited and very hopeful that this little guy will bloom. Thanks again!

Where are you in zone 10, I'm in 10b and my herbaceous peonies do bloom.

@SoCalGardenNut That's great to hear! I live in Lake Forest so that would make me 10a?
I stumbled on this forum and saw all the wonderful photos of everyone's peonies and I'm pretty excited to see blooms of my own

Welcome to the forum FlowerNovice! Tell us about your peonies, are they planted in the ground or in pots? If in pots and it's already hot in your area they'll probably do a bit better with some shade in the hottest part of the day.
It seems we're pushing the edges of peony bloom times into the higher zones! I'm currently moving my garden from zone 4b to 8a so will be joining the warm group soon....

So far I've able to get one herbaceous peony from Costco to rebloom for a few years, and one Itoh from Armstrong to bloom. See my avatar for that herbaceous NOID peony, this year I'm waiting to see more.

I did a bad job of labeling the plants but I think this is the duchess de nemours. Bud is tiny but doesn't look like it will make it but I am happy peonies made it. So far all my peony plants are in pots waiting to find a permanent home. We are fortunate to have a sunny spot so hopeful plants will be happy!

Flower Novice...so exciting! I know that I have about 1 month to wait...so I would love to see your bloom sooner!

Liz...hope you get to see some blooms in 8a this year!

Welcome to the Peony Forum, FlowerNovice. We're happy you've joined us. That peony bud looks good so far.

Thanks everyone, Really appreciate the support! I read on another thread about someone going to their backyard constantly to see how their peonies are doing and I thought I was the only one doing that! In between meetings, I'll check on the itoh buds. My neighbors must think I'm weird as I look inquisitively at each bud for any sighs of bloom.

@FlowerNovice You can give the bud a gentle squeeze. As it approaches it's time to bloom, it should become softer - like a marshmallow.

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@FlowerNovice where did you get your plants from?

@RizzoR I see that you are from Philly. You should consider joining the Mid Atlantic Peony Society. Its membership costs only $10/year but you get a lot of nice activities and great opportunities to buy peonies for very reasonable price. Here is their website: http://midatlanticpeony.org/ho...

When I was a member years ago, I got some of my peonies from their annual sales and they have done fantastic for me. Due to time and health constraints, I am no longer a member and I miss it. Believe it or not, I got these TPs from their annual sale for $12/ea. They also offer the newest itohs at great prices in some years.

Wow thank you @kousa ! That is some great info

Is MAPS still running? Their last update was October 2019. I may wait until post COVID but I do want to join!

You can contact them via link here. http://midatlanticpeony.org/co...
I hope they are back to being active now after the shut down last year. I don't really know. People in the Society are very nice and enthusiastic about peonies. I am sure they will respond to your request as timely as they can. The Society is run by volunteers.

When I was looking at the site I saw tons of local events coming up, I'd assume that means they are active

I think all those events are listed for 2019.

Yeah... In late 2019, early 2020, I compiled a list of all the community garden club fund raisers in the area around me and had hoped to go to at least a couple of them. Still hoping :)

Tim